The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 010 Paul Merkelo: Developing Artistry & Creating Opportunities

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 10. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice, and building a purposeful career. And now, your host, Dr. Renée Paul Gaultier. Hi, everyone. Today I speak with Paul Michello, Principal Trumpet with the Montreal Symphony, an active soloist, pedagogue, and philanthropist. Paul and I talk about how, as musicians, we need to take ownership of our careers, nurture opportunities, focus on developing our artistry and our voice, and have a quality-over-quantity approach to practicing. Paul is renowned as one of the finest trumpet players of his generation, and he's recognized for his pure technical prowess as well as his unusual lyrical gifts.

Starting point is 00:01:04 Paul has been principal trumpet with the Montreal Symphony since 1995, and he's been featured with orchestras and in recital throughout the world. Paul was previously principal trumpet with the Rochester Philharmonic and New Orleans Symphony, and he's gained early orchestral experience as an extra with the New York Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony. He's on the faculty at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and McGill University, and he's the founder of the Paul Mercallo Scholarship. Paul's insight is amazing, and you'll find great practicing tips and really valuable advice on how to take your playing and career to the next level in our discussion.

Starting point is 00:01:42 Let's go to the show. Paul Marcello, so great to have you on the show. Thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Thank you. My pleasure. Paul, I wanted to talk with you because you are such a wonderful example of someone who has reached the highest echelons that one can, you know, as principal trumpet of one of the world's leading orchestra. But you have gone beyond that and you continue to expand all aspects of your career as a soloist, a teacher, and a philanthropist, because I know that you have a scholarship that you offer to young musicians. And you keep going forward and creating opportunities for yourself and for others. So if that's okay with you, I'd love to begin with your story.

Starting point is 00:02:35 So if you could please tell us a little bit about you and your musical journey and how you got to where you are. Well, sure. I mean, my career started at the age of 21 down in New Orleans. I was the first trumpet of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. And that was a pretty great experience to go right into a principal trumpet chair when I hadn't really played much of the repertoire yet. So it was a real learning curve, quick learning curve for me. After that, the orchestra actually went bankrupt after my first year, and so I was, like the rest of my colleagues in the orchestra, I was unemployed the following year, and that really prompted me to get pretty savvy quickly on some marketing strategies to do recitals and master classes and things, just to really, honestly, just to supplement the lost income. I was getting a little worried at that point. But then the New World Symphony down in Miami, that's led by Michael Tilson Thomas, they knew that I was out of a job and they asked me to come play for Michael. And they offered me a position right away at New World Symphony. So I went over to Miami.

Starting point is 00:03:50 And then from there, I did go back to New Orleans briefly when they reorganized as Louisiana Philharmonic. and then I won principal trumpet in the Rochester Philharmonic for a season and then that next year I won principal in the Montreal Symphony so things moved pretty quickly you know from that New Orleans somewhat negative experience but I would say that negative turned into a positive because I learned a lot in that in that negative experience but that that's basically the path that's led me orchestrally to where I am today. That's a really great story. And what I really like about it too, is how you say that you ended up seeing New Orleans as a positive experience, something that was turned into a positive experience. You know, I usually ask my guests

Starting point is 00:04:37 to name a skill that young musicians should develop in addition to learning to play their instrument. And almost everyone answers self-marketing. Yeah. Well, I think, you know, especially in today's age of social media, I mean, I didn't have that at that time. There was no smartphone. There was no social media. But especially today, we can see the power in putting your product out there, getting yourself out there on social media. I have mixed opinions about that because I think when you do something on social media, I think you should try to do something that's at the very highest artistic level. There's a lot of sort of casual posting and you know maybe it's not the best best playing someone can do and therefore that's that can send

Starting point is 00:05:26 a wrong message to some younger students I think it has to be social media now has to be treated like a concert stage and you have to bring your best product I agree with this so much and another thing is I find that musicians at the beginning of a career they are very focused on getting the job and I think a lot of them think that it stops there you just win the job and then you can sit back and wait for all the offers to just present themselves but I think that you and I would agree that we need to take ownership and responsibility for that growth and to see our career grow and that individuals and musicians need to nurture the opportunities and create projects and pursue ideas you know once you have the job it doesn't stop there I mean unless that's what you want of

Starting point is 00:06:13 course but in your case I see you from an outside perspective pursuing many artistic ventures and I'm sure that in many cases you are the thinker beyond behind those projects and you make them happen and with this proactive attitude you are building a legacy and I remember a GoFundMe campaign a few years ago to support the creation of one of your solo concerto with the Montreal Symphony and you have the scholarship with the Montreal International Competition and so many solo performance opportunities throughout the world. How do you create opportunity for yourself? How can one at the beginning of a career should go about going beyond waiting for these opportunities and making them happen? Well, yeah, I can only speak from my experience.

Starting point is 00:06:59 And I will tell you that growing up, you know, my dream when I first started getting serious about the trumpet and music, my dream was not the orchestra right away. I was so influenced by several soloists, Wynton Marsalis, Maurice André, and the great Russian trumpet virtuoso Timothy Duxitzer. These are the recordings that got me really hooked on playing the trumpet and trying to pursue it, not knowing at a young age, I mean, I'm talking about like 13, 14, 15 years old, not knowing what kind of career could be carved out as a trumpet soloist. I just saw these great names that i just mentioned and i was incredibly inspired to try to um you know do what they were doing and play some of the rep that they were doing on these recordings that just it

Starting point is 00:07:45 just touched me so deeply uh as an artist i was really heavily involved in sports at the time and really wanted to play basketball that's what i was doing in high school i would have dreamed of being a professional basketball player, but that wasn't going to turn out. But I mean, music was just like, it was just in my blood. It was just, it just had to be a part of my life. So it wasn't until later when I heard the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play in my hometown with their great first trumpet player, Adolph Hirseth, that I thought, wow, that's incredible also to play, you know, first trumpet in an orchestra of that caliber playing the music of Gustav Mahler. That's what i heard uh that just completely uh just got me so hooked and interested in orchestral playing

Starting point is 00:08:34 and i would tell you that based on the comment that you said in a way all my focus became integrated into winning a job in an orchestra and trying to play at that level that i heard mr herseth doing in chicago symphony and my solo ambitions kind of took a back seat but there was always there in me. So when I got the job in New Orleans, I sort of thought, okay, good. I've got a first trumpet job, um, in a, in a, you know, decent orchestra. And now I can kind of sit back and then lo and behold, after one season, it went bankrupt. So I had to search myself. What am I doing here? Should I go back to school? Obviously I was going to take other auditions, but there was an opportunity created for me I didn't create it it was bad luck given to me and I decided well

Starting point is 00:09:24 maybe in this little interim period before I went to jobs somewhere else let me go out and play some recitals and you know I was even playing for free just to kind of like get my solo chops back together because I felt like I hadn't done that enough and that really I would say that was the turning point it kind of got me into this state of mind that now wait a minute I love playing in orchestra but I kind of forgot that I really started by doing transcriptions of violin pieces and vocal pieces and that's what got me interested you know like like Timothy Duxitzer did on many of his albums they were arrangements and that's what got me into playing in a more advanced technique and a sort of becoming more of an artist and finding my

Starting point is 00:10:09 musical voice so I know I'm kind of rambling on here but the point my point is that you know that in my heart, I don't consider myself just a trumpet player in an orchestra. I consider myself to be someone who's passionate about the instrument and about discovering new works for the instrument and about arranging new projects for the instrument. This keeps me very, very energized and musically keeps me on very high alert. So I think now as I'm getting older and I've been playing now principal trumpet for over 25 years that's a long time you know it's my solo it's my solo projects that are really keeping me incredibly energized it's the same it's ironic but it's the same feeling that I had when I was a kid

Starting point is 00:11:03 when I'm working on new recordings I just finished a new recording in London in August that I'm excited about and some new videos that are coming out So these projects have me, you know, you're as excited as when I was a teenager, you know, just discovering some of these new pieces and trying to practice them and trying to get better at them. I find that to be a really important aspect of my artistry, not just my career, you know, because those two things, you know, I would, as advice to younger generation, I would say don't just focus on your career. focus on your artistry focus on your personality you know obviously get the technique to to the level to the standard that it is today at the highest level but find your personality and your voice with that and that will lead you in into your career that's fantastic you know i love how you really to use your own word you're integrating all of this together and how it

Starting point is 00:11:59 takes you back to this love that you have at first for solo playing and i agree so much with you when you say it's a state of mind and how being passionate about your art and staying high alert and keeping yourself expanding you know as a person and this focus on art history and personality all of this is so great and I think that as young players you as we said sit back and wait but it really happens when you decide to pick up the phone or start a conversation with someone and just take action towards these ideas that you have well for sure taking action i mean in any solo i'll say career for lack of a better word but in any solo project or ambition especially for trumpet we don't have the repertoire that a violinist has or a pianist has or a vocalist has

Starting point is 00:12:52 so we you know unfortunately we're we're you know we have limited opportunities there so when something comes up, when there's an opportunity there, yeah, for sure. In my case, I've tried to capitalize on those opportunities and prepare the best I could possibly prepare. And that whole process, every time I get ready for another recital or another recording or another concerto appearance, I learn so much about myself, about how I prepare, what my strengths are, what my weaknesses are. And it just makes me a better, it makes me a better player and it makes me a more in tune with myself you know self-awareness I guess we would call it but yeah for sure to your point I mean we have to be proactive you know I can tell you my example of how the French

Starting point is 00:13:41 trumpet concerto album I did with Kent Nagano on a Montreal symphony came about that wasn't my idea I actually was just interested in playing the Jolie Bay concerto number two and I spoke to Maestro Nagano about it he shared with me that that he loves that piece and after I did it with the orchestra he said hey we should record it and I said excuse me did you just say you want to record it with me okay well how do you how do you see that happening and he looked at me and he said well you have to build the the project the the album you know the repertoire you have to get the record label and you have to raise the money the orchestra's not going to pay for it uh i was like okay so i made a checklist i went home and uh i built a program i went to a record label that

Starting point is 00:14:30 i had already recorded with they said yes and then i as you said i i went on uh kickstarter and i did a campaign and i i raised more money than i had projected and i also had some private sponsors in this project and um there you had it i went back to maestro nagano in new york she's okay i got the record label i got the rep and i got the money so when do we record that's great like fast forward another another like year and a half just to try to get in the books um you know that was a long i would say that whole project took four years from that conversation to post-production to release, and we got nominated for the Juno Award, and I'm just super, super proud of the fact that I got to do it with my colleagues, my unbelievable colleagues

Starting point is 00:15:21 at the OSM that are just, you know, to play that repertoire, French repertoire, to do it in Maison Symphonique, that was a dream come true for me. Wow, that's a fantastic example of dedication, you know, on really staying true to this vision, and as I said, it starts with the conversation and it continues with you taking it one step at a time and daily actions really it's really what it's all about this would be a great segue into um something i wanted to pick your brains about you know for a career to hit the highs that you that yours does it really starts with first rate playing i would love for us to talk a little bit about that how to get to this high level of playing and you teach at McGill and I know you teach at Music Academy of the West. So

Starting point is 00:16:10 you really combine a good mix of experience as a performer and also as a pedagogue. So from your experience as both of those things, a performer and a teacher, can you talk to us a little bit about the aspects of practicing or performance preparation that you feel are really key in creating progress and elevating our playing to the highest level? Well, I mean, obviously that's a very valid question and an important one, and I have many opinions on it, but I will tell you that one thing that has really, that I've really learned over this process of trying to balance playing in the orchestra, the big works of Mahler and Strauss and Bruckner and Shostakovich, and then at the same time preparing solo projects, which is a completely different kind of playing,

Starting point is 00:16:58 is that I have to be very, very mindful about, um, the, the quality of my practice, not the quantity, you know, making sure that time in the practice room is really, really concentrated, very efficient. And in my case, I actually use the alarm on my iPhone and I set a timer for each practice session so that I know that, okay, this session is going to be 45 minutes long And I have to accomplish these things. So let's say the first session could be a warm up and fundamentals session. And I know that in my warm up, there's, you know, basically five or six concepts that I've got to hit every day on the instrument to make sure I'm whole, I'm complete. And then in my fundamental work that's after the warm up, it's more advanced techniques. It could be something like, you know, double tonguing octaves or just, you know, playing longer and longer phrases while triple tonguing, you know, without breathing, like on a Paganini Caprice or something like that. Um, it's maybe working on my flexibility. So it's much more advanced technique than what I would need in the orchestra.

Starting point is 00:18:13 Um, I would say that the majority of my practice and my fundamentals is dedicated to what's needed in my solo playing, because as a trumpet player in the orchestra, well, obviously there's incredibly difficult repertoire, uh, but the kind of hyper virtuosity that I need as a soloist, you know, would be akin to what a violinist would do in terms of rapid movement, in terms of nonstop playing, you know, playing without rest, which as for a brass player, that's something that we have to take very, very seriously. So that fundamental session that could be about 45 minutes is timed, it's deliberate, it's mapped out. And I take a long break after that before I do the next session, which is probably something that's based on the

Starting point is 00:18:57 repertoire that i have to prepare so uh this next sunday i have a recital in montreal with a pianist and we're doing an all russian recital it's very powerful stuff it's very virtuosic and so that second session might be basically running down that recital and just seeing how that feels you know to go through it from start to finish uh the third session would be probably a bit shorter but would be just isolating passages from that recital. So for example, let's say that I recorded the second session, the run-through. In my one or two hour break, I'm going to do a listening session and I'm going to make notes about the passages that I didn't do well. And I'm going to be very specific, very critical of myself. And then in the isolation work, I'm going to go into what I call

Starting point is 00:19:51 PSP. So it's precision, then speed, then power. So what I mean by that is I work the precision at a very slow tempo, almost like a beginner, breaking down the passages as slowly and carefully and methodically as I can. Then the speed is taking that solid playing, hopefully, and speeding it up closer and closer to the desired tempo. And the power would basically be adding the dynamic inflections that are needed because I don't know how it is for you on violin but on trumpet when we start to change dynamics be it an extreme piano pianissimo or forte fortissimo that can directly impact the efficiency and production of our technique and so for me dynamic practice is very very important to be able to control my dynamics at the extremes not just

Starting point is 00:20:43 play that sort of mezzo nothing dynamic that a lot of us tend to do in the practice room so I mean I could go on and on about this I'm very as you can tell I'm very specific about and I take very seriously how I prepare now more than I ever have and I really consider that every note in the practice room is gold I've got I've got to make every note as beautiful as I possibly can it doesn't always happen believe me but it's it's a it's a process that I'm trying to get better and better and better at. Paul, this is so great. I feel like I need someone to make a poster out of everything you just said. I mean, you're definitely using my favorite words, mindful, quality over quantity and efficiency. And I love that you talk about how you are mapping

Starting point is 00:21:31 it out and using the timer and how your practice is really goal-oriented. And also this PSP, I will be, I think, using it in every lesson this week, probably precision, speed, and power. This is really fantastic. I really wish I could chat with you all day, but I know that you have some activities to get to. How about a quick round of rapid fire questions? Sure. So for the people who are dreaming of a career that resemble yours, can you tell us a little bit about what your life looks like on a daily basis? Well, I mean, it's, it really depends on, it's sort of like the orchestral weeks. And then the times where I'm doing solos, those are, those are very different weeks when I'm in the orchestra. Well, actually this week is a, is a hybrid of the two. So this

Starting point is 00:22:19 week I'm doing Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony with Christoph Eschenbach conducting. And then on Sunday, I've got the Russian recital. And so this is, this is a tough week for me because I've got to have the power and strength to blow down the tchaikovsky fifth with all that extreme dynamics and you know the endurance that's required especially in the last movement of that but i also need all that finesse for the russian recital so my practicing is paramount this week to not overdo on my lip make sure i'm really in good shape and as a result i have um you know i have a very strict and disciplined practice schedule that is working around the orchestra's rehearsal schedule which I start tomorrow. I also teach at McGill University. So I've got only three students

Starting point is 00:23:05 there, but that's really three a week is enough for me. So I'm strategic about where I place those lessons. So those are all happening on my day off, which is Friday. In addition, I am in post production for my latest CD release with the Oxford Philharmonic with the Haydn, Hummel, Mozart, and Telemann concertos. So in between those practice sessions, I'm sitting at the computer with my headphones in post-production, making notes about that recording, which is going to come out this spring. I do have a personal life. It doesn't sound like it, but I'm trying to also maintain some integrity there as well. So it's a busy week. And that's kind of my life in a nutshell when I'm in Montreal. When I'm on the road doing concertos or recitals, it's quite a

Starting point is 00:23:56 different the fact that maybe if I have a week off with the orchestra I don't have to worry about the orchestra I can really zero in on those solo projects where I've got to have all my energy focused there and that really helps me you know to get like if I'm traveling then I get to the hotel and I'm really you know I'm in focus mode it's like I feel like I'm getting ready for a sporting event always trying to get a lot of sleep drink a lot of water get some get some physical activity you know and then I come back to Montreal and I've got to you know do makeup lessons and get back in the orchestra so it sounds like a mouthful but it's really not that bad if it's disciplined and if you can expect that it's going to be a little bit stressful then you're

Starting point is 00:24:40 not overwhelmed when the stress actually does come that's great and the key word there is discipline I love that how about a performance that has stayed with you throughout the years and why Well, for sure, one comes to mind, Leonard Bernstein in Tanglewood as a student there in the summer of 1990 before he passed away playing Copland's Third Symphony, one of the most memorable concerts of my life and one of the most inspiring conductors that I've ever worked for. It was so clear that everything for him was about the music. It wasn't about himself. It was about trying to interpret that great symphony by Aaron Copland and try to inspire us to make it sing and to make it meaningful and to have fun and enjoy the

Starting point is 00:25:28 process. That sounds amazing. Paul, we've talked about creating opportunities for ourselves a lot earlier in the interview, but is there another skill that we've not mentioned that you think young musicians studying today should acquire in addition to learning to play their instruments? Well, a couple things come to mind. The first is the mindfulness. Maybe I'm saying it because it's in your podcast. It's part of your mission statement as well, but it's part of mine as well. And having the concentration in the practice room is so important. I can't emphasize that enough because what happens is you transfer that hyper-focused concentration that you do in the practice room. That is the tool that can make you successful on stage. What I hear a lot of young players ask me or tell me is, why am I playing well in the practice room?

Starting point is 00:26:28 And then once I get up on stage, everything falls apart. And, you know, nerves is like a technique. Nerves is like, you know, practicing any aspect of your technique. You've got to practice the nerves. So I know it's hard in a practice room to visualize yourself on that concert stage, but do it because that kind of concentration will help you to master your nerves. And that's a skill that we don't always talk about in conservatories. You know, that's sort of like a bonus question or a bonus topic.

Starting point is 00:27:04 This is part of my daily routine is to get myself into that headspace before I practice where I'm 100% focused on that. So I know that's still sort of music related, but I consider that to be a very important aspect of what I do and what I believe in as a musician. Thank you for this. I love this. Do you have a favorite tool in the practice room? Oh, I like the Tunable app.

Starting point is 00:27:32 I love that app as well. It has everything you need, right? Yeah, because I mean, like I was just, you know, I was doing some warmup this early this morning and just doing my long tones and my vocalese work and just have the tuner on. And I love when that, you know, you hit the note right in the middle and the green wave goes all the way across the screen. It's a very gratifying feeling. And of course, the metronome is right there as well.

Starting point is 00:27:53 And you can record on it. And so that's my favorite app on the phone, for sure. How about a favorite book that you would recommend to the listeners? I like The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, C-O-Y-L-E. And if you haven't read it, it talks about talent and what talent is. I think there's a lot of myths. People have said to me, oh, you're naturally talented. I couldn't disagree more.

Starting point is 00:28:18 I don't consider myself naturally talented at all. I've had to work and continue to work my whole life on getting better at the instrument. It always feels like I'm starting over as a beginner every day. But what I really related to in his book was he talks about building myelin, which is this, you know, it's some neural pathways in the brain that when we process, when we do something really well and we acknowledge it, we know what it is. And it's like we've got everything put together. In the case of a brass player, you know, it's air, embouchure and tongue. Those three things have to work in harmony. And they have to be synchronized pretty much perfectly to execute the way we want to execute. And obviously your ears have to be your guide to the quality of sound. So his idea of building mile-in is like grooves in a record. They're deep, they're solid, they're continuous.

Starting point is 00:29:14 And so building mile-in is this way of making your technique and the way that you play effortless because you repeat it not over and over again in one sitting, but you're able to necessarily repeat it over many days, over many weeks, over many months, the same way with the same kind of sound. And that is what he calls the talent code. And I think it's just a brilliant way of summing up what talent is. And so his point and the way I comprehend it is the talent is learned. And you're building the correct habits, the right kind of habits.

Starting point is 00:29:52 That's correct. Yes. Yeah, that's absolutely it. I love this book. Thanks for recommending it. It's one of my favorite. How about a piece of advice that you received and that you would like to pass on? I've gotten so many good pieces of advice. I've had just, I've been blessed with amazing teachers and wow. I mean, there's so many things that I could share with you, but I would say, and I know this maybe sounds a little cheesy or, uh, I don't know. Um, I'm not even sure what it sounds like but it's honest for me which is really follow your the love that you have for the instrument and for music follow that you know try not to make it about making money or becoming famous or getting enough hits on youtube or whatever i mean that may be part of your love

Starting point is 00:30:45 but i mean play play from a place that you feel you sound your best and that you're singing through the instrument and you're making music it's it's it seems like so obvious but we're playing a musical instrument now we're not playing an instrument that is sometimes musical we're playing a musical it should always be musical it should always be beautiful and i think if you if you approach your instrument in that way that the technique is a vehicle to your personality and to your love of the music you show that then then you believe in your story you know i mean i'll go back to what it off herseth told me former principal trump in chicago symphony when i studied with him he said tell a story when you play and believe in your own story

Starting point is 00:31:36 don't ask a question when you play make a statement tell a story so that's advice i got when I was 16 years old and I try to remind myself of that when something's not going well or doesn't sound very good, you know, rather than get frustrated and get negative about it, just think or ask yourself, how can I make that more convincing, more beautiful, more singing? Amen. This is great. Paul, how about a quick actionable tip that the listeners can implement today in their musical lives? Listen, listen a lot. I think that, you know, I'm going to sound old when I say this, but you know, you young folk don't listen enough anymore. When I was a kid, I was listening all the time. You know, I would buy new recordings. I would constantly be inspired

Starting point is 00:32:28 by great musicians, not just trumpet players. I mean, many, many different musicians and many great orchestras and conductors. And so just listen like crazy because this is what's going to keep you in love with the music. We can't forget about that. I coach a lot of high level young players who are just, they're killers. They're great. They're amazing. And they're going to win jobs in big orchestras and they have, but you know, we have to remember why we do it. We do it because we love it. So listening reminds us of that. And I don't know if you like puzzles, but I like to do anagrams, you know, where there's like a letter jumble, you know, you have different letters and different words. And so the, I don't know if, you know, you could maybe,

Starting point is 00:33:10 I shouldn't tell you the answer cause you can do it later, but there's a really fun, um, anagram. If you put the letters of listen, if you could rearrange those into another word, that word will be silent. And I love, I love that because nowadays what I see, and I even challenge my students now on this. It's like, when you listen, are you listening on a moving vehicle? Are you listening when the TV is on? Do you answer the phone while you're listening? Stop doing that. Listen in silence. Listen where you can really hear the quality of somebody's tone, the vibrato, the expression, the articulation, the color of sound. These things are really, really important. If you want a career in music, you're foolish to not study, hyper study the masters who are doing it

Starting point is 00:33:58 out there and try to figure out hey what are they doing on that phrase why how does that sound different what's the articulation difference the color change you know these are really really really important things this is fantastic thank you so much my pleasure paul where can people find you and connect with you and what fun projects do you have coming up well they can obviously follow me on all the socials at palmer kello on instagram and facebook and twitter and linkedin um you know that's i mean i'm i'm you know look i have to do we all have to do that if you want to especially as a soloist not necessarily in the orchestra but as a soloist you have to put what you're doing out there so you make people aware of what you're doing and

Starting point is 00:34:40 why you're doing it i have you know obviously there's a lot going on right now for me i'm again i'm very proud of our french trumpet concertos with the osm and kent nagano that's available out there on spotify and itunes and everywhere else um i just released this morning actually a video that i'm really excited about it's on youtube it just got launched this morning it's a video project i have with a guitarist chris fossick it's trumpet and guitar and we're playing music by paco de la silla the very famous spanish guitarist now we released this morning a piece called ziriab which is just a tour de force and really cool piece so go check that out and then i've got um another project uh well i'm releasing my cd on signum records with

Starting point is 00:35:24 Oxford Philharmonic that I mentioned before. That's coming out in spring of 19. Haydn, Hummel, Telemann, and Mozart concertos. And then also in 2019, I'm recording with the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow at the new Philharmonic II Hall, which is a super cool modern hall that's been built. And my producer on that is Michael Fine. And we're going to do works by Shostakovich, Artunian, and Weinberg. It's the centenary year of Weinberg. And he wrote a really awesome trumpet concerto. I also have a new concerto being written for me by Gabriela Ortiz, Mexican composer, which is a co-commission with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and hopefully with the New World Symphony Orchestra and possibly with members of the London Symphony Orchestra as

Starting point is 00:36:10 well. So those are some of the things I've got coming up. And yeah, that's all I can say for the moment. That all sounds fantastic. And I'm going to put links in the show notes with all those things that you mentioned. Paul, thank you so much for being here today. It's been really inspiring for me. And I'm really grateful that you took the time to sit and chat with me about these really important topics. I'm sure my listeners will love your take on those topics and walk away more informed and equipped with tools. And I hope they feel as inspired as I do. Well, congratulations to you for the Mind Over Finger podcast. It's a great initiative. And, And, you know, we need more of that out there to help, you know, the next generation.

Starting point is 00:36:55 Thank you so much. And thanks for coming again. My pleasure. Thank you guys so much for listening. You can find the show notes for this episode at mindoverfinger.com. I would also love to connect with you. So join the conversation on social media. Let me know what inspires you, what specific questions you have about mindful practice,

Starting point is 00:37:24 and what other topics and guests you would like to hear about in future episodes. I am Mind Over Finger on all platforms. And it's not too late to join the Mindful Practice Challenge, which started last week. If you're interested in exploring new ways to practice and reach new milestones in your playing, join us on the mind over finger tribes facebook group at facebook.com slash groups slash mind over finger tribe pick some goals that you want to work on throughout the month of november download the modacity app my new favorite practicing tool and get ready to take your practice to the next level with us in the tribe we're there to motivate support and hold each

Starting point is 00:38:04 other accountable so this is going to be a lot of fun next week i'll be talking to marina tibo solo violist and chamber musician Marina and I have a great discussion about mindfulness following your instinct practicing efficiently and playing music by women composers her and I also have a little surprise for

Starting point is 00:38:25 our French speaking listeners it's a great episode that you won't want to miss if you have the chance, please take a minute to head over to iTunes to subscribe and leave a review, it's very much appreciated again Thank you and à bientôt!

The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 010 Paul Merkelo: Developing Artistry & Creating Opportunities

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