I received a call from a parent this morning. Her son wants to be a concert pianist…OK
Some things to consider:
I happen to know this young man has the talent and the drive…that’s a start.
HOWEVER: it’s a question of balance.
I have seen many young students burn out without the right guidance. Remember, the world is not as accepting of a concert pianist as it once was, making the competition frightening. The proverbial stage parent can ruin a life!
First…don’t give up your youth so quickly. Do well in elementary and high school. Practice your instrument…sure…but there are other things in life.
My old piano professor used to complain about other musicians. She would say, “they don’t know the sun rises in the East”. What she meant by that was there is a lot of world out there and just because you are great at your instrument, you should not give up the rest of life.
OK…in high school…spread yourself around but not to thinly. There are dances, sports, clubs. I know, I know…there is orchestra, jazz, chorus…but there is also the chess club, photography, languages…don’t box yourself in too soon.
So, the life of a pianist is much different from that of other instruments. There are jobs for violinists…there are NO jobs for pianists in an orchestra, so you fight for a place in the concerto or recital world. Today, it’s about 80% concerto and 20% recital…that makes it political.
Now for an anecdote. Years ago, I was working with Andre Watts. We were working Tanglewood auditions. He was there to audition, I was there to babysit the piano and him.
We spent an entire day together talking between auditions. At the end, he handed me two tickets to that afternoon’s performance for which I thanked him profusely. When I asked what he was going to play, this is what he said, “I was supposed to play Pictures at an Exhibition, but I can’t even read the damn things!”.
I said, “excuse me but the performance is in a few hours” He said, “I know, and I will have to change the list at the last minute.”
He reminded me that his record label, and I think it was capital at the time, had him doing a hundred concerts a year. That’s one every three days!!!!! So, he continued, practice time comes at a premium.
Off to the concert I went and before everyone was settled, out came the Hall Manager explaining that Mr. Watts would be changing his schedule of pieces and instead of Pictures, he would be playing a Chopin Sonata, some excerpts from Candide among others. He walked out on stage to thunderous applause, knowing where I was, winked at me, and started to play Beethoven’s Fur Elise at a painfully slow pace after which he continues with his performance.
When it was all over, I went backstage for a final hug and asked what that was all about. He said, “oh, you mean Fur Elise?!” “I was warming up…no time for anything else!
So, the point here is the concert stage owns you. Make sure that is what you want. The road becomes your home, make sure that is what you want. The better you are, the more you travel and think about what that might do to family life. These are big choices.
So, the young man said he wanted to go to Curtis. I have clients who graduated from Curtis…it is nothing less than grueling NOT romantic. The general rule is, high school, music college for that Bachelor’s degree, then and only then you can think Curtis.
So as an example, two of my favorite clients and friends were Michael Stairs and Michael Korn. They both went off to Westminster Choir college, graduated, THEN wound up in Curtis. But I promise you, their family was the rehearsal studio, the concert hall and the audiences. At least before Curtis, they had some life under their belts…matruity to see them through.
This is what we call, “the life”.
It is most rewarding or most cruel, it all comes down to balance!
A final word, and it is my Run, Walk, Crawl method to a music career.
1. RUN to that Bachelor of Arts in your instrument.
2. Walk to your Master’s degree…maybe in music education.
3. Crawl to your DMA in your instrument.
You should have that DMA in your bag of tools because someday, you may want to be that professor…No DMA…no professor.
By the way…remember my story about Albert Franz, one of the top concert pianists in Europe…he is also an Iron Man Tri-athlete.
Ciao,
RJ
June 22nd, 2024 at 9:04 am Words of wisdom!
September 5th, 2024 at 3:29 pm This is great advice…! after falling in love with the piano some three decades ago as a child — and thankfully still making a living playing and teaching at a music conservatory — it has been my non-musical interests (literature, traveling, languages, history…) that has kept my initial love of music burning brightly!