1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:06,006
♪ Opening theme music ♪

2
00:00:12,445 --> 00:00:16,683
[Diane:] Hello, and welcome to this episode
of ArtsAbly in Conversation.

3
00:00:16,683 --> 00:00:18,685
My name is Diane Kolin.

4
00:00:18,685 --> 00:00:24,557
This series presents artists, academics,
and project leaders who dedicate their

5
00:00:24,591 --> 00:00:30,363
time and energy to a better accessibility
for people with disabilities in the arts.

6
00:00:30,363 --> 00:00:35,702
You can find more of these conversations
on our website, artsably.com,

7
00:00:35,702 --> 00:00:40,840
which is spelled A-R-T-S-A-B-L-Y dot com.

8
00:00:41,841 --> 00:00:46,846
♪ Theme music ♪

9
00:00:53,686 --> 00:00:57,724
[Diane:] Today, ArtsAbly is in conversation
with Riccardo Baldini,

10
00:00:57,724 --> 00:01:03,029
a pianist, innovator, and entrepreneur
living in Edmonton in Canada.

11
00:01:03,029 --> 00:01:07,367
You can find the resources mentioned
by Riccardo Baldini during this episode

12
00:01:07,367 --> 00:01:10,670
on ArtsAbly's website in the blog section.

13
00:01:11,871 --> 00:01:17,877
♪ Piano music ♪

14
00:03:55,935 --> 00:03:59,372
♪ End of the excerpt ♪

15
00:04:03,042 --> 00:04:05,411
[Diane:] Welcome to ArtsAbly in Conversation.

16
00:04:05,411 --> 00:04:10,450
Today, I am with Riccardo Baldini,
who is a pianist, an innovator, and an

17
00:04:10,483 --> 00:04:13,686
entrepreneur living in Edmonton in Canada.

18
00:04:13,686 --> 00:04:15,488
Welcome, Riccardo.

19
00:04:15,488 --> 00:04:16,856
[Riccardo:] Thank you for having me, Diane.

20
00:04:16,856 --> 00:04:17,724
Diane? Sorry.

21
00:04:17,724 --> 00:04:18,758
[Diane:] Diane, yes.

22
00:04:18,758 --> 00:04:22,028
[Riccardo:] Diane, thanks for having me.
It's a pleasure.

23
00:04:22,295 --> 00:04:23,796
[Diane:] Thank you.

24
00:04:23,796 --> 00:04:29,335
I've followed you for some time now
because you've been

25
00:04:29,335 --> 00:04:35,842
famously shown in some amazing shows on TV,

26
00:04:35,842 --> 00:04:40,413
on CBC and on AMI TV and on other things,

27
00:04:40,413 --> 00:04:42,915
but that's how I discovered you.

28
00:04:42,915 --> 00:04:47,353
And I've discovered that you have 

29
00:04:47,353 --> 00:04:52,558
a great path in music, but 
also in your own career.

30
00:04:52,558 --> 00:04:54,627
So would you mind presenting yourself

31
00:04:54,627 --> 00:04:58,097
and also telling us a little bit 
of what you're doing today?

32
00:04:58,598 --> 00:05:00,366
[Riccardo:] Yeah, thank you.
First of all, I'm not sure about

33
00:05:00,366 --> 00:05:03,636
the word famous, but I'll take it.

34
00:05:03,636 --> 00:05:05,271
I mean, I didn't...

35
00:05:05,271 --> 00:05:09,809
I don't feel by the way, but good to know
you found me and that we are here today.

36
00:05:10,877 --> 00:05:12,378
What can I tell you about myself?

37
00:05:12,412 --> 00:05:18,718
I mean, I come from Italy, and I was born
and raised in Fano, as you've seen PUSH.

38
00:05:19,719 --> 00:05:21,788
And I grew up there.

39
00:05:21,788 --> 00:05:28,895
And about eight years ago, when I was 23
years old, I moved to Canada in Edmonton.

40
00:05:29,996 --> 00:05:34,033
You know, the reason why Canada is because...

41
00:05:34,033 --> 00:05:35,468
A lot of people ask me that question,

42
00:05:35,468 --> 00:05:37,870
especially more people
ask me why Edmonton.

43
00:05:37,870 --> 00:05:41,074
But my dad was born in Toronto.

44
00:05:41,074 --> 00:05:44,977
My grandpa moved here
in the '50s and had three kids.

45
00:05:44,977 --> 00:05:49,682
And then they all moved back 
to Italy, moved back home,

46
00:05:49,682 --> 00:05:51,484
when my dad was 10 years old.

47
00:05:51,517 --> 00:05:56,589
So he grew up there and I was
born there and raised there.

48
00:05:56,589 --> 00:06:00,860
But I always heard about Canada
growing up from family stories.

49
00:06:00,893 --> 00:06:04,497
My grandpa had many stories
to tell about his time here.

50
00:06:04,497 --> 00:06:07,200
He spent about 15 years,
I think, in Toronto.

51
00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,136
So because my dad was born here,
he had dual citizenship

52
00:06:10,169 --> 00:06:11,604
and I acquired it as well.

53
00:06:11,637 --> 00:06:18,377
So the choice of let's go to Canada was
a relatively easy one on where to go

54
00:06:18,411 --> 00:06:21,247
because I already had my documents.

55
00:06:21,247 --> 00:06:27,153
I never came here in Canada
before, you know, when I was 23.

56
00:06:27,153 --> 00:06:31,758
But at the time, my dad
was here already for work.

57
00:06:31,791 --> 00:06:35,728
So I decided to come to Edmonton
where my dad was at the beginning.

58
00:06:35,728 --> 00:06:40,700
They all moved back home
in Fano, Italy, but I stayed.

59
00:06:40,733 --> 00:06:44,904
And I'm happy now to call
Edmonton home as well.

60
00:06:44,904 --> 00:06:51,077
So I had a lot of projects coming up here
and that, really, stuff I've done,

61
00:06:51,110 --> 00:06:56,282
and I find it very, very fulfilling
for my life and it gives me a lot of meaning.

62
00:06:56,783 --> 00:07:02,889
I don't know, we can take many angles,
but I guess, I've studied music back home

63
00:07:02,889 --> 00:07:06,759
at the Gioacchino Rossini 
Conservatory in Italy, 

64
00:07:06,759 --> 00:07:10,596
and I earned a master's degree
in piano performance.

65
00:07:10,596 --> 00:07:14,467
I also studied environmental sciences
back home.

66
00:07:14,467 --> 00:07:17,170
I got a bachelor before moving to Canada.

67
00:07:17,170 --> 00:07:20,506
And we're here then I completed a 
master's in forestry at the U of A(lberta),

68
00:07:20,506 --> 00:07:22,041
amazing program.

69
00:07:22,074 --> 00:07:26,646
It was very nice to learn from Canadians

70
00:07:26,646 --> 00:07:29,816
through, like, scientists

71
00:07:29,849 --> 00:07:31,617
and researchers from Canada.

72
00:07:31,651 --> 00:07:32,852
They're top-notch.

73
00:07:32,885 --> 00:07:35,421
I really had a good
my experience at the U of A.

74
00:07:35,421 --> 00:07:36,722
I learned a lot.

75
00:07:36,722 --> 00:07:42,428
Didn't do much with the degree itself
because then I started doing ventures with

76
00:07:43,129 --> 00:07:45,364
my microgreens and other stuff.

77
00:07:45,398 --> 00:07:49,902
So this is a quick overrun of my life.

78
00:07:49,902 --> 00:07:52,205
But I suffered a spinal cord injury.

79
00:07:52,238 --> 00:07:53,606
That's also a part.

80
00:07:53,639 --> 00:07:56,342
But I don't know if you want, 
how much you want to know.

81
00:07:56,342 --> 00:07:58,211
I can go on for 20 minutes.

82
00:07:58,211 --> 00:08:00,146
[Diane:] Sure. Let's go on for 20 minutes.

83
00:08:00,146 --> 00:08:02,381
So what happened when you had this... 

84
00:08:02,381 --> 00:08:04,884
you had a car accident?

85
00:08:05,318 --> 00:08:07,887
[Riccardo:] Yeah. So I didn't 
have any accident.

86
00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,625
My spinal cord injury, which I
suffered about, just over six years ago.

87
00:08:12,625 --> 00:08:17,630
So you can picture,
I arrived to Canada, 2017.

88
00:08:17,630 --> 00:08:19,065
I'm 23-year-old.

89
00:08:19,065 --> 00:08:22,602
I'm starting to settle here,
trying to figure out a life, what to do,

90
00:08:22,635 --> 00:08:25,037
because I moved here with no
project, particularly in mind.

91
00:08:25,071 --> 00:08:26,873
I just came here, I had my passport.

92
00:08:26,873 --> 00:08:28,441
Let's go check it out.
I don't know.

93
00:08:28,441 --> 00:08:32,378
So I just came here and I started 
to bug people around,

94
00:08:32,411 --> 00:08:33,846
try to find something to do.

95
00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:34,881
I need to find a job.

96
00:08:34,914 --> 00:08:37,450
I started teaching piano before my injury.

97
00:08:37,450 --> 00:08:43,489
And just about two years in Canada,
I woke up paralyzed one day.

98
00:08:43,489 --> 00:08:47,560
I had spinal cavernoma, it's called,

99
00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:50,162
burst in my spinal cord and blood.

100
00:08:50,162 --> 00:08:55,034
So overnight, this bleeding caused a
spinal cord injury, a permanent paralysis.

101
00:08:55,067 --> 00:08:56,235
So you can imagine.

102
00:08:56,269 --> 00:09:01,307
And the day before, I was just healthy,
never been to the hospital, 25 years old.

103
00:09:01,307 --> 00:09:06,045
And the following day,
in the morning, I woke up paralyzed.

104
00:09:07,046 --> 00:09:13,819
So that was quite the shift, and

105
00:09:14,820 --> 00:09:18,124
you know, reorganizing my life

106
00:09:18,124 --> 00:09:22,028
around my new condition,
which is now affecting every single aspect

107
00:09:22,061 --> 00:09:26,399
of your life, not only using a wheelchair,
but many, many other things.

108
00:09:26,432 --> 00:09:30,903
And so I was doing my master's
in forestry at the time.

109
00:09:30,937 --> 00:09:35,908
I was already about to complete
my first year of my master.

110
00:09:35,942 --> 00:09:42,415
And at that time, I was picturing myself
myself going out, being in the outdoors,

111
00:09:42,415 --> 00:09:47,386
pursuing something like 
forest management, Jasper, 

112
00:09:47,386 --> 00:09:50,323
whatever I was in that doing after my master.

113
00:09:50,323 --> 00:09:52,024
So I was picturing my outdoors.

114
00:09:52,058 --> 00:09:58,264
I had my piano, which I started performing
here in Edmonton in a few occasions

115
00:09:58,297 --> 00:10:02,368
before my injury and was teaching piano.

116
00:10:02,368 --> 00:10:05,671
So I was doing a few
things before my injury.

117
00:10:05,705 --> 00:10:11,310
But then once that happened,
I had to reshape and rethink a little bit

118
00:10:11,310 --> 00:10:13,312
how to approach life in general.

119
00:10:13,312 --> 00:10:17,350
And because now the outdoors 
were not longer accessible, 

120
00:10:17,350 --> 00:10:20,653
particularly if you want to go 
in the woods, you know.

121
00:10:21,153 --> 00:10:26,826
Big fan of hiking and going overnight
with a tent and sleep in the wild.

122
00:10:26,826 --> 00:10:29,629
The wheelchair is not really
suited for that stuff.

123
00:10:29,629 --> 00:10:34,233
You can find ways around it with
machines or, you know,

124
00:10:34,233 --> 00:10:38,537
the Bowhead as you might have seen in PUSH.

125
00:10:38,537 --> 00:10:41,941
I love that machine,
but it's not really something that you

126
00:10:41,974 --> 00:10:46,645
would do with ease as you
would be as walking around.

127
00:10:46,645 --> 00:10:52,585
So from my master's in forestry,
I guess that's where my business,

128
00:10:52,618 --> 00:10:56,889
the microbeams business with indoor
farming that I do now here and I run

129
00:10:56,889 --> 00:10:58,924
this business here in Edmonton.

130
00:10:58,924 --> 00:11:02,428
And that's where it comes from,
from my passion from plants.

131
00:11:02,428 --> 00:11:08,234
And Resonate, which is the device I had to 
develop in order to go back and regain

132
00:11:08,234 --> 00:11:13,272
my function at the piano,
comes from my passion in music.

133
00:11:13,272 --> 00:11:20,079
So we can dive a little more into what
these are, but I had to basically

134
00:11:20,079 --> 00:11:24,784
reshape a little bit and rethink what
to do and how to do it, especially.

135
00:11:25,651 --> 00:11:28,020
[Diane:] So what happened then?

136
00:11:28,054 --> 00:11:34,260
You have to change your career plans,
you have to change your tools because now

137
00:11:34,293 --> 00:11:38,864
it needs to be accessible,
you have to change maybe your house.

138
00:11:38,898 --> 00:11:40,066
What happened?

139
00:11:40,366 --> 00:11:42,268
[Riccardo:] So... 

140
00:11:45,037 --> 00:11:48,574
those of you who know how to play
the piano, I'm going to start there.

141
00:11:48,574 --> 00:11:54,046
You want to understand that, 
yes, I retained my hand function

142
00:11:54,046 --> 00:11:58,617
because my spinal cord injury is
at the thoracic level, so it didn't

143
00:11:58,651 --> 00:12:01,754
really affect my hands function.

144
00:12:01,754 --> 00:12:05,224
My paralysis is literally
from the chest down.

145
00:12:05,224 --> 00:12:09,295
My legs are now paralyzed,
but my hands work just fine.

146
00:12:09,295 --> 00:12:13,032
So thank God I could
keep using the keyboard.

147
00:12:13,032 --> 00:12:18,070
But now the piano pedals are no longer
accessible to me because

148
00:12:18,070 --> 00:12:19,405
my legs are paralyzed.

149
00:12:19,405 --> 00:12:25,044
So I was right from the get-go, I can 
remember a couple of weeks in my injury,

150
00:12:25,044 --> 00:12:30,116
trying to look tirelessly out there
for a solution for overcoming this problem

151
00:12:30,149 --> 00:12:33,085
and I regained my ability
to play the piano.

152
00:12:33,085 --> 00:12:36,689
Because about 80 % of music,
especially if you do classical like I've

153
00:12:36,689 --> 00:12:42,294
been trained for, really requires the use
of the sustain pedal or dumper pedal or

154
00:12:42,294 --> 00:12:45,831
resonance pedal, which is
the right pedal on the piano.

155
00:12:45,831 --> 00:12:48,901
You really need that pedal
to be able to play and perform.

156
00:12:48,934 --> 00:12:51,704
And there was nothing out
there to my great surprise.

157
00:12:51,770 --> 00:12:53,672
You might think, what do
you mean there's nothing?

158
00:12:53,706 --> 00:12:57,042
Anything is just nowadays,
you have everything.

159
00:12:57,243 --> 00:12:58,811
And I found nothing.

160
00:12:59,178 --> 00:13:02,515
There was a few things here and there,
but really not commercially

161
00:13:02,548 --> 00:13:05,184
available and also not that great.

162
00:13:05,217 --> 00:13:10,990
I even flew to Germany to try one unit
that I found from this private guy,

163
00:13:10,990 --> 00:13:16,796
but it was not really a functioning device
for what I know about piano performing

164
00:13:16,829 --> 00:13:20,266
and how to actually
approach music with a piano that was

165
00:13:20,299 --> 00:13:23,169
not something that would have worked.

166
00:13:24,336 --> 00:13:26,672
Not in the way I wanted to.

167
00:13:26,672 --> 00:13:31,944
So I guess a year in,

168
00:13:32,711 --> 00:13:34,947
I decided, well, I'm gonna...
I guess I'm going

169
00:13:34,980 --> 00:13:37,416
to have to do something about it.

170
00:13:37,416 --> 00:13:43,322
So that's where the idea for Resonate,
which is now the device I'm able to

171
00:13:43,322 --> 00:13:48,427
use to perform again,
it's allowed me to press the piano

172
00:13:48,460 --> 00:13:51,297
pedal through a mouth splinter.

173
00:13:51,297 --> 00:13:55,501
So basically, I bite on this device,
on this bite switch,

174
00:13:55,534 --> 00:14:03,375
and I'm able to action the right pedal of
the piano, which is crucial for playing.

175
00:14:05,044 --> 00:14:07,580
I'm happy to say that after years

176
00:14:07,613 --> 00:14:11,917
of developing and designing,
we went through several reiteration

177
00:14:11,951 --> 00:14:17,423
of what now is the final prototype,
which are moving to product and production

178
00:14:17,456 --> 00:14:21,794
because we have gained interest
from lots of people around the world.

179
00:14:21,794 --> 00:14:24,530
So we are now trying to manufacturing.

180
00:14:24,530 --> 00:14:28,968
We are moving towards the first
production run of Resonate.

181
00:14:29,568 --> 00:14:34,373
It gave me back the ability to play,
and I'm pleased to share that,

182
00:14:34,373 --> 00:14:37,343
actually this weekend, a few days ago,
I've performed

183
00:14:37,376 --> 00:14:41,714
with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
with a full orchestra on stage

184
00:14:41,747 --> 00:14:43,349
at the Winspear Center.

185
00:14:43,349 --> 00:14:46,986
So, thank you to the whole organization

186
00:14:47,086 --> 00:14:51,123
for the opportunity and for making really
great things happen.

187
00:14:51,223 --> 00:14:56,895
And as I said, it's a big win
for music and accessibility in music.

188
00:14:56,962 --> 00:15:01,967
So I was able to perform again in this
occasion with a full symphony orchestra.

189
00:15:02,101 --> 00:15:05,704
I've done other performances also before,
not with a symphony orchestra, though,

190
00:15:05,738 --> 00:15:10,009
which is, to me,
has been like such a magical magical

191
00:15:10,009 --> 00:15:15,114
moment and, you know, 
something that I will remember.

192
00:15:15,547 --> 00:15:19,618
It's the first time ever in the 
world. I don't see anyone.

193
00:15:19,752 --> 00:15:24,823
There's no footage or recording or
any news article, anything,

194
00:15:24,857 --> 00:15:30,829
of a person in a wheelchair being able
to perform as anyone else on stage

195
00:15:30,863 --> 00:15:35,301
with a full symphony orchestra ever
before, which is, you know,

196
00:15:35,301 --> 00:15:38,470
incredible that that happened.

197
00:15:38,570 --> 00:15:43,809
So I'm really excited and happy for what
this could bring into the future,

198
00:15:43,809 --> 00:15:47,579
and especially for potential disabled kids, 

199
00:15:47,579 --> 00:15:51,951
disabled musicians that now can think, 
oh, then maybe it is possible.

200
00:15:51,951 --> 00:15:56,288
Because until... when it's never done 
before, then it's not possible.

201
00:15:56,288 --> 00:15:57,489
You don't think it is possible.

202
00:15:57,523 --> 00:16:01,994
Then once somebody is doing it,
then perhaps opens the gates

203
00:16:02,027 --> 00:16:03,962
for many more, which is my goal.

204
00:16:03,962 --> 00:16:09,768
I want to see kids with disability
pursuing a music career like anyone else

205
00:16:09,768 --> 00:16:13,639
with no distinguish me from whatever
you have a wheelchair or not.

206
00:16:13,672 --> 00:16:17,142
You're just, you have this, 
you're gifted, musician, you're gifted.

207
00:16:17,242 --> 00:16:19,044
You want to play the piano, you go for it.

208
00:16:19,078 --> 00:16:22,915
You don't have these dreams broken
because there's no model out there.

209
00:16:22,948 --> 00:16:24,783
Nobody has done it.
You have a disability.

210
00:16:24,817 --> 00:16:34,460
That's where really my 'why' comes from when
it comes to Resonate Adaptive, if that makes sense.

211
00:16:34,460 --> 00:16:39,465
[Diane:] It makes sense. I will come back to 
the concert because it's a very interesting thing.

212
00:16:39,465 --> 00:16:43,035
But I want to go back
to before all that happened.

213
00:16:43,068 --> 00:16:47,873
So at the moment where you were thinking
of the solution

214
00:16:47,873 --> 00:16:51,343
and maybe partnering with people
and saying, and explaining,

215
00:16:51,377 --> 00:16:58,217
trying to sell your concept or trying
to collaborate with people.

216
00:16:58,217 --> 00:17:02,755
This process of creation
and of adapting and evolving,

217
00:17:02,788 --> 00:17:06,925
making the project evolve,
it took several years, 

218
00:17:06,925 --> 00:17:09,828
but how did you work with people on that?

219
00:17:10,229 --> 00:17:12,064
[Riccardo:] Well, yes.
Good question.

220
00:17:12,097 --> 00:17:15,834
I'm not an engineer,
so I have my musical background.

221
00:17:15,868 --> 00:17:20,672
I understand with my lived experience what
it is to have wheelchair and all that,

222
00:17:20,706 --> 00:17:22,141
but I'm not an engineer.

223
00:17:22,307 --> 00:17:26,145
So somehow I managed to convince

224
00:17:27,046 --> 00:17:29,381
Steve, which is a good friend of mine now

225
00:17:29,415 --> 00:17:35,387
and also co founder of Resonate,
to build this device.

226
00:17:35,454 --> 00:17:37,489
I remember approaching him through

227
00:17:37,489 --> 00:17:42,461
an association And we built the first

228
00:17:42,494 --> 00:17:43,695
prototype with some fundings.

229
00:17:43,729 --> 00:17:48,500
And then I convinced him that,
why don't we just do it and we make

230
00:17:48,534 --> 00:17:50,969
this available for anyone who needs it?

231
00:17:50,969 --> 00:17:54,907
And somehow he was like,
I think it's a good idea.

232
00:17:54,973 --> 00:17:58,110
Somehow I convinced this
was a good idea to do.

233
00:17:58,143 --> 00:18:03,882
So I guess I'm a bit stubborn,
and perseverance is

234
00:18:03,882 --> 00:18:08,554
key, and believing in the project 
because until it's done,

235
00:18:08,587 --> 00:18:12,458
you don't think it's possible and you need
to really know that's going to happen.

236
00:18:12,458 --> 00:18:18,464
So that's, I guess, a bit of
my being stubborn and wanted to really

237
00:18:18,497 --> 00:18:21,900
make it happen and not wanting to give up.

238
00:18:21,900 --> 00:18:28,907
You know, I was thinking, even not too 
long ago, why nobody ever did it, right?

239
00:18:28,907 --> 00:18:31,343
Because that's actually a fair question.

240
00:18:31,343 --> 00:18:34,379
I was surprised and also heartbroken
that nothing was out there.

241
00:18:34,413 --> 00:18:35,948
I would have bought something.

242
00:18:36,548 --> 00:18:41,153
But I guess then, thinking about it, like, well, you need that 
intersection between you know, background in music to,

243
00:18:41,153 --> 00:18:44,156
you know, background in music to 

244
00:18:44,156 --> 00:18:46,525
somewhat at a professional level that you really know 

245
00:18:46,525 --> 00:18:49,328
how piano works, and how playing the piano works.

246
00:18:49,328 --> 00:18:56,134
And, you know, at the same time, having a disability 
that under… makes you having that understanding as well.

247
00:18:56,134 --> 00:18:59,838
And you want to have that happening 
somehow relatively soon in life, 

248
00:18:59,838 --> 00:19:02,174
so you have the motivation and the will

249
00:19:02,174 --> 00:19:07,779
to do it. And, you know, then you have to have the resources 
and the entrepreneurship of wanting to do something. 

250
00:19:07,779 --> 00:19:12,851
So it's kind of a bit of an intersection of a few 
elements that, you know, makes it quite unique.

251
00:19:12,851 --> 00:19:17,589
And is it quite of a niche product, 
at the end, quite of a niche need, 

252
00:19:17,589 --> 00:19:22,094
which then, you know, extended 
worldwide, it's actually quite a… 

253
00:19:22,094 --> 00:19:27,432
quite helpful for many people, also stemming into 
different use, not just for piano, for example.

254
00:19:27,432 --> 00:19:30,235
And then you have to find somebody 
who is doing it with you,

255
00:19:30,235 --> 00:19:34,640
so connecting, finding resources in terms of, like,

256
00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:41,813
literally money. So, you know, it's a 
whole bunch of things, and… 

257
00:19:41,813 --> 00:19:44,716
You know, I was lucky enough to find his engineer, 

258
00:19:44,716 --> 00:19:49,454
that great guy, that is a literally rocket scientist, because

259
00:19:49,454 --> 00:19:56,261
he's working for a company, he's a manager there, 
a mechanical design engineer manager.

260
00:19:56,995 --> 00:20:04,369
And they have clients like NASA, SpaceX, so it's 
actually literally build stuff for rockets, so, 

261
00:20:04,369 --> 00:20:09,875
they had the right equipment and right stuff to 
really make this happen, and they were happy to

262
00:20:09,875 --> 00:20:13,979
do this with me. So, I guess, you know,

263
00:20:13,979 --> 00:20:20,085
it's a bit of combination, and luck goes to, 
you know, where you put hard work, I guess, 

264
00:20:20,085 --> 00:20:24,790
and also like itself, you need to find 
the right people to collaborate with.

265
00:20:25,490 --> 00:20:29,695
[Diane:] Yeah, and also, I mean, for 
those who have seen PUSH,

266
00:20:29,695 --> 00:20:33,932
the first steps of it, and when you tried it, and 

267
00:20:33,932 --> 00:20:38,704
it didn't start, and it didn't work the way 
you wanted, and it clicked too much.

268
00:20:38,704 --> 00:20:42,374
So it's a lot of research and development, 
and it's a lot of

269
00:20:42,374 --> 00:20:46,078
working together again on a new 
version and things like that.

270
00:20:46,078 --> 00:20:50,349
How long did it take from the moment you had one 

271
00:20:50,349 --> 00:20:55,687
first version of your draft version, actually, 
the moment you had one version 

272
00:20:55,687 --> 00:20:59,057
to the one that is ready to go today?

273
00:20:59,324 --> 00:21:06,632
[Riccardo:] So, I would say, probably 
between four years, close to four years.

274
00:21:06,632 --> 00:21:10,636
Three, four years. By the time the idea popped 
and said, like, I'm gonna do this now, 

275
00:21:10,636 --> 00:21:16,008
to having the last device that 
actually is as it should be, and 

276
00:21:16,008 --> 00:21:20,879
as I know pianos, I know it works perfectly. 
I remember how he's using my foot. 

277
00:21:20,879 --> 00:21:25,550
I know how it should sound, I know how it should 
work, I know this is exactly how it should work.

278
00:21:25,550 --> 00:21:29,421
So, we haven't stopped until we achieved that

279
00:21:29,421 --> 00:21:34,526
degree of quality for the device. And we have 
been going through several reiterations. 

280
00:21:34,526 --> 00:21:40,332
The first one was so loud that it 
was kind of like, you know, ugh.

281
00:21:40,332 --> 00:21:45,504
I cannot play with this, it was a completely different 
design, a completely different type of device,

282
00:21:45,504 --> 00:21:49,941
that was not really functional. It was not really… 

283
00:21:49,941 --> 00:21:53,812
You've seen it on PUSH, how frustrated I was. I remember 
even from the guy who got the beginning.

284
00:21:53,812 --> 00:22:00,419
I said, well, this is very good proof of concept. But 
it's not good… I'm not… in fact, I was not using it.

285
00:22:00,419 --> 00:22:04,489
I was not really using it as much, 

286
00:22:04,489 --> 00:22:09,828
or enjoying playing, because that's 
what was the first, you know,

287
00:22:09,828 --> 00:22:13,298
real reaction when I got this last one.

288
00:22:13,298 --> 00:22:16,968
I like to say it made me walk again with music, you know? 

289
00:22:16,968 --> 00:22:22,641
Like, it really did give me back, and from the 
very first time I tried, I said, yes. That's it. 

290
00:22:22,641 --> 00:22:28,980
This is good. This is now how it's supposed to be. 
And I didn't have that feeling, that reaction

291
00:22:28,980 --> 00:22:30,716
manifesting as well.

292
00:22:30,716 --> 00:22:37,456
The first device was not really… functioning was 
more of a proof of concept. And going from there,

293
00:22:37,456 --> 00:22:43,628
doing all that work and having this thing eventually in 
my living room, and it's like, ugh, but this is not good.

294
00:22:43,628 --> 00:22:50,268
And then trying to keep going, and, you know, keep working 
with more people, I started collaborating, I reached out to

295
00:22:50,268 --> 00:22:59,111
a couple of universities which took on the projects, you know, 
with a few things to develop different type of, you know,

296
00:22:59,111 --> 00:23:06,251
action to it, and eventually, going back with 
Steve, we actually made the final one, which

297
00:23:06,251 --> 00:23:13,825
is now, it's how it's supposed to be. 
You know, it seems like a simple thing. 

298
00:23:13,825 --> 00:23:20,599
At the end, it's trying to press one pedal, but there are so 
many nuances on how that pedal should be pressed that 

299
00:23:20,599 --> 00:23:25,137
makes it quite complicated, because, 
A, you want to be extremely quiet.

300
00:23:25,137 --> 00:23:29,274
It can't be loud because you're playing music, it has to be silent.

301
00:23:29,274 --> 00:23:35,714
Second thing, you want to make sure that it's portable. 

302
00:23:35,714 --> 00:23:44,256
Because we don't have the luxury as a pianist like, you know, some other 
instrument players like violin, to carry around our own instrument.

303
00:23:44,256 --> 00:23:47,726
I can't really carry my piano on my shoulders and go around with it, 

304
00:23:47,726 --> 00:23:55,567
so I need to be able to move my device from my home setting 
to any other setting or stage I'm going to perform.

305
00:23:55,567 --> 00:23:59,805
Like what I did this weekend, if 
I didn't have that type of design, 

306
00:23:59,805 --> 00:24:03,074
how am I supposed to then play 
on stage at the Winspear?

307
00:24:03,074 --> 00:24:08,313
I cannot just, A, can we custom make something 
for that piano when I come for performing?

308
00:24:08,313 --> 00:24:11,716
Obviously, it's not, you know, feasible. 
So you need to make it portable.

309
00:24:11,716 --> 00:24:16,288
You need to make it adjustable, because every 
single piano has a different pedal system,

310
00:24:16,288 --> 00:24:22,260
has a different setup, has a different, you know, so you need 
to make sure that when you arrive at stage, which normally...

311
00:24:22,260 --> 00:24:26,097
What happens, you're doing one rehearsal, 
and that's it, and then your concert.

312
00:24:26,097 --> 00:24:32,437
Right? When you're performing professionally with 
professionals, you're… you don't have, you know, a month

313
00:24:32,437 --> 00:24:40,378
of trying stuff out, you have 15, 20 minutes. And that's it, 
and then you're on stage next day with the audience, right? 

314
00:24:40,378 --> 00:24:45,016
So you have to… it has to work right at the get-go, and you don't want to arrive there, Oh!

315
00:24:45,016 --> 00:24:50,822
I don't think I can do it. Because then they're relying on 
you, you sign a contract, or whatever it is, right? So,

316
00:24:50,822 --> 00:24:59,397
there are a few details, and many more that I could list, but, 
that are going into the design of these, of Resonate, right?

317
00:24:59,397 --> 00:25:03,201
[Diane:] Mm. So let's go back to the concert.

318
00:25:03,201 --> 00:25:09,007
You... I remember, on "Mind Your Own Business,"

319
00:25:09,007 --> 00:25:13,912
that they were telling you at this… at the point 
where you were presenting the project,

320
00:25:13,912 --> 00:25:21,753
find an orchestra to partner with. And try 
to show… to showcase your product.

321
00:25:21,753 --> 00:25:32,797
And so, this concert… did this concert with the Edmonton 
Philharmony Orchestra, uh, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, sorry.

322
00:25:32,797 --> 00:25:36,468
Was it part of that, that idea that let's showcase it?

323
00:25:36,468 --> 00:25:44,042
Or did they come to you and say, we want this concept 
to happen? How did it… how did it go to preparation?

324
00:25:44,042 --> 00:25:50,949
[Riccardo:] Yeah, I had an initial contact with 
them, I believe… I don't know how long ago.

325
00:25:50,949 --> 00:25:55,186
Perhaps it was November last year, 
or December. I had initial contact. I had

326
00:25:55,186 --> 00:26:00,659
a common person that knew somebody there, 
so they organized, you know, an introduction

327
00:26:00,659 --> 00:26:04,596
over email, and then, I just said, hey, can I come, you know,

328
00:26:04,596 --> 00:26:10,368
meet with you? And I brought the device, and, you know, 
we chatted a bit. I just played a few things on stage.

329
00:26:10,368 --> 00:26:15,674
They made me try their stage, and they 
saw what it is, and then goodbye.

330
00:26:15,674 --> 00:26:19,377
That's it. A few months later, they sent me an email, like, Hey,

331
00:26:19,377 --> 00:26:22,213
do you want to perform? So that's how it happened.

332
00:26:22,213 --> 00:26:31,556
It's not that I had to, you know… it was like that. 
It's just an introduction, and now I got to meet

333
00:26:31,556 --> 00:26:36,895
the right people there, and then from there, they invited me to play.

334
00:26:36,895 --> 00:26:42,000
And it seems like the concert has been a pretty good 

335
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:46,571
success in the sense that, like, you know, they 
have been sold out for the whole three performances.

336
00:26:46,571 --> 00:26:51,776
It was beautiful music, you know, 
like, more, like, anime music, so

337
00:26:51,776 --> 00:26:56,414
not strictly classical, but very, very good music that I really enjoyed

338
00:26:56,414 --> 00:27:00,452
practicing and performing. And the audience was, like, wild, 

339
00:27:00,452 --> 00:27:06,358
because also, you know, they're not… it was not 
an audience accustomed to maybe a theater, 

340
00:27:06,358 --> 00:27:12,063
and it was not, you know, a classical music… 
a classical music type of audience, so

341
00:27:12,063 --> 00:27:17,202
it was very participant, very expressing our depreciation, so it was 

342
00:27:17,202 --> 00:27:23,108
a good outcome of the concert, and I don't see 
why it would not happen again in the future.

343
00:27:23,108 --> 00:27:28,613
So that would be very exciting to know that that's a possibility. 

344
00:27:28,613 --> 00:27:33,084
So hopefully many more to come. I really enjoy,

345
00:27:33,084 --> 00:27:36,955
and I want to show that it's possible 
to do it, maybe touring as well.

346
00:27:37,022 --> 00:27:39,124
That would be a good goal. 

347
00:27:39,124 --> 00:27:46,464
And yes, at the time of Mind Your Own Business, we were… 
I was thinking that that's something I want to do.

348
00:27:46,464 --> 00:27:51,936
Um, I think it would be great for many 
reasons. Music at first, you know.

349
00:27:51,936 --> 00:27:57,542
Accessibility, but also, you know, 
for Resonate itself to have that

350
00:27:57,542 --> 00:28:06,217
happening, so I'm extremely grateful that I had the 
opportunity, and everything went great, so… 

351
00:28:06,217 --> 00:28:08,953
[Diane:] What was your repertoire? What did you play?

352
00:28:08,953 --> 00:28:18,063
[Riccardo:] I played… so, music from anime. One is called… 
I don't know if you know anime, but one is called "One Summer's Day,"

353
00:28:18,063 --> 00:28:24,602
from… Joe... what's his pronunciation?

354
00:28:24,602 --> 00:28:30,208
Something, Hisaishi? It's a Japanese name. 
So, "One Summer’s Day" 

355
00:28:30,208 --> 00:28:36,848
is a piece for piano and orchestra 
for, you know, one of the anime.

356
00:28:36,848 --> 00:28:42,053
"Spirited Away," I don't know 
if you've seen that anime. 

357
00:28:42,053 --> 00:28:47,492
And then we played together, also, 
with a singer, she was a guest as well,

358
00:28:47,492 --> 00:28:53,231
"In this corner of the world," which is 
a very beautiful song with a choir. 

359
00:28:53,231 --> 00:28:57,435
It was a full set, where, like, 70 elements 
in the orchestra, full orchestra,

360
00:28:57,435 --> 00:29:03,675
choir, piano, and a solo singer, it was wonderful.

361
00:29:03,675 --> 00:29:07,645
Then we play music from a bunch of other anime, like

362
00:29:07,645 --> 00:29:14,752
"Attack of Titans," "Dragon Ball Z," "Pokemon," 
some music from more mainstream, and 

363
00:29:14,752 --> 00:29:22,227
we played… "Howl's Moving Castle," beautiful song.

364
00:29:22,227 --> 00:29:28,500
So, you know, there's a… it was quite, 
quite diverse program and, you know,

365
00:29:28,500 --> 00:29:34,839
with a full orchestra and the choirs itself was quite 
powerful, quite powerful music, which I enjoyed

366
00:29:34,839 --> 00:29:37,742
playing with the orchestra and the choir.

367
00:29:37,742 --> 00:29:41,513
[Diane:] That's great. I want to go back to your career.

368
00:29:41,579 --> 00:29:46,985
I know that you studied both 
the music and the forestry parts, 

369
00:29:46,985 --> 00:29:50,588
and I know that in your life, you have the music, 
and you have something else.

370
00:29:50,588 --> 00:29:53,424
Can you talk about something else?

371
00:29:53,458 --> 00:29:58,396
[Riccardo:] So, that something else, you're 
meaning, like, my microgreens business?

372
00:29:58,396 --> 00:29:59,864
[Diane:] Yeah.

373
00:29:59,998 --> 00:30:06,671
[Riccardo:] Yeah, well, again. From my… 
I always have this passion for nature.

374
00:30:06,671 --> 00:30:13,211
I enjoy the outdoors. I loved plants. That's why I did 
forestry and environmental sciences. I had the goal

375
00:30:13,211 --> 00:30:19,684
early on when I enrolled in university to make an impact 
in, you know, sustainability, sustainable practices.

376
00:30:19,684 --> 00:30:25,089
Really take care of, you know, "the world," if you want, in a very 

377
00:30:25,089 --> 00:30:29,928
early age when I decided to get into 
environmental sciences, I wanted to really 

378
00:30:29,928 --> 00:30:33,798
make the world a better place, you know? 
You are young and all these, like, 

379
00:30:33,798 --> 00:30:37,001
ideals of, you know, what you're gonna do with your life, and…

380
00:30:37,001 --> 00:30:43,675
So that's what I wanted to do, and when I got injured, 
I was no longer able to pursue certain stuff, and

381
00:30:43,675 --> 00:30:49,614
I saw what… I saw online one day, 
this cool thing, indoor farming,

382
00:30:49,614 --> 00:30:55,787
which I was not that familiar with. I knew was something, 
vertical farming, indoor farming, you kind of heard.

383
00:30:55,787 --> 00:31:01,526
But I didn't know… I never thought 
about doing anything with that. And

384
00:31:01,526 --> 00:31:05,763
one day I saw microgreens, microherbs, 
and I said, that's what I want to do.

385
00:31:05,763 --> 00:31:10,802
So, this is probably a year and a half 
after my injury, about a year and a half.

386
00:31:10,802 --> 00:31:15,907
I decided to start this company, which is called 
Strathcona Microgreens, and we are able to 

387
00:31:15,907 --> 00:31:21,479
now supply many, many restaurants, 
I like to work closely with chefs

388
00:31:21,479 --> 00:31:29,621
and grocers and home chefs, all throughout 
Alberta. So, we have, you know,

389
00:31:29,621 --> 00:31:34,359
many chef clients, and we grow to order. 
We have over 40 varieties. 

390
00:31:34,359 --> 00:31:37,195
I'm here right now, and all the production is downstairs. 

391
00:31:37,195 --> 00:31:43,201
I have some of my guys that are, you know, 
taking care of a few of the tasks, and

392
00:31:43,201 --> 00:31:50,108
Um, yeah, it's been a very, very, you know, "growing" enterprise.

393
00:31:50,108 --> 00:31:57,215
No pun intended. But, basically, I started with one rack

394
00:31:57,215 --> 00:32:00,952
in the closet of my spare bedroom in my apartment.

395
00:32:00,952 --> 00:32:08,526
I really set up one of these racks and started experimenting 
with the product, the crops, you know, all my… 

396
00:32:08,526 --> 00:32:12,830
Most of what we grow is a very fast 
turnover. It's about an 11-day cycle. 

397
00:32:12,830 --> 00:32:17,769
We go up to 5 or 6 weeks for some crops, but 
most of them, the bulk of the production is

398
00:32:17,769 --> 00:32:22,407
on 11 days turnover. So I started experimenting in my closet.

399
00:32:22,407 --> 00:32:27,111
Inside the closet. And from there, 
we grow very quickly. We filled the room.

400
00:32:27,111 --> 00:32:32,450
I filled the room very quickly, and then moved 
within, about a year into a commercial space, and

401
00:32:32,450 --> 00:32:38,022
we filled that up now. So I'm looking to 
expanding the commercial space here, 

402
00:32:38,022 --> 00:32:42,393
because we need more space, so it's a good 
problem to have, but still a problem to solve.

403
00:32:42,393 --> 00:32:48,366
And, yeah, so it's something I love doing that 
regained, you know, my… me having 

404
00:32:48,366 --> 00:32:53,338
contact and connection with plants, and, you know, it's… 

405
00:32:53,338 --> 00:33:02,213
I really love doing what I do, so… I guess that's been clear 
when I roll into these restaurants and meet with chefs.

406
00:33:02,213 --> 00:33:07,218
In the middle of the winter, with the snow, with my 
wheelchair stuck, and tried to jump around, and

407
00:33:07,218 --> 00:33:10,989
rolling into these restaurants with the set of samples, at least. 

408
00:33:10,989 --> 00:33:16,160
These people that I'm meeting with, they think, 
oh, this dude really wants to do this, because…

409
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,732
You know, it's just quite the struggle to get 
into the places in the winter in Edmonton 

410
00:33:20,732 --> 00:33:23,768
when the snow is, like, you know, a foot

411
00:33:23,768 --> 00:33:31,175
or more. So, yeah, now it's a bit easier 
because I was able to hire and, you know,

412
00:33:31,175 --> 00:33:39,317
I am not doing some of the more practical 
tasks that also in a wheelchair would...

413
00:33:39,317 --> 00:33:43,955
As I said, it was a struggle at first. 
I was doing everything, so, yeah.

414
00:33:43,955 --> 00:33:47,525
[Diane:] Are you playing the piano to 
your plants so that they grow better?

415
00:33:47,525 --> 00:33:50,328
[Riccardo:] I thought about putting some Mozart, 

416
00:33:50,328 --> 00:33:56,501
so with the speakers, and see if something happens, 
but, you know, it's quite a… it's quite the… I'll try one day. 

417
00:33:56,501 --> 00:34:01,906
I've been saying this for a year now, or more. I was like, 
I'm gonna do it one day, I put these speakers on, that, you know, 

418
00:34:01,906 --> 00:34:04,041
blast Mozart 24-7.

419
00:34:04,041 --> 00:34:08,913
It's gonna be, you know, maybe it changes 
something in the growth, you never know.

420
00:34:09,647 --> 00:34:12,950
[Diane:] Okay, I have a question about the way… 

421
00:34:12,950 --> 00:34:17,655
I love this question because everybody 
has a different concept about it.

422
00:34:17,655 --> 00:34:24,762
It's about accessibility in the arts, or about 
what we call disability culture sometimes.

423
00:34:24,762 --> 00:34:30,201
So, what's… what is it to you to improve this world 

424
00:34:30,201 --> 00:34:36,674
and make it more accessible to people 
who have been in your situation for years,

425
00:34:36,674 --> 00:34:40,912
and, you know, bringing more accessibility in that?

426
00:34:40,912 --> 00:34:45,450
[Riccardo:] So, in short, because I think you know, 

427
00:34:45,450 --> 00:34:50,855
the disability topic is an important one, but it has to become a not topic.

428
00:34:50,855 --> 00:34:56,294
A non-topic. So that's the core of 
what I think. Like, at the end,

429
00:34:56,294 --> 00:35:01,732
you want to provide equality of opportunities for whoever. 

430
00:35:01,732 --> 00:35:07,171
And then base your, you know, work on competence.

431
00:35:07,171 --> 00:35:12,510
So, you know, there is that quote, which I really like, 
which says, you know, the… 

432
00:35:12,510 --> 00:35:18,049
Accessibility, or… it's not… 

433
00:35:18,049 --> 00:35:24,989
the person who is giving you the towel, 
or, you know, the paper towel, 

434
00:35:24,989 --> 00:35:28,626
it's the person who is changing the location of it.

435
00:35:28,626 --> 00:35:32,763
You know what I mean? Like, you want 
to be able to do stuff for yourself,

436
00:35:32,763 --> 00:35:38,903
within reasonable, you know, within 
reasonable common sense that,

437
00:35:38,903 --> 00:35:44,475
you know, a space, or workplace, or 
whatever you're approaching, requires.

438
00:35:44,475 --> 00:35:50,047
And you then have to, as a disabled 
person, provide value like anyone else.

439
00:35:50,047 --> 00:35:54,152
And at the end, disability should not be even a topic.

440
00:35:54,685 --> 00:36:00,992
If you're… if you're, you know, good 
enough, and you make yourself 

441
00:36:00,992 --> 00:36:05,363
unvaluable for whatever company you're working with, or for whatever job you're doing,

442
00:36:05,363 --> 00:36:09,000
and then it doesn't matter if you're disabled or not. 

443
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:15,006
We don't remember Stephen Hawkins for… necessarily for his wheelchair. 
We remember Stephen Hawkins because he did great things

444
00:36:15,006 --> 00:36:20,845
with his mind. With the tools he had. I'm sure he complained.

445
00:36:20,845 --> 00:36:26,684
He was grumpy. But he still yet did whatever 
he had to do, and we read these books.

446
00:36:26,684 --> 00:36:33,658
We… the, you know, greatest people nowadays 
that works on avant-garde, they're still,

447
00:36:33,658 --> 00:36:39,130
you know, referring to Stephen Hawkins, not because he was 
disabled, but because of what he brought to the world.

448
00:36:39,130 --> 00:36:44,202
So, that's where we should aim to go, and, you know,

449
00:36:44,202 --> 00:36:48,673
eventually, we should not even think about 
disability, yes or no, it's just a person. 

450
00:36:48,673 --> 00:36:51,309
I'm just a dude sitting down doing my things.

451
00:36:51,309 --> 00:36:53,778
And, you know, if it's valuable to you, good. 

452
00:36:53,778 --> 00:36:56,113
If it's not, maybe I should try another person.

453
00:36:56,113 --> 00:37:01,586
If 100 people, 1,000 people don't 
find me valuable, maybe I'm wrong.

454
00:37:01,586 --> 00:37:05,556
And then maybe I should step up. No pun intended. 

455
00:37:05,556 --> 00:37:10,027
But, you know, that's the bottom line at the end. 

456
00:37:10,027 --> 00:37:13,931
And you want to make the world, of course,

457
00:37:13,931 --> 00:37:17,368
with equality of opportunities, because sometimes, 

458
00:37:17,368 --> 00:37:22,540
if you don't do that, and you have an environment where you're 
discriminating for whatever reason, which is stupid to do.

459
00:37:22,974 --> 00:37:27,678
[Diane:] Okay, so I… I have a last question, which is about, 

460
00:37:27,678 --> 00:37:30,648
people who have, who might have, like,

461
00:37:30,648 --> 00:37:39,724
motivated you, inspired you, counted in 
your career, in your path as a pianist.

462
00:37:39,724 --> 00:37:44,595
If you could think of one or two people, 
who would it be and why?

463
00:37:44,595 --> 00:37:53,304
[Riccardo:] Yeah, so I would say that I really go to my family.

464
00:37:53,304 --> 00:37:57,942
My mom, my dad, so my family, my professor, my music teacher

465
00:37:57,942 --> 00:38:01,846
that thought of me music and discipline. 

466
00:38:01,846 --> 00:38:10,054
So those are the, you know, figure that you know, I would say 
resonate with me and gave me lots, obviously.

467
00:38:10,054 --> 00:38:16,127
Then, musically speaking, I have some of, you know, 
this reference for great musicians and pianists.

468
00:38:16,127 --> 00:38:21,499
Like, you know, Krystian Zimerman was, 
like, I was a fan of the guy growing up, or

469
00:38:21,499 --> 00:38:28,172
Martha Argerich, you know. You can name 
Michelangeli, Italian, I love this, Debussy playing. 

470
00:38:28,172 --> 00:38:34,111
Pollini, you know, in  many, many of his performances.

471
00:38:34,111 --> 00:38:37,148
So, you know… 

472
00:38:37,148 --> 00:38:41,452
And that's something also that keeps 
me going with Resonate, because 

473
00:38:41,452 --> 00:38:47,458
I was 11, 12, I was in a conservatory practicing. 
It's hard as hell to learn how to play the piano.

474
00:38:47,458 --> 00:38:54,665
It takes a lot of practice. And then, you know, you look up to these 
great musicians, like Krystian Zimerman. They motivate you

475
00:38:54,665 --> 00:38:59,336
to keep going, because you want to be one 
of them one day, right? As a young teenager. 

476
00:38:59,336 --> 00:39:05,509
And I'm imagining these kids with disabilities that 
may be gifted and want to pursue a music career.

477
00:39:05,509 --> 00:39:07,645
And then their dreams are broken. So,

478
00:39:07,645 --> 00:39:14,819
really, Resonate, the core, you know, why of Resonate 
is to give back these dreams and make sure that 

479
00:39:14,819 --> 00:39:22,660
kids with disability are able to express themselves with music, 
and perhaps coming up, like, the next, you know,

480
00:39:22,660 --> 00:39:29,233
prodigy, and not, you know, being 
broken by… just the disability, right? 

481
00:39:29,233 --> 00:39:34,038
So, yeah, I would say mainly 
my family, my teacher,

482
00:39:34,038 --> 00:39:37,007
that gave me a lot over my lifetime.

483
00:39:37,608 --> 00:39:43,380
[Diane:] Well, I know your teacher was very 
important since, for those who have seen PUSH,

484
00:39:43,380 --> 00:39:46,584
we actually meet your teacher. 

485
00:39:46,584 --> 00:39:51,522
And it was very emotional for you to come back and to… 

486
00:39:51,522 --> 00:39:55,359
So, can you briefly talk about this meeting?

487
00:39:55,359 --> 00:40:00,297
[Riccardo:] Yes, they… these guys at CBC, 
they got me crying, which I hate. 

488
00:40:00,297 --> 00:40:04,135
They wanted me to cry for the whole season one, they couldn't do it.

489
00:40:04,135 --> 00:40:10,841
And Sean, the producer, the executive producer, goes like, ah, you never crack, eh? We were making fun, 

490
00:40:10,841 --> 00:40:14,245
and they got me in season two, these bastards, they got it. 

491
00:40:14,245 --> 00:40:19,583
But, like, you know, it was definitely very emotional. 
They flew all the way with me to Italy.

492
00:40:19,583 --> 00:40:24,255
And Brian, as you've seen in PUSH, 
we went to Italy, and it was one of the 

493
00:40:24,255 --> 00:40:28,292
craziest, most intensive weeks, 
I would say. It was very real.

494
00:40:28,292 --> 00:40:33,764
Always have these two cameras around, the sound guy, 
the producer, following everywhere, me and Brian.

495
00:40:33,764 --> 00:40:40,771
And I had to… I went and see, again, my music 
teacher for the first time in, really, since my injury.

496
00:40:40,771 --> 00:40:44,475
So… and I avoided that.

497
00:40:44,475 --> 00:40:50,181
I've been avoiding it for a while, I didn't want to 
see him, because I was still dealing with my stuff.

498
00:40:50,181 --> 00:40:57,121
So I didn't… I was really, you know, respectful 
and kind of a bit scared of the interaction.

499
00:40:57,121 --> 00:41:05,563
And so that week, I went and met with him, and 
it's been a build-up of emotions, and when...

500
00:41:05,563 --> 00:41:13,804
It was definitely, you know, special to be able to 
see him again. And they captured it with cameras.

501
00:41:14,438 --> 00:41:20,177
Ah! They did it. They did it. I didn't want to, but they did it.

502
00:41:20,177 --> 00:41:28,419
That's okay. Actually, it's pretty good. I'm grateful that that's captured, 
and, you know, that moment is, like, recorded, and it's there, I can see it.

503
00:41:28,419 --> 00:41:33,090
So it was a pretty special moment to share. So, yeah. 

504
00:41:33,090 --> 00:41:35,860
And now I'm going to see him in a couple of weeks. 

505
00:41:35,860 --> 00:41:40,264
I just had a baby girl, I don't know if you know, 
I just had a daughter. She's 3 months old.

506
00:41:40,264 --> 00:41:42,032
[Diane:] Oh! Congratulations!

507
00:41:42,032 --> 00:41:49,440
[Riccardo:] Thank you. So, we're going back home 
for a couple of weeks, so that we can baptize her,

508
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:56,614
and, you know, he's going to meet my daughter, and, you know, 
my whole family, because they haven't met her yet.

509
00:41:56,614 --> 00:42:03,554
And, yeah... So life is busy, I guess. You know, 
but that is full of purpose, which is great.

510
00:42:03,554 --> 00:42:09,527
[Riccardo:] Well, thank you so much for sharing 
your story and sharing your amazing product. 

511
00:42:09,527 --> 00:42:13,264
Actually, this episode will come with a resource page,

512
00:42:13,264 --> 00:42:19,904
and we will publish all information 
about Resonate and about you. 

513
00:42:19,904 --> 00:42:26,543
So I hope you can… This project is 
amazing, and I know you sold 

514
00:42:26,543 --> 00:42:31,415
some of your products already in Australia and the US, and…

515
00:42:31,415 --> 00:42:33,150
Scotland? Is that correct?

516
00:42:33,150 --> 00:42:36,253
[Riccardo:] Yes! How do you know that? I said it somewhere, I think. 

517
00:42:36,253 --> 00:42:38,889
Yes, yes, yes, there's this girl from Scotland.

518
00:42:38,889 --> 00:42:45,930
And every story is crazy. Like, I received this intake forms and people 
reaching out through the website, through the Resonate website.

519
00:42:45,930 --> 00:42:52,903
And it's really heartbreaking. I'm so glad that I'm going to 
be able to give this to these people, because they need it, 

520
00:42:52,903 --> 00:42:57,341
and they want it. This lady, she's doing 
music school, she was considering quitting.

521
00:42:57,341 --> 00:43:04,281
But then, her grandparents stepped in and said, you know what, 
we found this thing, we are gonna pay and buy it for you.

522
00:43:04,281 --> 00:43:09,653
So she continued music, you know? 
That's just, like, that's why I'm doing it.

523
00:43:09,653 --> 00:43:15,259
Literally, that's the reason why I'm doing it. And many, 
many people keep reaching out every week, so

524
00:43:15,259 --> 00:43:22,132
hopefully we can get this out soon, sooner than later. 
We are almost there, so it should come anytime.

525
00:43:22,132 --> 00:43:24,335
[Diane:] Well, have a great trip to Italy! 

526
00:43:24,335 --> 00:43:25,536
[Riccardo:] Thank you. 

527
00:43:25,536 --> 00:43:27,404
[Diane:] And maybe, talk next time!

528
00:43:27,404 --> 00:43:28,906
[Riccardo:] Yes, yes, thank you so much. 

529
00:43:28,906 --> 00:43:30,407
[Diane:] Thank you, have a good day.

530
00:43:30,407 --> 00:43:31,976
[Riccardo:] Thank you, Diane. Thank you.

531
00:43:33,243 --> 00:43:38,248
♪ Closing theme music ♪