What it Takes to be a Successful Concert Artist: Conversations with World Renowned 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 watch and 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 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 hotel 1 Violin Virtuosos, Mary VanClay ed. (California: String Letter Publishing, 2000): 20. 2 Joseph Horowitz, Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall (New York: W.W. Norton, 2005): 338. 1 rooms 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 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 obvious necessity to practice my instrument, I have found it invaluable to converse with some of the 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. 2 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 by 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 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. 5 Tom Strini. “All ears turn to new director of Baltimore Symphony,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online, (July 24, 2005), <http://www.jsonline.com/> (accessed 12 May 2007). 6 Violin Virtuosos, Mary VanClay ed. (California: String Letter Publishing, 2000): 20. 3 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 Babyon’s 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 Island’s 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 Center’s Soothing 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. 4 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.