The Marcolivia Duo

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and readability. Filler words were removed, sentence structure was improved, and paragraphs were added while preserving the original meaning and conversational tone.

Henry Harrison:
Hello, Marc and Olivia. It’s really good to see you, and thank you for coming on the show—Entrepreneurs, Business and Finance.

You’re our first musicians on the show. Welcome.

Olivia:
Hi.

Marc:
Hi. Thank you very much for having us on your program.

Henry Harrison:
A little bit about Marc and Olivia—Marc and I became friends when we were about 10 years old. We were soccer buddies in grade school.

I met Olivia before she and Marc were married, when they were dating, and they met my wife Olga before we were married.

This has been a long-term friendship, and it’s really neat to have you on.

People may not immediately think of musicians as business owners—but you are. You run a studio where you teach students, and you also have a performing career.

You’ve studied with teachers connected to some of the most recognized institutions in the world, you have PhDs, you’ve been professors, and you’ve performed internationally—Italy, Japan, Canada, the U.S., England, and other parts of Europe.

I know Marc performed at the Kennedy Center—and possibly both of you.

Your music comes first, but there is a business component—this is how you make a living.

So tell us what it’s like to be a professional musician, to teach students, and what your career looks like today.

Olivia:
It’s wonderful to work at what you enjoy most, so we’re very lucky to do that and to set our own schedules. That freedom is a great thing.

Another thing we enjoy is working together. If you’re a soloist, you travel alone and spend a lot of time in hotel rooms—it can be a lonely business. But because we do everything together, it’s been really special.

Even teaching—we used to teach at a university, and now we teach at home. We have our own business with separate studios in our house.

We teach students from eight years old to 75-year-olds, and that variety keeps it interesting.

Henry Harrison:
Marc, just because I know you—you like working together too, right?

Marc:
I better say yes, Henry. Otherwise our franchise is going to run into some trouble here.

Yes, of course I do.

Henry Harrison:
Talk about teaching at schools and summer festivals. I know you do that regularly—different campuses, festival environments, especially in the summer.

Marc:
That’s a lot of fun.

You’re still making music and teaching, but it’s in a completely different setting—often beautiful or exotic places. We’ve been in Italy and many places in Europe doing that.

At home, teaching is mostly one-on-one private lessons. At festivals, it’s very different—you teach masterclasses with many students watching, or you teach groups like chamber ensembles or string quartets.

You also rehearse with other faculty and perform concerts, and there’s a lot of social interaction after rehearsals and performances.

It really takes you out of your daily routine, which we enjoy.

Henry Harrison:
One thing I’ve noticed—many people in business, and even musicians, spend huge amounts of energy marketing themselves.

You’re not really a marketing machine—you’re a musician machine. It seems like opportunities come because you keep improving and staying connected.

Olivia:
That’s true. Most of our concerts are repeat bookings.

But it’s important to maintain relationships with conductors and presenters. I write to them about twice a year—fall and spring.

I also reach out to people who haven’t booked us yet. Sometimes it takes five years before something comes together, but the relationship matters.

At first, we thought marketing would be unpleasant—having to tell people how great we are. But I don’t do that.

I just say, “This is what we do. Maybe it will interest you.”

You build friendships. People talk about their lives, and then the next time you connect, you continue that relationship. I enjoy that.

Marc:
She’s much better at that than I am.

But early on, we did have to push harder—networking, conferences, showcasing, promoting CDs, entering competitions. That’s a natural phase early in your career.

Once you’re established, it becomes more about maintaining relationships rather than constant promotion.

We enjoy what we’re doing, and we enjoy our lives.

Henry Harrison:
That’s a different kind of marketing—relationships, consistency, and authenticity.

Marc:
Exactly.

I tried making calls early on, but my lack of organization showed up. I once called someone twice within five minutes—that didn’t go well.

So Olivia took over that side, and she’s much better at it. We each have our roles.

Henry Harrison:
Switching back to music—what do you enjoy performing?

Olivia:
We’re classical musicians—that’s our primary focus.

We also play other styles—Latin, Eastern European folk, and some jazz—but it’s still rooted in classical.

There’s a lot of crossover now, and we’ve experimented with that. But ultimately, you want to focus on what you do best.

Marc:
Some classical musicians try to play jazz or rock and think they look cool—but they often don’t.

I’m petrified of not looking cool up there.

Olivia:
We do keep concerts engaging. We talk between pieces, explain the music, keep things light and informal.

Classical concerts can feel long if it’s just piece after piece, so we try to create variety.

Henry Harrison:
That makes a big difference. When you explain the music—who wrote it, why you chose it—people connect more.

And you’ve performed some very difficult concertos.

Olivia:
Yes, we do a lot of concertos with orchestra. As a duo, that’s less common, but we make it work.

It’s more complicated—we learn separately, rehearse together, then integrate with the orchestra.

It’s challenging, but fun.

Marc:
We also perform solo concertos individually.

A conductor once had us perform two viola pieces—Olivia played Telemann, and I played Bruch.

And I’ve performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in Japan.

Henry Harrison:
One thing I’ve always heard from you—you’re constantly learning or relearning music. It’s never easy.

Olivia:
It’s like starting from scratch every time. It can take months to get a piece where you want it.

Marc:
We’re preparing a difficult concerto now that we haven’t played in 15 years. We started months ago and are still working on it.

You’re not ready until you’re ready—and sometimes that takes longer than expected, which can create stress when other performances are scheduled.

Olivia:
And then opportunities come up that you can’t say no to, which adds more complexity—more practice, more planning.

It’s very similar to running a business.

Henry Harrison:
Let’s talk about teaching.

Olivia:
I love the range of students.

Teaching an eight-year-old is fun, and teaching someone who starts at retirement is also fun.

Everyone learns differently—it’s like solving a puzzle every day.

Teenagers bring emotional challenges, and because lessons are one-on-one, you often become a mentor as well.

Marc:
Every student learns differently. Some respond to words, others to intuition.

Some need lots of exercises, others will quit if you give them too many.

You have to adapt constantly and sometimes revisit concepts later when the student is ready.

Olivia:
My goal is that students keep playing for life.

Many will have stressful careers, and music should remain a positive part of their lives.

During the pandemic, former students came back for lessons—even ones I taught years ago. That’s incredibly rewarding.

Marc:
Teaching privately is different from university teaching.

At a university, there are many additional responsibilities—committees, administration, recruiting.

In our private studio, it’s simple—if students like what we do, they stay. If not, they move on. It’s a very clean system.

Henry Harrison:
Starting your own studio takes courage—no guaranteed paycheck.

Olivia:
Yes, but timing helped, and Marc’s roots in the area helped too.

We knew a lot of teachers and musicians, and word of mouth built quickly.

Marc:
We had a strategy, but you never know until students actually sign up.

Henry Harrison:
Marc, you started very young.

Marc:
Yes, I started with a toy xylophone at four and could play tunes by ear.

My parents enrolled me in Yamaha Music School, and later I heard a live performance by a symphony musician—that’s when I knew I wanted to be a musician.

Of course, wanting to be a musician and wanting to practice weren’t always aligned. I had to learn discipline.

Henry Harrison:
Olivia, you came to the U.S. on a Fulbright.

Olivia:
Yes. Music was always in my family.

I studied at major institutions in the UK, then applied for a Fulbright without fully realizing how competitive it was.

It’s a leadership scholarship, even in music. I ended up studying at the University of Maryland—that’s where Marc and I met.

Henry Harrison:
That’s incredible.

Final thoughts?

Marc:
Being a duo is unusual. It doesn’t fit neatly into traditional categories.

We had to show presenters that—even if they didn’t know they needed a duo—they did.

Olivia:
Exactly. Sometimes you present something new and help them see the value in it.

Henry Harrison:
That’s fantastic.

Thank you both for coming on. We’ll include your performance links so listeners can hear your work.

Marc:
Thank you—it was great fun.

Olivia:
Thank you.