- As you probably know,
I played nine years with the Cleveland Quartet
and this was a group that was formed quite a different way.
Don Weilerstein had a position
as a young violinist with the Cleveland Institute.
And he had asked them
if he could have permission to start a string quartet,
which meant bringing in three more players
and they generously said yes.
So he actually had a position without a quartet
as opposed to a quartet without a position.
This is a wonderful place to be.
And he was friends with Paul and Martha Katz
who were at that time, also young faculty
just down the street at the University of Toledo.
And so they came over and eventually found Peter Salaff.
And that was how the Cleveland Quartet was born.
When I joined the quartet, that was quite different.
They were well-established at that point,
they had already moved on to Eastman School,
where they were teaching.
And at that point
the Sequoia Quartet was having some changes.
And at a certain point each year there was one change
and it looked each year,
like there would be no more Sequoia.
So I was putting up trial balloons
to see what might be out there.
And at that point, the Cleveland Quartet approached me.
And I have to underscore that quartets
do not raid other quartets.
In the business world, if there's a good leader
one business will go after the leader of another business.
Quartets could not operate like that
and don't, and so the Cleveland quartet was very cautious
in approaching me.
It was because I had put word out two years in a row,
that they even thought to ask
if I might consider being considered.
So I went to my quartet
which was yet again, having a change.
And I said, "I have this opportunity.
"What do you think?"
And they were very gracious
and said, "Of course, see what happens."
And again, the case of, well Sequoia when we had our changes
and Cleveland Quartet,
when I joined, there was not a public announcement of this.
There were simply too many issues at hand
with recordings, with tours, with concertizing.
And so, the way I was noticed,
was that I was active in the field,
had been active with the quartet
not just as a player,
but also as an internal manager let's say.
Everybody has to share some responsibility
in the running of the group or it cannot work.
It's a real small business operated by four people.
And you have to, a little bit, think of it that way.
So they had seen my dedication to it over the years
but especially with the pursuing new members,
continuing the group
in the face of some, no little adversity.
And they thought, well this is a kind of person
that might work with us.
And as it turned out,
it was a very, very good fit.
So when you're thinking,
what are the options with an existing professional group?
Most likely you can't apply to it,
but what you can do is, once again,
pay attention to what you're doing,
do it the best you can,
with the best people possible.
Devote yourself to it.
It will not be missed by other people.
They will notice.
And if you shrug off these opportunities,
that also gets noticed.
So, pay attention, work hard, play well.
It's really fantastic.
I've had such a delight traveling.
You get to meet people all over the world.
You get to meet musicians from all over the world.
Find out new ways to think about music,
new ways to think about life.
And as you travel
you frequently return to the same place
and begin to make friends in all of those locations.
So, it's almost like a homecoming when you're on tour
each town that you go to
and when it's not the homecoming,
it's new friends to to meet and to make.
So that's my advice.