What It Takes to be a Successful Concert Artist: Conversations With World Renowned Musicians

8/14/2019 What It Takes to be a Successful Concert Artist: Conversations With World Renowned Musicians

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What it Takes to be a Successful Concert Artist: Conversations with WorldRenowned Musicians

By Rebecca Jackson

Introduction

How does one become a successful concert artist? During my twenty one years of studying and

performing as a violinist I continue to witness many like myself spend tireless hours trying to

master the great works. Besides the obvious requirement of work on your craft I have always

been curious of other factors present in the journey musicians take to establish their success.

Why become a classical musician in the first place? Odds don't seem to be stacked in our favor.

At first glance, what you see on stage may seem glamorous. Hundreds of people flock to watchand listen to beautiful music performed effortlessly. Paganini, Liszt, Heifetz, and Horowitz are

some of the legendary performers that come to mind. Despite the initial attraction, the life of a

musician is strewn with difficulties and unpredictabilities. Leila Josefowicz said, The lifestyle

of this whole business is awful. I'll not mince words about that. 1 The unattractive aspects I

have observed create a substantial list: (1) It is a life led in solitude within the four walls of a

practice room. While I was studying at Juilliard the average daily practice session was between

five and eight hours. And this is a ritual that begins very early in life. (2) Musicians spend equal

if not more time studying than doctors and yet starving artist depicts the characteristically 1 Violin Virtuosos, Mary VanClay ed. (California: String Letter Publishing, 2000): 20.


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little money we earn. (3) One endures constant scrutiny. Even the note-perfect Heifetz made

Dallas front-page news, HEIFETZ FORGETS, when music came to a stop during the Sibelius

Violin Concerto. 2 (4) Perfectionism is a common trait making it rare to feel completely satisfied

with one's performance. (5) Often times musicians live life out of a suitcase, in and out of hotelrooms and airports. And finally, (6) much of the public fear death more than public speaking. 3

Musicians handle such stress of public performance on a regular basis.

Cliburn, in retirement, was once told by an interviewer that his friends didn't see

how Cliburn could be happy unless he returned to the concert stage; he roared

with laughter and shouted Try me! Asked how it felt to play his final concert,

in 1978, Cliburn replied, The one thing I felt when I got off the stage was: I don't

have to do this anymore. 4

Job availability in orchestras is rare and with the growing number of musicians the competition is

fierce. During my December 2006 audition for the San Francisco Opera Orchestra there were

two openings in the first violin section and approximately seventy people auditioned. Not only

are the openings rare, many orchestras are on the verge of bankruptcy, many having collapsed

already. In chamber music, specifically string quartets, there are only about three groups that can

solely live off of what they make from performances. The string quartet repertoire is some of the

most beloved but unfortunately the demand is not very high. In the most competitive world of

soloist, many go to the top international competitions to get try to get their start. In the case of

the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition, violinists are required to prepare an

amount of repertoire that most musicians struggle to learn in a lifetime. They also must learn a 2 Joseph Horowitz, Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall (New York: W.W. Norton, 2005):

338.3 Emily Krone Studies Show Public Speaking Tops Death on Lists of People's Greatest Fears, Daily Herald

[Arlington Heights, IL]. 13 December 2005, p. 3.4 Joseph Horowitz, Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall (New York: W.W. Norton, 2005):

356.


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new commissioned piece in two weeks.

Even with all these seemingly insurmountable circumstances I can say without a doubt I feel

privileged to be a musician and whole-heartedly love what I do. Aside from the obviousnecessity to practice my instrument, I have found it invaluable to converse with some of the

world's most successful about their personal paths. In the following pages you will hear mostly

from violinists but also conductors, singers, and a cellist. Many of the musicians came from

abroad to study and expand their careers in the United States. In a recent article one discovers

the continued dominance of non-American's in this field.

Baltimore Symphony named Marin Alsop music director... This has been big news

in the usually somnolent world of classical music for a number of reasons: First,

Alsop, 48, is the first woman to take the top artistic job at a major American

orchestra. Second, she's American born and trained, in a field still dominated b y

Europeans. Third, she's made her reputation conducting new, unusual and often

American music. Fourth, she's a working jazz violinist and has boldly crossed over

idioms in the inner sanctum of classical subscription series. 5

Returning to the quote by Ms. Josefowicz I add her next few words, The lifestyle of this whole

business is awful. I'll not mince words about that. So what you end up truly living for is the

music. 6

Background

In an attempt to quench my curiosity I conducted a series of personal, phone and email

5 Tom Strini. All ears turn to new director of Baltimore Symphony, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online , (July

24, 2005), (accessed 12 May 2007).6 Violin Virtuosos, Mary VanClay ed. (California: String Letter Publishing, 2000): 20.


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interviews with world renowned musicians. In addition to those I conducted, I have also added

extra interviews whenever I found answers addressing questions I asked in this study.

Following are the dates that I conducted the interviews along with the musicians' biographies.

I conducted a personal interview with Laura Albers on May 6, 2007.

Colorado native, Laura Albers , is the Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera

Orchestra. She began studying Suzuki violin with her mother, Ellie LeRoux, at the age of two.

Laura performed regularly with her parents and three siblings, and at the age of eight spent a

month in Japan studying with Dr. Suzuki. From an early age, she loved the stage and soloed with

many Denver-area orchestras. Laura received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the

Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein

and Ronald Copes. In Cleveland she worked extensively with the Cavani Quartet and Peter

Salaff in the Intensive Quartet Seminar and as an assistant music therapist in the Cleveland

University Hospitals. Laura also spent time in Cuernavaca, Mexico playing viola in pianist Sergei

Babyons festival. While attending Juilliard, Laura toured with the Astor String Quartet and the

Wild Ginger Philharmonic, and taught Suzuki violin at the Diller-Quaile School of Music. During

the summertime, Laura returned to the mountains for the Aspen Music Festival and the National

Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge. She and her sister, cellist Julie Albers, performed the

Brahms Double Concerto with the NRO. They also recorded the Kodaly Duo together in Munich

for the Bayerischer Rundfunk. More recently she has spent summers performing in Rhode

Islands Newport Music Festival and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa

Cruz, California. Laura began her job at the San Francisco Opera the fall after she graduated from

Juilliard. In addition to the opera, she is a member of the Albers Trio, a string trio with sisters

Becca and Julie. In addition to the opera, Laura performs in the bay area with the Broderick Ensemble and the Empyrean Ensemble, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in New York City and

Sarasota Opera in Florida. Laura volunteers for California Pacific Medical Centers Soothing


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Sounds program, bringing music to patients, visitors and employees. She enjoys studying

languages and creating culinary delights. Laura is an age group triathlete and spends most of her

free time training.

I conducted a personal interview with David Arben on May 10, 2007.

David Arben, associate concertmaster emeritus of the Philadelphia Orchestra, obtained his early

musical education at the Chopin Academy of Music in his native Warsaw, Poland. He continued

his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and the Geneva Conservatory of Music in

Switzerland. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Efrem

Zimbalist. Mr. Arben's solo career has taken him to many European countries, the far east,Mexico and South America, as well as the United States. His numerous solo appearances with

orchestras includes those with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, the Orchestra de

la Suisse Romand, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, and others.

He was heard as joint soloist with Henryk Szeryng in the Bach Double Concerto in Nice, France

and also with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Music Center. Mr. Arben has given many

solo recitals, radio and television broadcasts, and chamber music performances, and has been

acclaimed by the press as an artist of the highest calibur.

I conducted a personal interview with Luis Biava on May 12, 2007.

Luis Biava has been associated with The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1968, when he joined the

ensemble as a member of the second violin section. He was first asked to act as a cover conductor

in 1985, and has served as conductor in residence since 1994. He stepped down as principal

second violin at the end of the 1999-2000 season, having played as a member of the Orchestra for

more than three decades. Luis Biava began his musical training in his native Colombia with his

father, who was director of one of the country's leading conservatories, located in Barranquilla.


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He attended the National Conservatory in Bogot, and later earned a master of music degree in

conducting from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where he privately studied violin

with Joseph Fuchs. He also attended the Accademia di St. Cecilia in Rome, where he studied with

Pina Carmirelli. Prior to joining The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr. Biava was a member of the National Symphony in Washington D.C. from 1963-68. He has also served as concertmaster and

associate conductor of the Colombia Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Biava joined the second violin

section of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1968, moving to the first violin section the following

year. In 1981, he was appointed music director of the National Orchestra of Colombia and spent

the 1983-84 season in Bogot. He subsequently returned to Philadelphia to assume the position

of principal second violin. In 1985 he was asked by Riccardo Muti to serve as standby conductor

for Associate Conductor William Smith. During the 1992-93 season he was appointed acting

assistant conductor of the Orchestra, and made his subscription debut in April 1993 at the

invitation of Music Director Wolfgang Sawallisch. He conducted the Orchestras entire series of

education concerts during the 1993-94 season. Luis Biava became conductor in residence of The

Philadelphia Orchestra at the start of the 1994-95 season. Highlights of his recent appearances

with the Orchestra include leading the world premiere of a work for computer and orchestra by

Roger Reynolds in October 1997, and the introduction of special-event programs for April Fool's

Day and for the Christmas holiday season. In addition to his work with The Philadelphia

Orchestra, Mr. Biava has served since 1985 as music director of the Orchestra Society of

Philadelphia and, since 1986, as music director of the orchestral programs at Temple University,

including directing the Temple Youth Chamber Orchestra from the Center for Gifted Young

Musicians. In 1995, he led the Temple Symphony Orchestra in the Philadelphia-area premiere of

John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1. He regularly plays first violin with the Philadelphia Chamber

Ensemble, and has been featured as a guest conductor in both Latin America and Europe,appearing with such ensembles as the Accademica Napolitana Orchestra and the Municipal

Orchestra of So Paulo. Luis Biava has received many awards throughout his career. He was


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awarded the rank of Commendatore in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, and the Medal

of San Carlos, in the rank of Official, from the President of the Republic of Colombia. In 1992, he

received The Philadelphia Orchestras C. Hartman Kuhn Award, given annually to a musician

who has shown both musical ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the musicalstandards and reputation of The Philadelphia Orchestra.

I conducted a personal interview with Victor DeRenzi on May 14, 2007.

2007-08 marks Victor DeRenzis 26th season as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of

Sarasota Opera. As Sarasotas Principal Conductor Maestro DeRenzi has produced over 70

different operas, conducting over 400 performances. He has devoted much of his career to

building Sarasota Opera while continuing to conduct nationally and internationally. Maestro

DeRenzi has appeared across the United States, with Lyric Opera of Chicago as well as at the St.

Louis, Toledo and New Orleans operas. Internationally he has worked in many Canadian cities

(most recently at LOpra du Montral), Hong Kong, Nice and the Canary Islands. He has

conducted much of Verdis non-operatic music and Sarasota Operas I due Foscari in March

2007, will mark the 25th different Verdi opera he has conducted.

Maestro DeRenzis artistic vision, expressed in Sarasota through the Verdi Cycle and the

Masterworks Revival Series, has consistently garnered Sarasota Opera international attention as a

place to experience rarely performed operatic works. This growth in artistic reputation has been

matched in many other areas as well. Under DeRenzis leadership, Sarasota Opera has created

important educational and outreach activities. The year-round activities of the Sarasota Youth

Opera Program introduce young people, ages of 9 to 18, to all aspects of opera. The program

constitutes a remarkable learning and performing opportunity with four Youth Opera Choruses

and an annual production of a professionally staged opera with young people performing. In2006 the Youth Opera presented performances of Aaron Copland's The Second Hurricane.

Maestro DeRenzis interest in the training of professional singers led to the founding of Sarasota


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Operas Apprentice and Studio Artists programs. Chosen from national auditions, the

participants in the Apprentice Artists Program form the chorus for the main stage opera

productions and perform outreach programs.

Recently Maestro DeRenzi returned to the Canary Islands in Spain to conduct Un Ballo inMaschera. He followed these performances with a debut at the Spoleto Festival, USA for their

finale concert.

Although Maestro DeRenzi is a noted Verdi and Puccini conductor, his repertorie includes operas

by Jan_ek, Mozart, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Smetana, and Stravinsky, among others. For Sarasota

Operas 2008 season he will conduct Verdi's Rigoletto and I Due Foscari. Through the Verdi

Cycle, which he began in 1989, Maestro DeRenzi and Sarasota Opera are committed to

performing the entire canon of Verdis works in Sarasota by 2013, the bicentennial of Verdi's

birth.

I conducted a personal interview with Cho-liang Lin on May 14, 2007.

Taiwanese-American violinist Cho-Liang Lin is lauded the world over for the eloquence of his

playing and for the superb musicianship that marks his performances. Renowned for appearances

as a soloist with major orchestras, he is also frequently heard in recital and in chamber music.

Musical America named Mr. Lin its Instrumentalist of the Year in 2000. During the current year,

Mr. Lin continues his wide-ranging musical activities. Performing on four continents, he appears

as soloist with orchestras in Norway, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia,

Canada and the United States. Apart from conventional repertoire, Mr. Lin continues his

advocacy for contemporary music by presenting the world premiere of Taiwanese composer

Gordon Chins Double Concerto with cellist Felix Fan with the San Diego Symphony conducted

by Jahja Ling as well as Chinese composer Bright Shengs Three Fantasies at the Library of Congress with pianist Andre-Michel Schub. This summer, he will perform at festivals in Aspen,

Ravinia, Santa Fe and Naantali, Finland. As artistic director of La Jolla SummerFest for the sixth


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summer, the Los Angeles Times stated that Mr. Lin has put together another bracing and

provocative series. In his capacity as music director, he has helped commission and premiere

works by Chen Yi, Chick Corea, Philip Glass, John Harbison, Mark OConnor, Esa-Pekka

Salonen among others. As a solo artist, he has premiered concerti by Tan Dun, Joel Hoffman,Christopher Rouse, Elie Siegmeister, Bright Sheng, George Tsontakis, George Walker and Chen

Yi. Cho-Liang Lin has recorded for Sony Classical, Decca, Ondine and BIS. His albums have won

such awards as Gramophones Record of the Year, as well as two Grammy Award nominations.

On Sony Classical, his discography includes standard violin repertoire such as concerti ranging

from Mozart to Stravinsky as well as chamber music of Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky,

Debussy and Ravel. For Decca, he recorded the Concerto for Violin and Guitar by Aaron Jay

Kernis with Sharon Isbin, conductor HughWolff and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. For BIS,

he recorded Chen Yis concerto Folk Dance Suite. His recording of the concerto by Christopher

Rouse on Ondine was recently named one of the best classical releases of 2004 by The New York

Times . His current recording projects include Vivaldis Four Seasons with International Sejong

Soloists and Anthony Newman, music of Austrian composer/conductor Georg Tintner with

pianist Helen Huang scheduled for release this autumn on Naxos.

Born in Taiwan in 1960, Cho-Liang Lin began his violin lessons when he was 5 years old. At the

age of 12, he went to Sydney to continue his musical studies. His early teachers include Sylvia

Lee and Robert Pikler. Inspired by an encounter with Itzhak Perlman while in Sydney, he arrived

in New York in 1975 to audition for Mr. Perlmans teacher, the late Dorothy DeLay, at the

Juilliard School. Within two years of his enrollment, Mr. Lin won the first Queen Sofia Violin

Competition in Madrid and his concert career was soon launched. He has been a member of the

Juilliard faculty since 1991 and resides in New York with his wife and daughter.

I conducted an email interview with Sheldon Morgenstern on April 27, 2007.

Sheldon Morgenstern is Music Director Emeritus of the Eastern Music Festival, where he


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received two ASCAP programming awards. He was on the conducting staff at the New England

Conservatory and was Principal Guest Conductor of orchestras in Budapest, Seville, and

Warsaw, as well as Interim Music Director of the Mississippi State Symphony. He continues to

pursue an active conducting and teaching career, and lives in France.

I conducted a phone interview with Elmar Oliveira on May 27, 2007.

Among his generations most honored artists, Elmar Oliveira remains the first and only

American violinist to win the Gold Medal at Moscows Tchaikovsky International Competition.

He is also the first violinist to receive the coveted Avery Fisher Prize, in addition to capturing

First Prizes at the Naumburg international Competition and the G.B. Dealey Competition.

Mr. Oliveira has become a familiar and much-admired figure at the worlds foremost concert

venues. His rigorous international itinerary includes appearances in recital and with many of the

worlds greatest orchestras, including the Zurich Tonhalle, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Leipzig,

Gewandhaus Orchestras; the New York, Helsinki, Los Angeles and London Philharmonic

Orchestras; and the San Francisco, Saint Louis, Boston, and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. He

has also extensively toured the Far East, South America, Australia and New Zealand. Mr.

Oliveiras upcoming engagements include performances at the Amelia Island Festival, Chamber

Music Northwest and with the orchestras of Detroit, Rochester, Honolulu, Seattle, Chattanooga,

Puerto Rico and Buffalo, guest appearances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center,

and several recitals. Mr. Oliveiras repertoire is among the most diverse of any of todays

preeminent artists. While he has been hailed for his performances of the standard violin literature,

he is also a much sought-after interpreter of the music of our time. He has premiered works by

such distinguished composers as Krysztof Penderecki, Morton Gould, Ezra Laderman, CharlesWuorinen, Joan Tower, Aaron Kernis, Andrzej Panufnik, Benjamin Lees, Nicholas Flagello,

Leonard Rosenman, Hugh Aitken, and Richard Yardumian. He has also performed seldom-heard


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concerti by Alberto Ginastera, Einoujuhani Rautavaara, Joseph Achron, Joseph Joachim, and

many others. A prodigious recording artist, Elmar Oliveira was a Grammy nominee for his CD of

the Barber Concerto with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony. His discography on

Artek, Angel, SONY Masterworks, Vox, Delos, IMP, Naxos, Ondine, and Melodiya rangeswidely from works by Bach and Vivaldi to the Present. His best-selling recording of the

Rautavaara Violin Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic (Ondine) won a Cannes Classical

Award and has appeared on Gramophones Editors Choice and other Best Recordings lists

around the world.

Other recordings include the Brahms and Saint-Saens B minor Concerti with Gerard Schwarz and

the Seattle Symphony (Artek), the Respighi B minor and Pizzeti A Major Violin Sonatas

(Artek), Favorite Encores with pianist Robert Koenig (Artek), The three Brahms Sonatas with

pianist Jorge Federico Osorio (Artek), the Joachim Concerto in the Hungarian Manner with the

London Philharmonic (IMP) and the Tower Concerto (written for him) with the Louisville

Orchestra (dNote), the Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, and the Lekeu

Sonata (Biddulph). Of great historical significance are two unique projects: a CD released by Bein

& Fushi of Chicago, featuring Mr. Oliveira performing on some of the worlds greatest violins

(fifteen Stradivaris and fifteen Guarneri del Gesus), and a recording of short pieces highlightingthe rare violins from the collection of the Library of Congress. The son of Portuguese

immigrants, Mr. Oliveira was nine when he began studying the violin with his brother John. He

later continued his studies with Ariana Bronne and Raphael Bronstein at the Hartt College of

Music and the Manhattan School of Music, where Mr. Oliveira also received an honorary

doctorate. Other honors include an honorary doctorate from Binghamton University and the

Order of Santiago, Portugals highest civilian honor. He has served on the juries of some of the

most prestigious violin competitions, including the Montreal, Indianapolis, Naumburg, and

Vianna da Motta. Elmar Oliveira performs on an instrument known as the Stretton, made ca.

1729-30 by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu, and on several other violins by outstanding


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contemporary makers.

Mr. Oliveira is a Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Lynn University Conservatory of

Music in Boca Raton, Florida.

I conducted a personal interview with Suzy Perelman on May 14, 2007.

Violinist Suzy Perelman began her study of the violin at age 6 in the Philadelphia public

schools. At age 8, she enrolled at Settlement Music School for private lessons with Lee Snyder

who remained Suzys teacher for the next 7 years. Suzy then attended the Cleveland Institute of

Music (where she received a Bachelor in Music in 1994), Case Western Reserve University

(Bachelor of Science in Music Education , 1995), and Carnegie Mellon University (Master of

Music, 1998). Her teachers were Linda Cerone, Bernie Goldshmidt, David Updegraff, David

Russell, and Andrs Cardenes. Following school, Suzy played for 1 year with the Utah

Symphony in Salt Lake City, and then for 5 years with the San Antonio Symphony. She left San

Antonio to become the concertmaster of The Phantom of the Opera national tour, with whom

she traveled for 2 years. Suzy moved to NY 2 years ago and became the assistant concertmaster

for the Broadway show Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Suzy is a member of the Brooklyn

Philharmonic, and can also be heard playing in several other orchestras in the NY and

Philadelphia areas. Suzy is the assistant concertmaster of the Broadway show LoveMusik,

featuring the music of Kurt Weill. Suzy is a trained Suzuki Violin teacher and is frequently asked

to serve as a guest clinician at various workshops and institutes throughout the country. She is

very proud of her 18 young private students. When not practicing, performing, or teaching, Suzy

enjoys rollerblading, doing trapeze, playing games, Israeli folk dancing, emailing, TRAVELING,

hiking, and spending time with family and friends.

I conducted a phone interview with Arnold Steinhardt on May 4, 2007.


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Arnold Steinhardt was born in Los Angeles, receiving his early training from Karl Moldrem,

Peter Meremblum and Toscha Seidel, and making his solo debut with the Los Angeles

Philharmonic Orchestra at age 14. He continued his studies with Ivan Galamian at the Curtis

Institute of Music and with Joseph Szigeti in Switzerland in 1962 under the sponsorship of George Szell. Winner of the Philadelphia Youth Competition in 1957, the 1958 Leventritt Award,

and Bronze Medalist in the Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition in 1963, Mr.

Steinhardt has appeared throughout North America and Europe as a recitalist and soloist with

orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and the Cleveland

Orchestra, among others. Mr. Steinhardt is first violinist and a founding member (1964) of the

internationally acclaimed Guarneri String Quartet with which he has made innumerable tours

across the globe and recorded dozens of albums for RCA Victor, Philips, Arabesque and

Surrounded by Entertainment. He is professor of violin at Rutgers University Mason Gross

School of the Arts, the University of Maryland, and the Curtis Institute of Music where he has

directed the Curtis Orchestra in several concerts including an appearance on French television.

Arnold Steinhardt is the author of two books, Indivisible by Four: A String Quartet in Pursuit of

Harmony , published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the fall of 1998, and Violin Dreams , a

personal memoir and "love letter to the violin," published by Houghton Mifflin in 2006. He is the

author of articles which have appeared in Chamber Music America , Musical America and

Keynote . Recipient of Honorary Doctorates from the University of South Florida and Harpur

College, Arnold Steinhardt has also received an award for distinguished cultural service from the

City of New York presented by Mayor Koch. Mr. Steinhardt's recordings include Romantic

Music for Violin and Piano which he recorded "direct-to-disc" with pianist Lincoln Mayorga for

the audiophile Sheffield label, an album of music for violin and piano by women composers on

Northeastern Records; and a TownHall label recording of unaccompanied Bach works.Steinhardt's latest CD of Robert Fuchs' music on Biddulph recordings features him on both violin

and viola with his brother Victor as pianist. Arnold Steinhardt plays a Lorenzo Storioni violin


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from Cremona, Italy, late 18th century.

I conducted an email interview with Lisa Sutton on May 27, 2007.

Lisa Sutton, violinist, is a native of Vancouver, Canada, where she began her musical studies at

an early age on piano and violin. During high school she studied with Canadian virtuoso Steven

Staryk, and performed as concertmaster and soloist with the National Youth Orchestra of

Canada. Having been awarded grants from both the British Columbia Cultural Fund and Canada

Council for the Arts, she entered the Yale School of Music as a performance major. While at Yale

she was a prize winner in the Sprague Woolsey Competition and performed as a soloist with the

Yale Philharmonia. Ms. Sutton holds a Master of Music degree from Yale University, andstudied there with Broadus Erle, Syoko Aki and Szymon Goldberg. Currently Ms. Sutton

resides in Altadena, California, and is the Assistant Concertmaster for the Los Angeles Opera

Orchestra. She also works as a recording musician in the motion picture and television industry.

For many years she was a Principal player with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as well as

Associate Concertmaster with the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Prior

to living in Los Angeles, Ms. Sutton was a member of the Houston Symphony Orchestra.

I conducted a phone interview with Donald Weilerstein on June 3, 2007.

Donald Weilerstein has concertized extensively as soloist and chamber musician throughout the

world. For twenty years (1969-1989) Mr. Weilerstein was the first violinist of the renowned

Cleveland Quartet with whom he toured the world. His recordings with the quartet can be heard

on the RCA, Telarc, CBS, Phillips, and Pro Arte labels. These recordings have earned seven

Grammy nominations and won Best of the Year awards from Time and Stereo Review. He was a

member of the Young Concert Artists and a participant in the Marlboro Music Festival,

performing on several "Music from Marlboro" Tours. In 1968 he won the Munich International


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Competition for violin and piano duo. Mr. Weilerstein has taught and performed at such major

American and European music festivals as Tanglewood, Caramoor, Aspen, Ravinia, Marlboro,

Mostly Mozart, Salzburg, Luzern, Verbier, Ishikawa, Keshet Eilon, "Chamber Music

Encounters" sponsored by La Cit de la Musique and the Paris Conservatory, and many more.He regulary particpates in theYellow Barn Music Festival and the Perlman Music Program. He

will teach in Shanghai,China this summer as part of the Morningside Music Bridge. Formerly a

professor of violin and chamber music at the Eastman School and the Cleveland Institute of

Music, he is currently on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music. His students

have been prize winners in major national and international competitions, including first prizes in

the Indianapolis, Naumburg and Hanover competitions and second prize in the Queen Elizabeth

Competition. His students can be heard in many of today's leading orchestras and chamber

ensembles. Mr. Weilerstein is also a faculty member at the Juilliard School.

My enthusiasm for this project led me to invest in trips to New York, Philadelphia, and around

California. Due to the busy nature of a performers' schedule, interviews with Roy Malan

(Concertmaster of San Francisco Ballet), Midori (renowned soloist), and Aaron Rosand

(renowned soloist) have been scheduled for a later date. In addition to the hours of travel and

conducting interviews, there were many more hours spent transcribing their words. This has

become a project that I plan to expand either in written form or on film.

My research may be subjective- Cho-liang Lin refers to such issues as the intangibles in the

music business- but I believe extremely valuable for all music lovers but especially for those

interested in pursuing a concert career. I have a high respect and admiration for all those whocontributed. They share a profound love and devotion to their art. I am grateful for their service

to the field and generosity towards my research.


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Interviews

Question 1

What is your definition of a successful concert artist?

Victor DeRenzi: You start off tough [chuckles]. For me it is a person who gets to perform music

in a way they want to in places they want to. I think the most important thing is the way they

want to. 7

Arnold Steindhardt: Somebody who has succeeded in getting people to hire him or her to play

concerts with the result that people walk away feeling happy or at least more fulfilled by the

experience. 8

Suzy Perelman: The first thing that comes to mind is someone who makes the bulk of their living

performing and that is usually the result of a very spirited performer who has something to say

with their music, who has done their homework throughout the years and plays not only with

that beautiful spirit but with cleanliness and precision. 9

Lisa Sutton: Someone who is earning a living in their desired profession. 10

Sheldon Morgenstern: Someone who performs in such a manner as to attract sufficient interest

for engagement by orchestras, and, more importantly someone who continues to strive for

improvement throughout their career. 11

7 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.8 Arnold Steinhardt, Phone Interview, 4 May 2007.9 Suzy Perelman, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.10 Lisa Sutton, Email Interview, 27 May 2007.11 Sheldon Morgenstern, Email Interview, 27 April 2007.


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Mark Summer: There's success on a lot of levels. There's financial success which is the ability to

support yourself and your family if you have one. Definitely artistic success: feeling inspired to

keep growing as a musician and as an artist. There's success in terms of what you're contributingto society. In [Turtle Island String Quartet's] case the string community, creating opportunities

for people to join what you're doing. One of the levels that I feel really pleased with my success

is that other cellists are playing my music- something I never imagined. And it's confusing to me

because my ego is very happy on one level and my critical self is saying, Why are they playing

my music? They should be playing such and such. Ultimately I'm really pleased with anything

I do to inspire other string players, especially young string players. 12

Luis Biava: Performing beautifully on stage, whether it's a concerto or recital with sonatas.

Personal satisfaction is also to produce a lot of good music, not just to play the notes. In

addition, to play for an audience that appreciates what you do. You can feel that on stage. In

performance I don't think there is a definitive idea that, This was great. We never think that

way. If you want to make progress as a musician we consider that we could always do better. I

don't know there is an ideal situation for a successful concert artist because we're always thinking

of doing better. 13

Cho-liang Lin: When I was younger, just out of college, I would have said that a successful

concert career would mean that you were regularly engaged by the top tier orchestras around the

world, had recording contract of substance, solo albums, and recitals around the world. A few

years ago there was a New York Times profile on Yo Yo Ma. He was trying to define success.

What he said provoked so many different reactions from my colleagues who read that article. YoYo said that real success is how fulfilling your musical endeavors are, in that if you practice 12 Mark Summer, Personal Interview, 1 May 2007.13 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.


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towards a particular end the process of trying to achieve that goal can already be a very fulfilling

experience. In that sense, it's already a success. Some of my colleagues said, That's great. It's

so philosophical. And then other colleagues said, Yes. Well, that's easy for Yo Yo to say.

[laughter] To this day I'm grappling with [what a successful concert artist is]. Artistic venueshave changed so much. Let's take for example my definition of a successful concert career 25

years ago. It's no longer viable for everybody. Let's use violinists for instance... they use

different, sometimes unconventional venues to promote a career. For instance some will play and

actively promote contemporary music. I know some of these colleagues that are true believers of

new music. They genuinely love it. At the same time I've talked to managers who worry about

these very artists saying, You know so and so? She's carving a real niche for herself but perhaps

in the wrong area. She'll be identified forever as a contemporary music violinist. Nobody will

every want her to play Brahms or Beethoven. Everybody has different worries. I now have a

much broader view and definition of what is a successful concert career because I think you can

find great joy and reward in becoming a respected teacher. You can carve a very significant niche

in your community by advocating concert activities and musical education. Some of my

colleagues have become administrators. Even I have become an administrator in the sense that I

have a music festival in San Diego. [Musicians] branch out in all sorts of ways. To deviate from

violinists for a second, let me share about two cellists. Matt Haimovitz's career had a great

beginning. At 18 or 19 he was recording for Deutsch Gramophone with Levine and Chicago

Symphony. Then something changed. His name was no longer on the concert billboards and

next thing I knew I read in the New York Times that he was playing at pizza parlors around the

country. He played anything from George Crumb to Bach. He seems to be happy doing

whatever he is doing. Then there is David Finckel who already has a great quartet established,

the Emerson. He finds additional fulfillment in running Music at Menlo as well as Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center. So, in a way, I think everybody gets his or her thrills

differently and I think the old definition that I mentioned earlier no longer suffice. Also, when


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you become a respected member of a tremendous top rank orchestra there's a lot of pride in that

too. There's such a broad range of possibilities that I hate painting anybody into a niche saying,

This is the only way you can be ranked as successful. 14

Donald Weilerstein: I dont think of it as being successful or unsuccessful but more what would

be a fulfilled person doing this kind of work. A successful, or fulfilled, concert artist would be

one that can directly communicate and move and inspire his listeners. One condition of being a

successful concert artist is whether they have something to say. It's not so much the size of the

venue. Another aspect is performing in the community, communicating with children and

reaching as many people as possible. The first thing is the ability to communicate. To reach

people in any venue is a wonderful thing, whether it be in schools or nursing homes. It's also

wonderful if they can teach and inspire others. I do think they have to be moved by what they

are doing and really communicate that with people. Some people are able to teach more easily

than others are. I dont think a person would have to be a teacher to be fulfilled or successful as a

concert artist, although its wonderful if the two can go together. 15

David Arben: What one aspires to become in life... You must be very much in love with the

music or the instrument that you play and be totally dedicated. And then you have to have luck.

When you have both [dedication and luck] you have to have a lot of patience. Through hard

work, patience and luck, it is possible for some to make it. There are many wonderful artists and

great talents. Not that they don't deserve [a great career] but things in life happen that make it

unachievable. 16

14 Cho-liang Lin, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.15 Donald Weilerstein, Phone Interview, 3 June 2007.16 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.


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Question 2

What were/are the key factors to establishing your success as a concert artist?

Elmar Oliveira: I grew up in a household where music, especially the violin, was something that

was very special. My father had such a love for the instrument. My mother did as well but for

my father it was almost an obsession. Of course he adored Heifetz. There was always music in

the home and specifically violin music, more so than anything else. Also, my brother was a

professional violinist. He was 11 years older than me and played with the Houston Symphony

for 20 years and in other orchestras. He was my mentor as I was growing up. He watched over

me, the way I practiced, what I did, so that was a great help. So, having that support all the time

in the home was one of the most important things for developing my love and discipline for the

violin. My schooling stems from the Russian Leopold Auer school. My main teacher was

Raphael Bronstein, from the time I was 13. He was a pupil of Auer in the same class as Nathan

Milstein... I garnered a tremendous amount from that tradition of teaching. Also, Bronstein had

his own things to add to that. I think the tie to that type of violin playing, [the schooling] that

produced Heifetz, Milstein, Zimbalist, Elman, has always been a strong part of my playing. The

stylistic approach to playing the violin that is inherent in that schooling was something that wasunique to me as a younger artist in a generation when that was already not so prevalent. 17

Luis Biava: Sounds like I believe I am really successful [smiling]. But we never stop thinking and

trying to be better. I want to make that point. I think it's trying to be prepared in life. If you

play the violin try to be the best. When I was born there were already great violinists- Heifetz,

Oistrakh, Milstein... That didn't mean that I should lower my guard and not practice. I felt

there's room for everybody. My father always told me, 'If you are prepared in life, you will go

far.' So that's what I've been doing all my life. I never accept a responsibility I cannot

17 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.


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completely fulfill. I don't like to learn on the job. I like to be prepared and do it. 18

Donald Weilerstein: For me the key factors were having a lot of music in the home, being taken to

concerts, being around other musicians and being exposed to all kinds of music. I was taken tostring concerts but also to jazz, pop concerts and operas. I also had supportive parents and

teachers I could learn. It's important to just be excited about it. When I was around 10 or 11

years old I had a recording of Arthur Rubinstein playing Appassionata Sonata. I rode my

tricycle frantically around the house during the last movement because I was so excited by it. 19

Arnold Steinhardt: First of all, recognizing that I had the talent, the inclination to pursue that

talent for at least the first steps. Getting an undisciplined kid, as almost all children are, to

practice, because unlike some instruments that you can start later on in childhood, string

instruments, especially the violin, demands working pretty early on. What child wants to do

that? This is a joint project of parents and teacher and the child involved. That combination, the

three being essential, doesn't necessarily always happen, so in that sense I was lucky. 20

David Arben: This is a great formula because the child needs the approval of the parent. We

were three children and my mother and father would always say to us, You are very special.

Nobody can ever hurt you. You are talented. You are everything good. Because of living in an

atmosphere where the parents say you're very special, when bad times comes along you are a

much better fighter to survive. If somebody said, You'll never amount to anything. You're so

stupid. You don't understand anything. That would have been death. You cannot grow. M y

mother used to take me to lessons. My father worried that my mother may not understand what

she was hearing and what to tell me so my father started to take me to lessons. In the old days a

18 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.19 Donald Weilerstein, Phone Interview, 3 June 2007.20 Arnold Steinhardt, Phone Interview, 4 May 2007.


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lesson was not 45 minutes, watching the clock. A lesson was a minimum of two hours and I had

lessons that would last 3 hours. Three hours. My father thought I could not digest the three

hours, that I would get sick. My father fainted during one of my lessons. We had to revive him.

My father was concerned it was too much for me. It was too much for him [smiles]. My father sacrificed himself in a sense, he sacrificed his family. I would go home and practice. He sat in the

chair next to me. He would say, this is a wrong note. He became very knowledgeable about

my violin playing. You made a mistake. You have to do it again. And I did it again. So you

have to have the teacher, the parent and the child working together to make it a success. 21

Suzy Perelman: Oh, I can talk for hours about that. Im a Suzuki violin teacher, so working with

a parent and a student in a triangle is the way all of my lessons work. For a lot of my upbringing,

thats the way my lessons worked. In the early years it was just as important to have the

support at home as it was in the lesson. I could do no wrong by my mom. Everything deserved

applause. Dad was kind of a counter balance to that. He kept me real. That positive

reinforcement kept me going as a little kid. Later when my parents didnt have nearly the role in

my lessons and couldnt help me as much at home they still, especially my mom, kept pouring

on encouragement I remember my father would sit there and practice with me for years. He

would sit on the piano bench and I would stand. He would help me with my practicing every

step of the way from six through when I was nine. I remember the day he said, I cant practice

with you anymore, the music is too hard for me. And I was totally at a loss. I didnt know

what I would do, but it worked out. 22

Lisa Sutton: I would say that factors that contribute to success are a) talent, b) training, c)

practice, d) focus, e)intuition and f) awareness.23

21 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.22 Suzy Perelman, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.23 Lisa Sutton, Email Interview, 27 May 2007.


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Cho-liang Lin: Let me go a little further back. I think the key ingredients are (1) family support,

(2) educational environment, and that involves teachers. You also need to have a very stimulating

environment in which to grow. For me, Juilliard was the right place. I saw the challengeeveryday and I wanted to rise to the occasion. And third is what I call the intangibles. Those

intangibles include luck and timing. Also, a personal aura or personal approach that will endear

you to your audience and those who shape the music world. This category is the hardest to

define. You can be an excellent violinist in school and that does not translate into a successful

career. It's how you transmit your ideas on stage, how you walk on stage, how you present

yourself in front of the audience, how to communicate your thoughts clearly to your audience.

Also, how to work with other musicians. That's why I encourage chamber music training to all

young players. It's not that they will end up playing chamber music, there's nothing wrong with

that, it's great, but some people who say, I'm going to play the Brahms or Tchaikovsky

Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic four years from now so why should I bother with

chamber music? I have to remind them that when you're playing a concerto with the Berlin

Philharmonic you are in fact playing chamber music with 80 players in the orchestra. You'd

better know your stuff because you can't play however you feel that day and [expect] the

orchestra to follow. You'll lose the respect of those players and [it could possibly be] the end of

your career. It comes down to how you listen to music and how you work with other musicians.

This is very important in this third group that I call the intangibles. To go back to the first

ingredient, the support, initially, without that support, help, and encouragement, a young talent

will find it very hard to grow. 24

Laura Albers: I would say discipline is a key factor, having that discipline from an early age. Iknow a lot of people start much later but it seems that most of us have started fairly early and

24 Cho-liang Lin, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.


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had parents who taught us the discipline of practicing every day or practiced with us every day.

I think you have to be able to relate to people well and follow through - and I think thats what a

lot of musicians are lacking. Your general personality and energy makes all the difference in the

world whether you get hired again.25

Fritz Kreisler: I think the technical element in the artist's education is often unduly stressed.

Remember [added Mr. Kreisler, with a smile] I am not a teacher, and this is a purely personal

opinion I am giving you. But it seems to me that absolute sincerity of effort, actual impossibility

not to react to a genuine musical impulse are of great importance. I firmly believe that if one is

destined to become an artist the technical means find themselves. The necessity of expression

will follow the line of least resistance. Too great a manual equipment often leads to an

exaggeration of the technical and tempts the artist to stress it unduly. I have worked a great deal

in my life, but have always found that too large an amount of purely technico-musical work

fatigued me and reacted unfavorably on my imagination. As a rule I only practice enough to keep

my fingers in trim; the nervous strain is such that doing more is out of the question. And for a

concert-violinist when on tour, playing every day, the technical question is not absorbing. Far

more important is it for him to keep himself mentally and physically fresh and in the right mood

for his work. For myself I have to enjoy whatever I play or I cannot play it. And it has often

done me more good to dip my finger-tips in hot water for a few seconds before stepping out on

the platform than to spend a couple of hours practicing. But I should not wish the student to

draw any deductions from what I say on this head. It is purely personal and has no general

application. Technical exercises I use very moderately. I wish my imagination to be responsive,

my interest fresh, and as a rule I have found that too much work along routine channels does not

accord with the best development of my Art. I feel that technique should be in the player's head,it should be a mental picture, a sort of 'master record.' It should be a matter of will power to

25 Laura Albers, Personal Interview, 6 May 2007.


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which the manual possibilities should be subjected. Technique to me is a mental and not a

manual thing. 26

Sheldon Morgenstern: My horn and conducting teachers, plus the unique conducting programthat then existed at NEC; in other words, four students maximum with each having a 45 minute

weekly rehearsal with the repertoire orchestra. 27

Victor DeRenzi: For me, there are a couple things but I think the most important thing was that I

spent a lot of time in the theater watching performances. I try to never take myself out of that

position [as an audience member]. The audience is a very important part of any artistic

experience whether it's opera, a solo pianist or whether you're in a symphony. I think sometimes

as musicians we forget about that- we forget that it's really nice if the audience likes what we're

doing. Sometimes we play and perform for ourselves which in certain ways of making music is a

valid way of making music but if you're out there and you want to have a career it's good to

consider the audience. So for me going to the opera four times a week, growing up in New York

where you have the option of seeing 15 things every night if you wanted to, was a very

important part of my training. 28

Leila Josefowicz: You have to believe that you can have a crack at whatever you want to do, and

in this I had incredible support from my family. Some people would have called it pressure, I

guess- it depends on who you talk to- but without that kind of help I couldn't have succeeded.

Viktoria Mullova's father, an engineer, attended many of her violin lessons, making notes about

her performance, and afterward they would discuss technical details at home. It wasn't unusual 26 Violin Mastery: Interviews with Heifetz, Auer, Kreisler and Others, Frederick H. Martens ed. (New York: Dover

Publications, 2006): 63, 64.27 Sheldon Morgenstern, Email Interview, 27 April 2007.28 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.


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for the young Viktoria- still a child- to practice for several hours a day under his guidance.

Chee-Yun Kim: ...in my parents' generation, the mother always stayed home with their children

to nurture and motivate them. I don't remember any students who were successful at Juilliard,whether they were from here or Korea, who did not have one parent who came with them to

Juilliard.

These musicians follow the pattern of starting study at a very young age: for example,

Josefowicz began at three, Mullova at four, Hahn at four, Repin at five and Lin at five. 29

Question 3

Talent. Can one acquire it?

Elmar Oliveira: Talent can be many things. Some people have a talent in a certain area. For

instance, the facility in which they play the violin. Others have talent in the more deeper, more

musical understanding. Other people have a talent in way they produce the sound on the

instrument. These are all individual talents but [ideally] you shouldn't separate one from the

other. In the end, the violinist is the total sum of all his talents. Some people have more of one

thing than another. But it is essential that one is born with this talent for the violin. One can

acquire the development, and even extraordinary development, of the fundamental aspects of

violin playing. But one will never sound the same as a person who has the sheer talent for these

fundamentals. 30

29 Violin Virtuosos, Mary VanClay ed. (California: String Letter Publishing, 2000): 16, 49, 76, 92, 102.30 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.


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Donald Weilerstein: I think there definitely has to be a certain amount of instinct. I think that

one can develop what one has. I do believe there is something like 20 to 25% that is innate or

instinctual and the rest is how you develop it, what influences you are exposed to, how you

yourself develop [your talent], such as practice habits. There are some people who may not beable to develop [their talent] if they are completely tone deaf but there are some people who

think that you can develop an ear from that too. I think some are more talented than others but

you can do an awful lot to develop depending on the influences surrounding you. 31

Lisa Sutton: No, I dont think so. There are however, different levels of talent, which means that

with hard work and some talent it is possible to be successful. 32

Cho-liang Lin: I think there are two layers of talent. One is the instinctive, your automatic grasp

of how you feel about music. That translates into how well you express your feelings through

music. I think that is a given talent, you cannot acquire it. The second layer of talent is the

physical talent, to be able to play the instrument well. That can be trained although on the

highest level you still need the natural ability. That's what separates Heifetz from the other great

violinists. There is that extra 10% that makes Heifetz's playing utterly incredible. We all gasp at

what it is Heifetz was able to do. I ask other great violinists but we can't figure out what it is

that made him do it. That special kind of talent is very unusual but on a more common place

level, the physical talent can be taught. In the end it's up to the individual to combine those two

talents. 33

31 Donald Weilerstein, Phone Interview, 3 June 2007.32 Lisa Sutton, Email Interview, 27 May 2007.33 Cho-liang Lin, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.


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David Arben: First of all, as I said before, my parents called me a violin virtuoso. When I heard

talented I thought it was coming with the territory. I didn't know what talent meant. Sometimes

talent can be acquired. I've had students who had some talent and after a few years became very

talented. With hard work, intelligence and total dedication one can become very talented. Even anon-talent can achieve something. 34

Laura Albers: I hate it when somebody tells me how talented I am - because I think thats the

most ridiculous thing. I think that how you play has a lot more to do with your personality than

your talent. If you have good solid training, discipline and the nurturing, I think anybody can

become an outstanding musician. But some people will get much further with the exact same

training and practice schedule because it comes more naturally. 35

Suzy Perelman: I think every person can learn to play the violin well. Does it come more easily

to some? Absolutely. The reason it comes more easily to some is mostly their environment. If a

child is reared with music constantly around them, with constant rhythm, with constant

encouragement to express, with constant positive reinforcement, with constant dedication to

doing something meaningful, that kid is going to be more talented. Is there any geneticcomponent? Definitely, but I think there is much more of the nurture in this nature versus

nurture. 36

Luis Biava: Sarah Chang played for me when she was six, the third Mozart Concerto. She's from

Philadelphia. I remember when she started. Her vibrato was good. So there was something that

comes from upstairs. There was already talent there. There are some instances when the parents

start pushing a lot. They think this is support and that it's good for them but you have to

34 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.35 Laura Albers, Personal Interview, 6 May 2007.36 Suzy Perelman, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.


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establish a good relationship and make them feel well-balanced. You have to be very careful with

the child prodigy because they are not normal. The tendency is for it to go to their head. For

instance, if I have a boy that is very good with numbers then I have to give him some guidance in

the right direction. I think support from family and friends is important [for those children].37

Fritz Kreisler: I do not believe that any artist is truly a master of his instrument unless his

control of it is an integral part of a whole. The musician is born his medium of expression is

often a matter of accident. I believe on may be intended for an artist prenatally; but whether

violinist, cellist or pianist is partly a matter of circumstance. 'Violin Master,' to my mind, still

falls short of perfection, in spite of the completest technical and musical equipment, if the artist

thinks only of the instrument he plays. After all, it is just a single medium of expression. The

true musician is an artist with a special instrument. And every real artist has the feeling for other

forms and mediums of expression if he is truly a master of his own... Nothing can express music

but music itself. Tradition in interpretation does not mean a cut-and-dried set of rules handed

down; it is, or should be, a matter of individual sentiment, of inner conviction. What makes one

man an artist and keeps another an amateur is a God-given instinct for the artistically and

musically right. It is not a thing to be explained, but to be felt. There is often only a narrow line

of demarcation between the artistically right and wrong. Yet nearly every real artist will be found

to agree as to when and when not that boundary has been overstepped. Sincerity and personality

as well as disinterestedness, an expression of himself in his art that is absolutely honest, thes, I

believe, are ideals which every artist should cherish and try to realize. 38

Question 4

Besides the formative years, what things become important later on in order to achieve success?

37 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.38 Violin Mastery: Interviews with Heifetz, Auer, Kreisler and Others, Frederick H. Martens ed. (New York: Dover

Publications, 2006): 63, 66.


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Lisa Sutton: Focus and determination, along with intuition and awareness. 39

Elmar Oliveira: It depends on a lot of different things. It depends on discipline, talents and luck.If you're talking about a soloist, one has to start when they are very young. And one has to

develop a very strong facility and a grasp of the repertoire at a very early age. I think by the time

you are 17 or 18 years old you should be able to play most of the standard repertoire in

performance. And then, of course, you develop from there for the rest of your life. One never

achieves one's expectations. I think in terms of having a successful career as a concert artist, one

has to have a plan in mind of how one is going to proceed to try to achieve a career. There are

lots of ways of doing this and not all of them work for everyone. One of the ways of achieving a

successful career is through winning a major competition. If you're lucky enough to do that and

you can sustain the interest from the orchestras, conductors and presenters after that is done then

that gives you a certain assurance that you are at least going to have a long run, if not one that

lasts forever. The other way people achieve success in a career is perhaps by having the support

of one or two conductors that really likes the playing of that person and helps to promote their

career by engaging them with different orchestras they conduct, helping to secure recording

contracts, etc. The other way is the long, strong haul which is just having that perseverance,

keeping at every possible way one can achieve a career for oneself. Just stick with that and see

how far you can go with it. Many people have been very successful in achieving important

careers in that manner. 40

Victor DeRenzi: In the beginning it was just doing a lot of stuff. At a certain point I was just

committed to conducting those 20 operas a year even though the quality was pretty bad. Ineeded the experience. Then along the way I made the call to eliminate those and do less work 39 Lisa Sutton, Email Interview, 27 May 2007.40 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.


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but feel better about the work that I was producing. In the beginning as a conductor you have to

conduct anybody who is willing to watch you beat time. If you stay in that position it's very

easy to gain a technique that's about keeping things together and not really making music. It's a

technique geared towards working with amateurs or not very good professionals. At a certain point you have to transition out of that, as a conductor especially, and say, my life is not to make

amateurs better amateurs, not that there's anything wrong with that, but if that's not where you

want to remain, then you have to decide to work with professionals. 41

Arnold Steinhardt: For a career, you can be a wonderful musician and a wonderful instrumentalist

and still wind up not having a career. Many factors are involved. This happens later on in life.

If you're a child prodigy it happens earlier but most of us are not child prodigy's. In general there

are other things and they have to do with timing, your ambition, perhaps a little bit of cleverness,

and maybe just dumb luck. [Laughter from RJ] Don't dismiss that as idle, the dumb luck element

in this. 42

Sheldon Morgenstern: I don't believe in sheer luck in our discipline, and very little in business

skills. Talent, in my view, is the primary "must." 43

Suzy Perelman: There is certainly the factor of rubbing elbows with the right people and knowing

how to act, knowing not to be too forward, humble and not to be too afraid to ask the advice of

people who have been around longer than you have. There is a good friend of mine here in New

York who has been around for awhile and he is constantly mentoring me as to what I should and

should not say to people. I really appreciate that. When a big time contractor here in New York

calls and offers you a gig, you cannot say, How much does it pay? Of course it seems logical.

41 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.42 Arnold Steinhardt, Phone Interview, 4 May 2007.43 Sheldon Morgenstern, Email Interview, 27 April 2007.


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Philadelphia because I knew Philadelphia having been here at the Curtis Institute. I graduated

from the Curtis Institute. I auditioned [for Philadelphia Orchestra] and got the job. When I got

the job I was at the end of the section. My first year I was in the second violins. My second

year Mr. Ormandy put me in the first violins and gradually I moved up until I became associateconcertmaster for 23 years, and soloist for many years. 45

Mark Summer: There are a lot of ways to answer that question. Having a project that was viable

was huge. To have an on-going schedule you need to have a project that generates the support to

carry it through the lean times in the beginning and sometimes lean times in the middle. Careers

are like waves, they go up and they go down. So having a vehicle like Turtle Island for me has

been essential. The business is a hard business. It's wonderful to have something that you can

hook onto that's such a great concept. Perserverence. The willingness to part ways with people

when you need to. Turtle Island has had a lot of people come and go. The ability to create new

work and to enlist the support of record companies, booking agents, publicists, all the people

that are going to help make it fly. 46

Laura Albers: Attitude. Attitude makes all the difference in the world, because Ive seen millions

of people who have the exact same training but life is hard for them. So, they probably wont be

working and will always be complaining, and the more they complain the harder it gets. I think

attitude is a lot of what it has to do with. 47

Victor DeRenzi: The obvious thing [I'm looking for when I hire the musicians for the Sarasota

Opera Orchestra] is that you have to play a certain number of right notes in tune and at a certain

time. Beyond that there is an expressivity that is very important to making music. I often hear

45 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.46 Mark Summer, Personal Interview, 1 May 2007.47 Laura Albers, Personal Interview, 6 May 2007.


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people preparing for auditions with a metronome. To me, that's the last thing I want to hear. I

don't know what's good about following a metronome. I don't think that was the intention of a

metronome. I think the intention was to give you an idea of how fast a piece went. It's become a

crutch for musicians. I would rather hear a musician play an expressive phrase. And there issomething they say about the music that is not what everybody else says. How much someone

can do that from a tape [shrugs shoulders]. The next step is after their first season, how do they

actually make that happen in a performance situation, how they deal with their colleagues, how

much they are willing to jump into the situation at Sarasota Opera and say, I feel like this is my

company and I want to play as part of this company. Some people get that immediately and

some people never really get it. 48

Question 5

How much does music conservatory contribute to one's success?

Cho-liang Lin: The conservatory is a very important factor. It can a lay a really good foundation.

Isaac Stern used to say he never went to high school. He never went to a conservatory. He

learned by asking questions all his life. He used to say, I was a pest. I would ceaselessly asked

questions. He learned that way. But not everyone has the brash and inquisitive mind of Isaac

Stern. We have to be spoon-fed certain knowledge about music, and conservatories do that.

From my own Juilliard experience, the school here was a microcosm of what was to be outside.

Except the world was 50 times tougher than what Juilliard had to offer. However Juilliard

prepared me well. First off I thought the competitive atmosphere from within the school I

thought was healthy. Some of my schoolmates hated it but it turned out to be a sneak peek of

the real pressure in the outside world. Secondly , if you take every academic course seriously,let me qualify that, to the extent that you had time to study all these subjects apart from your

48 Victor Derenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.


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violin, you really could learn a lot. When I was in school I had the typical teenager attitude

saying, Well, who needs ear training. It doesn't help me play the Paganini Caprices more in

tune. But in the end when you do come around, 15 years later you are confronted with certain

rhythmic patterns in Berg, Stravinsky, or Ned Rorem's music where those rhythmic dictationscome in handy. You come back and utilize those things. There's a ground laying effect for

conservatory training but it's up to the individual to continue that inquisitive path. 49

Laura Albers: I think there are so many more well-trained musicians with nowhere to go after

school, which is why everybody stays in school for five million degrees these days. They keep

making up more degrees. [smiles] It has to do with how you relate to your teacher, how you

experience it all. Some people can go in and practice ten hours a day and then come out [of

school], and wonder why they are not getting anywhere. Thats because they didnt experience

anything else along with the conservatory. What you put into it, you get out of it - not just a

zillion hours of practice, but the involvement. For example, I found in Cleveland [Institute of

Music], I had never played in studio class, which was something that really, really bothered me

because I came from a background of being on stage, performing all the time, and suddenly there

were no performance opportunities. I found out at the end of my last year that all I had to do

was ask. I thought [my teacher] only had his really good students [play] in studio class. That's a

good example of when I could have been more pro-active in creating the experience I wanted to be

have. At Juilliard it was more standard. Our class was small with Copes and people rotated

around and everybody always had a chance [to perform]. 50

Lisa Sutton: In my case, greatly. I was at the Yale School of Music, and it was a good

49 Cho-liang Lin, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.50 Laura Albers, Personal Interview, 6 May 2007.


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environment for me to develop as a violinist. 51

Luis Biava: [Music conservatory] does not always contribute to one's success. You are lucky to

have a place that can really help. I think it's a good idea. It's a center of development for a young

person to start. It's important to start young. Take advantage by watching how others do it.

Know that you are not alone. Use that knowledge to make you practice more. 52

Donald Weilerstein: I think conservatories can make a big difference, absolutely. I think it's really

important to be exposed to a lot of music and a kind of atmosphere where you are able to inspire

yourself. It's nice to find a teacher that can bring that out of you but ultimately it has to come

from the individual. It is terribly important to find your positive influences, whether it 's your

[private] teacher, a chamber music coach, conductor or anybody who loves music and is able to

impart that and influence you. I think who you are exposed to has a lot to do with it, the kinds

of values you're around, the types of reading and music listening you can do. Listen to different

kinds of music. I think particularly opera and vocal music is really important for any [musician]

to listen to. Listen to all types of music, pop and folk music as well. The atmosphere you are in

and the private teacher that you are working with can help bring our your innate abilities. I think

it is important for each individual to find his own way and find what conservatory or college

suits him and what teacher suit them as well. 53

Mark Summer: That's a very important question for me because I like to say I'm in recovery from

classical music. I have a lot of baggage that I've had to overcome. There were a lot of negative

51 Lisa Sutton, Email Interview, 27 May 2007.52 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.53 Donald Weilerstein, Phone Interview, 3 June 2007.


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things that went along with the positive things I got from a music education that I've had to heal

from. That being said, my technique is from my classical training. Certainly my arco technique-

all the basic ways I play the instrument. My solid foundation came from classical training. In

conservatory there is a certain cookie-cutter approach of, 'We're going to take everyone thatcomes in and try to make them into this certain kind of player.' Some of it's like when you

become a doctor. You learn about physiology and the body. In music you learn all your scales,

sight-singing, ear training, harmony... But the basic attitude, at least when I went to school,

seemed to be you start at a deficit- almost like they're going to mold you into something rather

than discover what you already are. I know that every school wasn't like that, but for me I was

not at all certain I wanted to be a classical musician. I was at a place that was pre-disposed to

turn me into one so when I left school I got a job in the Winnipeg Symphony. I don't think I had

a lot of confidence in myself and I really had to push through that. I know that people at my

school developed tendonitis, playing problems. I know that it wasn't a happy place for me. It

was a hard road. But it definitely made me stronger. I couldn't do what I do without having gone

to conservatory. 54

Sheldon Morgenstern: [Music conservatory contributes] zero. It's the teacher(s) who made the

difference. 55

Victor DeRenzi: It depends on a lot of things. It depends on what you do. If you're a soloist it

has more to do with your specific teacher. It depends on the city you're in. I think the advantage

of going to Manhattan [School of Music] or Juilliard is that it's in New York City. You meet a lot

of people, make a lot of connections, and you're surrounded by a lot of people who love what

54 Mark Summer, Personal Interview, 1 May 2007.55 Sheldon Morgenstern, Email Interview, 27 April 2007.


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you do. I think that's more important than what conservatory you go to. I think we go to school

for too long. We spend too much time in universities instead of just going out and making [a

career]. Where did Horowitz or Heifetz go? 56

David Arben: I think the music school can contribute to ones success. First of all, the school is

very proud if they can have someone who graduates and makes a career. It's good for the school.

It's good for the student. It's good for everybody. Some of the schools can help and some of the

schools did help. 57

Arnold Steinhardt: [It contributes] a lot, in that in music conservatory you are presumably taught

by the best music teachers. You learn about music at large- music history, theory, counterpoint,

harmony, how to be a soloist, a chamber musician, an orchestral musician. You learn all those

things in addition to the idea of a network of musicians. You don't realize it when you're in music

school but so many of the people you rub shoulders with you're going to be rubbing shoulders

with for perhaps the rest of your whole life. I'm still playing with, playing for, and concerned

with, in one way or another, with many of the people I went to music school- over fifty years

ago. Those things are important. It's nice to have a wonderful teacher. But when you go to a

music school you are educated by your fellow students as well as those studying on either side of

you, having different points of view and playing differently. It was certainly important for me to

see there's that way to do it and this way to do it. This I like a little more. This I don't like so

much. I just heard a recital by a graduating student. Wow! I never thought of doing it that way.

That's interesting and stimulating. I think music school has enormous implications for the future

56 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.57 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.


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of a musician. 58

Suzy Perelman: It is totally different for each person. There are artists like Cho-liang Lin, big

soloists who probably didnt necessarily need a college education or a teacher enlightening them.

I think people like that are already successful by the time they get to college. They definitely

need the connection that a well-known, well-connected conservatory violin pedagogue could give

them. Thats the question. Do they need his pedagogy? It couldnt hurt but I dont know that

necessarily made them who they are. For people like me conservatory was absolutely necessary.

Its there that I learned how not to be spoon-fed. I didnt make many musical decisions of my

own until the end when I was taught how to be my own teacher. Ive never been asked to show a

[college] degree in my life unless its for a teaching position and even my teaching positions

people mostly asked whether you have a bachelors. But for performing its all about how you

play. In an audition its definitely about how you play. In my world [music school] was

absolutely necessary. This was the place I was able to practice six hours a day. I couldnt do

that in high school. There was just no time. This was the place that I met a million people that

were in the same boat and was inspired by that atmosphere. Yes, I think for most of us its

absolutely necessary.59

Elmar Oliveira: It can contribute a great deal if the atmosphere is one that is conducive to pushing

the young player to do better all the time, in a healthy way. I think there are a lot of schools, and

particularly the bigger schools, like Juilliard, Curtis Institute and Indiana University in

Bloomington... Obviously the talent level at these places is so high that the students are actually

in competition with each other. But that's not necessarily the healthy part of a school

58 Arnold Steinhardt, Phone Interview, 4 May 2007.59 Suzy Perelman, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.


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environment. I can probably use Curtis as the best example where all the students are listening

not only to themselves but to their colleagues. Also getting a lot of feedback from all of the

teachers that are involved in the school. It's a healthy environment for creativity instead of being

an unhealthy competitive environment. I think that's what all wonderful schools should strivefor. This obviously contributes to the growth of young musicians in the healthiest way. 60

Question 6

What are music schools lacking in equipping/educating the student who desires a career as a

concert artist?

Suzy Perelman: I havent been to conservatory in 15 years but I definitely wish theyd covered

the business aspect of music, arts management. I really had no understanding of how an

orchestra works behind the scenes and I wish somebody would have talked to me about that. I

wish there were a course in how the American Federation of Musicians Union works. Perhaps

seminars on how to take auditions and also a pedagogy course. Perhaps something about keeping

audiences alive. This is a big concern that could cost us our jobs in the future and it was never

addressed in the conservatory. I dont know how that would play into a course but its animportant thing. 61

Victor DeRenzi: The whole purpose of music conservatory is to make money. And that's the

purpose of every college. In order to make money you have to have lots of students. So if you

have to have lots of students by definition you will take in the mediocre as well as the very

talented. When you have that many students you are going to spread the amount of attentionyou can give them. The closest dealings I have are with the vocal programs which I think are

60 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.61 Suzy Perelman, Personal

What It Takes to be a Successful Concert Artist: Conversations With World Renowned Musicians

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