Harold Popp has spent more than five decades teaching, performing, composing, conducting, and helping students discover their own creative potential. Drawing on experiences that range from childhood adventures and time working on Midwestern farms to performing internationally and teaching students from around the world, Harold reflects on the power of creativity to foster curiosity, build community, encourage empathy, and help individuals find their unique voice. Throughout the episode, he argues that creativity is far more than artistic expression. It is an inherent human capacity that allows us to make connections, bring new ideas to life, and become more fully ourselves. At the heart of the conversation is Harold's enduring belief that creativity belongs to everyone and that nurturing it is essential to living a meaningful and connected life.
Harold and Debbi presenting "Inside-Out Creativity in Rochester, NY April 2023
"Everybody is creative, so that ties all humankind together. But the fascinating paradox is, everybody is creative in their own way.
~Harold Popp
A documentary style look at how creativity is cultivated through the class "Discovering the Creative Impulse." This video follows along over the course of a semester, through class observations interviews. The transformation and development throughout the class is obvious even to the students themselves, which they exhibit both in the work produced and the self actualization shared.
"The first thing I have to do is create an environment in which the students will allow themselves a degree of vulnerability"
"We teach our students from an early age that they really need to major in 'right' answers. That's not fair. That's a desecration of the human spirit."
"All people for all times, all cultures for all times, have always had within them an inherent drive to express themselves deeply."
~Harold Popp
Harold was a guest in Debbi's creativity class
Jacobs School of Music, September, 2025
The trombone section of the Southern Indiana Wind Ensemble
Bloomington North High School, 2024
Presented to Harold by the Lakota Sioux, 2010
"We are hardwired to be in community and to share."
"The people that enjoy life the most are those who are willing to open themselves up to the challenge and have courage to explore."
~Harold Popp
Early experiences working on farms were foundational to Harold's creative foundation.
Bob and Joyce Losure's farm
Lake View, IA @1946
John Losure's farm
Lake View, IA @1948
