- Well, first I'd like to talk about career paths in music.
Because when I discuss careers with my students,
I find they have a very limited idea
of what they can do.
And I know we hear a lot about
orchestras are in trouble and music is in trouble
and so forth.
But, in fact, there are more orchestras
and more chamber music groups today
than there have ever been in the history of the world.
It's a very thriving culture.
There are monetary problems,
but there are a lot of things to do.
So, I think most of my students choices
are orchestra.
And I say what kind of orchestra,
and that immediately stops them
because they think there is a only a symphony orchestra.
But there are of course chamber orchestras
and specialized orchestras,
classic style orchestras, borough orchestras.
And in chamber music,
there are larger groups and smaller groups.
And those seem to be sort of the two things
that they think about a lot.
But, opera and ballet and musical theater
I think are very important careers.
Sylvia Denmark who was one of my students
is associate principle to MET.
She was subbing with both
the New York Philharmonic and the MET
and totally fell in love with opera.
It's an extremely demanding career,
it's not something that I would feel comfortable with.
She adores it.
Because, it just pulls all of the art forms together.
I mean, scenery and direction and dance
and singing and drama.
It's all there in opera.
And, when I mention this to students,
they get quite excited about it.
Because most of them haven't played opera.
There are opportunities in the media.
I did a lot of recording in the studios,
but there is studio recording all over the world.
Television, radio, those are wonderful adjuncts
to other careers as well.
If you're in a big city,
you may be sure that there's
a recording business going on.
It doesn't matter what city you're in.
I do recording here in Houston.
Pop, gospel, all kinds of recording.
And, there are people who do that exclusively.
In New York and in Los Angeles,
in San Francisco, in Detroit.
And that's a good career if you like
that kind of music and your interested in it.
I couldn't have gotten through school without it.
Then, there's pop and folk,
and country, and bluegrass and jazz.
And these are wonderful things to be able to do.
So , I guess I'm saying that the options
that are open are varied and a lot of them.
And I think students need to train themselves
so that they'll be prepared to do a variety
of things when they graduate.
The other career is teaching.
And teaching can be done at almost any level.
University level, teaching privately,
teaching in small towns, teachings in large towns.
And teaching is one of the things one can do
as an adjunct to another career as well.
As well as having a full time career teaching.
Now, all of these career choices require
certain basic preparations and tools.
And I think the most important thing,
is an education.
Because an education in,
I'm not just talking about a musical education.
An education so that one speaks well,
one knows about a joining fields
and fields that not only bump into music,
but use music in their own things.
You have to know about theater and opera
and the media and be able to talk intelligently
about those when you have your audition.
So we have the tools of playing the instrument,
and an education and learning different styles
and different fields and those
are really important elements.
The best way to learn those, is in a,
I think a university rather than a conservatory.
Because you find a kind of professor
that has more contact with the outside world.
I find people who in conservatories,
rather limited people,
people in universities much more worldly.
I would rather sit down and have diner
with someone who can talk about a lot of things
and not just music.
So, I'm a very big believer in a university education.
As far as learning the instrument is concerned,
naturally, one picks a school for the teacher,
and hopefully with good chamber music
and with a really good orchestra.
And by doing that,
you will assure that you have good colleges.
And that's important because those
are the people you'll play with the rest of your life.
So, all of those things are important
to think about when one chooses a career path.
I also ask my students,
Where would you like to live?
And it's amazing how few people think about that.
We, who are older,
know that there are certain choices that you make
when you live somewhere.
Living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for example,
is a lot different than living in New York City.
But, it's not any less interesting as far as
an artistic experience can be.
Cedar Rapids Symphony for example,
is a wonderful orchestra.
And everything that they have in New York
with regards to careers,
they also have at Cedar Rapids.
Recording, all kinds of music.
Chamber music, teaching symphony.
So, I ask my students,
What part of the country would you like to live in?
Let's see what's available there,
let's aim for that kind of thing.
I think that's another choice one can make.