As the first-prize winner of the 2025 Dublin International Piano Competition, Carter Johnson delivered his profound debut performance at Carnegie Hall. (Photo Credit: Tim Nguyen) The program featured dynamic contrasts within each piece and across a sequence of works by Schumann, interspersed without a halt with works by Bartók and Schnittke, bringing each piece into closer conversation with its neighbors. Johnson captured even the most complex and gnarly textures and changes

(The accompanying illustration was created with the assistance of AI, imagining a fictional music talent agency inspired by—but entirely distinct from—the world portrayed in the Netflix series Call My Agent!) The title deliberately evokes the witty and captivating French Netflix series that offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the glamorous—yet often chaotic—world of talent management. This article draws on that premise to explore the less visible machinery of the classica