LSSC encourages all of its attorneys and staff to pursue their passions outside of the law. We celebrate and support these experiences as fundamental to being healthy, happy, and more effective attorneys.
In January, associate Lowry Yankwich was honored with two prizes at the inaugural Signal Awards in New York City for his music podcast, “30 Bach.” The podcast explores the enduring power and mutability of J.S. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” a keystone of the classical keyboard repertoire, through interviews and performances with artists and devotees around the world. Lowry’s interviewees were notable for their diversity, from Grammy-nominated pianists to jazz musicians to people who can’t play a single note of the piece but have found inspiration in the music in their work or personal life. These “devotees” included, among others, an architect who can’t design a building without listening to the piece, a dancer who performed an adaptation of the music for contemporary dance, and a nano-scientist and now-president of the University of Chicago, who has listened every morning for much of his working life.
More than 1,700 podcasts from over 30 countries were entered in the inaugural Signal Awards competition. Over 150,000 listeners voted across all categories. In the end, 30 Bach won gold in two ways: by winning a Listeners’ Choice award based upon the votes of podcast listeners and by being selected as the Best Stan Podcast by a panel of professional judges from the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. The “Stan” Podcast category recognizes work by fans about the things they love most, music being only one possibility. Lowry’s competition in the finals came from a show about “geek” culture and a show by followers of The Real Housewives.
Winning the awards is a remarkable achievement for an independently-produced podcast—most winners came from major studios like Spotify, HBOMax, and Wondery. Lowry pursued the project out of love over the course of four years, teaching himself how to make a podcast from start to finish.
To listen to the podcast, visit 30Bach.com or find it on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.
For additional podcasting projects of Lowry’s, visit his profile on AIR Media.
