The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 092 John Bruce Yeh: Storyteller of Sound

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 92. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice, and building a purposeful career. And now, your host, violinist, teacher, and high-performance coach, Dr. Renée Paul Gaultier. Hi, everyone. Today, I speak with a wonderful storyteller of sound, clarinetist John Brussier. John is the first Asian musician ever appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as the longest-serving clarinetist in CSO history, having been appointed solo bass clarinet of the orchestra at the age of 19 by Sir George Schulte. Two years later, he was named

Starting point is 00:00:55 assistant principal and solo E-flat clarinet, and he also served as acting principal clarinet of the CSO from 2008 to 2011. John has performed concertos with the CSO on several occasions, including the 1998 American premiere of Elliot Carter's clarinet concerto with Pierre Boulez conducting. An enthusiastic champion of new music, John is the dedicatee of new works for clarinet by numerous composers, ranging from Rolf Schäpe to John Williams. A prize winner at both the 1982 Munich International Music Competition and the 1985 Nürnberg Clarinet Competition in New York, John continues to solo with orchestras around the globe. His more than a dozen solo and chamber music recordings have earned worldwide critical acclaim. John is also a very active chamber

Starting point is 00:01:46 musician. He's the director of Chicago Pro Musica, and he frequently appears at festivals and on chamber music series worldwide. Passionately committed to music education, John served for 26 years on the faculty of DePaul University School of Music, and he joined the faculty at Roosevelt University's Chicago College for the Performing Arts in 2004. In our conversation, John shares how his artistic journey unfolded. He takes us on a wonderful trip, including some great musical figures, which shows the various elements that go into the making of a world-class musician. He also talks about how to prepare for an audition or a performance, how to enter the

Starting point is 00:02:28 professional life, and he gives out amazing insight on music making in general. I feel like I want to say this every time, but this is an information and inspiration packed episode, and I hope you enjoy and find value in our discussion. Also, if you're looking to completely transform your music-making experience in how you perform this summer, I have something for you after my conversation with John. Let's go to the show. John Brussier, thank you so much for being here today. My pleasure to be with you, Renee.

Starting point is 00:03:13 John, I'm so happy that we have this chance to talk about music making with you today, because not only do I love your gorgeous playing, but I'm also always so inspired by the enthusiasm you bring to everything you do day after day. But before we dive into everything musical, please tell us about you, your musical journey and how you got to where you are today. okay well it all happened a very long time ago back in um where i was born in washington dc and my parents took me to a concert when i was really young and i i don't even remember that particular one but we have pictures of when i was just two years old and um it was the kitty concert at the Washington National Symphony. And we have pictures of going out afterwards and playing in the park. And it was just like in my baby album, Johnny's first concert. So I said, oh, that's nice. And then very shortly thereafter, we moved to Los Angeles. And this was in the late

Starting point is 00:04:23 1950s. So I was born in 1957. And then two years later, we moved to California. My dad was in the aerospace industry he was a structural engineer an aeronautical engineer and so he got a position in California and so we moved out to the west coast and that's when we sort of started my both my parents are music lovers they are scientists by training but they both from an early age studied music my mom took piano in China both my parents are emigres from from China and my mom took piano lessons with this German uh piano teacher she always used to uh talk about him Kupka was his name and they used to play all the Hanon and all the exercises and things like that and he was very strict but she got a very good musical education and my dad was uh into

Starting point is 00:05:24 singing he was a choral um member and a choral director also just as a hobby and then when they both came to america to go to college my dad um ended up going to uh school in stanford and he was at the stanford glee club and then he got his doctorate in harvard in in boston and he joined the boston the harvard glee club there and he was performing several times with the boston symphony And he'd tell me about times when he'd sing like the Berlioz Requiem with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony. And those were really, you know, memories of his that were very strong. And so both my parents instilled in me a love of music. My dad had this really big LP record collection.

Starting point is 00:06:13 And I used to, in my teenage years, I used to go to the record collection and actually raid it and, you know, keep some of his really good records for myself. But, you know, it would be on all the time. The classical music station was KFAC in those days in Los Angeles. We used to be listening to the radio all the time. And then when the Los Angeles Music Center opened up, it was the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. It was the early 1960s. My parents actually took me. I was about five or six. They took me to one of the opening concerts of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the new hall. And it was, I remember we had really good seats. It was in the dress circle. It was like in the first balcony. So you could really see the orchestra.

Starting point is 00:07:04 And Zubin Mehta was conducting. And they did Don Quixote by Strauss. And I just, well, just remember the, that's the first time I remember being in an orchestra concert, and it really made an impression on me. So we go home and look through the program, and I was just five or six, but my parents were very excited about it. And then they said, well, maybe you'd want to take music lessons. And I said, yeah, sure. And so they said, okay, well, we're going to see if you can do piano because they had bought a piano that it was this really nice, upright Steinway. It was, um, it was an upright grand, they called it, and it was a nice piano. And so they got me lessons with this piano teacher and it did not work out. It was so, it was like the teacher was sort of sour and dour and strict and, you know, wasn't happy and didn't like, I guess, didn't like working with me or something, but it just didn't work out at all.

Starting point is 00:08:11 I was sort of like, huh, do I have to practice? You know, it's not fun anymore. And at the same time, I was in school. And in school, they offered instruments to try to be in an orchestra. And so everybody got to try an instrument or go and just kind of look at the instruments. And somehow one day I just got to the clarinet. It was just something that, I don't know if I picked it out because it looked cool or it, you know, somebody said, why don't you try this? And it was okay. So I went home and I said, you know, at school, they said I could play the clarinet in the school orchestra. And they said, well, okay, fine. Let's go and see if we can get you some lessons. My parents were really on top of it. It was like, okay, if you want to do something,

Starting point is 00:09:04 let's make sure that you get the right sort of training and see if we can do it right so that you have the advantages. So there was this music store that was sort of near our house called Musician Supply Shop. And they went there and they rented an instrument. It was just this metal clarinet and they said can we get Johnny some lessons and they said yeah we got a clarinet teacher here and that was the rest is history because this clarinet teacher was really great his name was Gordon Herrett he turned out to be so patient and so understanding and he really really knew how the instrument worked and how I was just um I was just six and that's really young to play a wind instrument to start especially the clarinet because the clarinet is you know a little

Starting point is 00:10:01 bit large for somebody that's um not an adult and so I could I was kind of a large kid but at six I still wasn't full grown obviously and so it was like i had to stretch but he he got gordon mr harrett got me to um play and make make some pretty musical sounds and you know that um he was patient with me i i didn't love to practice but you know each each week i came in and he um It would give me exercises, and it would give me scales, and it would give me melodies, and things that sort of attracted my imagination on how to play music, because I'd been listening to music ever since before I was born, and I heard music in the house, and we'd gone to concerts. So I had sort of something to latch on to in my mind on how I'd want something to sound. And I think in retrospect, that's the most important thing. You want to have something in your mind that you know what you want to make it sound like when it comes out of you.

Starting point is 00:11:13 So Mr. Herrett worked with me and got me going. And he even said, you know, you can audition for some youth orchestras. so at the age of 10 i went and took an audition for a youth orchestra and i actually started playing in a youth orchestra when i was very young and um i think that was a major uh uh turning point for me because i got to play with other musicians and it was fun and and it was um it was a social thing, but it was also, you know, creative. It was, and I got to hear the way other people played, um, and got to play together with them. And I think this is so important to be able to interact with people and to have a conversation on a musical instrument. About that time, my

Starting point is 00:12:09 teacher, Mr. Harrett said, you know, I think you should go to, um, another teacher because I've, i've taught you basically what i can teach you and i think you need somebody that's more advanced so my dad's calling around and um the most famous teacher in the area was a guy named mitchell lurie he had actually been principal clarinetist of the chicago symphony before he moved to uh los angeles he was principal clarinetist in one season in the chicago symphony in 1948 and Mitchell he um apparently his wife did not like the climate in Chicago and so don't know why well yeah I mean he she was miserable and he didn't want his wife to be miserable so he said well you know I've got contacts in LA and I can make a career out there

Starting point is 00:12:57 and he did so after one season in the Chicago Symphony moved to LA got really big into studios played in the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra you know he's very very highly regarded teacher too so my my dad called um Mr. Lurie and Mr. Lurie was very very busy at the time so he said um there's a new uh clarinetist in town who's who's fantastic he's wonderful his name is Gary Gray and Gary Gray was the new clarinet professor at UCLA which is just up the street from where So we grew up in Westwood in Los Angeles, near UCLA. And so my dad called Mr. Gray. And it turns out that Gary Gray lived half a block from us on our same street. It couldn't have been more serendipitous. and it was just like oh gosh you know all i have to do is walk for less than a minute and i'm at my clarinet lessons and he really got me on the track to being very very sophisticated about

Starting point is 00:14:03 playing even at a young age of 10 you know he uh he'd play for me and he's a he's a master he's a wonderful wonderful player so to have that sound in my ear and and to hear the recordings that i um would uh get from my dad and at about the time my dad brought back to me a couple of recordings one of the shepherd on the rock by schubert it's a it's a piece for clarinet and soprano voice and piano it's a song and uh i said wow this is amazing and the clarinetist on that was a guy named Harold Wright. And Harold Wright would be my mentor later on. Because when I first heard that, I said, this is the way I really want to sound. And then my dad brought me Harold's recording of the Brahms sonatas. And I said, okay, I've got to really, really try

Starting point is 00:15:05 and practice and sound like that because that really speaks to me that really tells the story the way i'm hearing brahms and the way i'm hearing schubert and so all that stuff kind of came into my mind at an early age into my ears and i developed a mental image of what it's supposed to sound like and and so that along with uh lessons with gary and then very shortly thereafter i um auditioned to join the american youth symphony which was one of the best youth orchestras in the area at the time and it was very convenient because they rehearsed at ucla which is like you know a mile from our house and the music director of the american youth symphony was Meli Mehta. And Meli Mehta was the father of Zubin and Zara Mehta, two, you know, very important

Starting point is 00:16:06 figures in the musical world. Zubin Mehta at the time was the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, my hometown orchestra. And he was the one that I saw conduct at my first concert at the music center there that my parents took me to. So his father was the music director of the orchestra i was going to join and so that in itself was pretty exciting because his father was a very intense gentleman i mean he had his um he was the most famous musician uh western musician in india they he um grew up in bombay and that's where zubin and zarin grew up and then he came to america and mailey mr meta uh taught at curtis he was a violinist he was in the curtis string quartet and he um and in philadelphia and then very shortly thereafter he went to

Starting point is 00:17:04 los angeles because he got the job as music director of the um ucla he was the conducting teacher at ucla and that's when he got to be the music director of the youth orchestra American Youth Symphony. And I learned everything about music, about orchestra music from Melly, because he'd play all, he'd have us play all the important pieces, you know, the Beethoven symphonies, the Brahms symphonies, the Strauss tone poems, concertos with amazing soloists. I remember playing the Brahms Violin Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin. I was playing in the orchestra, and Yehudi Menuhin was playing the Brahms concerto with us. And at the point, I said, gosh, you know, I've heard of this guy, Yehudi Menuhin.

Starting point is 00:17:52 Well, you know, he was very, he was pretty old at the time, but he was still playing and it was like inspiring to hear his depth of communication. And then we'd do the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Sydney Harth. Sydney Harth at the time was concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but he also had been in the Chicago Symphony. He was concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony, made many famous recordings, especially the Scheherazade with Reiner. He was the violin soloist in the Scheherazade with Reiner. And so I had opportunities to hear these great artists and a connection to the previous generation of artists. So I considered myself, well, now I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have had those experiences. And that was just sort of the beginning of my connection with the previous generation, because my teacher, Gary Gray, during the summers, he taught at the Aspen Festival. And so he said, John, you should probably come to Aspen and, you know, you'll have a great experience that will open up your vistas to music, you know.

Starting point is 00:19:28 And I said, okay. So after I graduated from high school, you know, I studied with Gary all the way through high school. And I went to the Aspen Festival and it really did, like he said, open up my musical vistas. I got to, you know, work with members of the Juilliard Quartet. I got to hear all the great artists that, you know, we all, they're legendary now. I met for the first time, you know, Itzhak Perlman, Inka Zuckerman, Lynn Harrell. There was this cellist, Zara Nelsova. She was so, like, patrician. And she came out and she played the Saint-Saëns cello concerto. And it was just like, wow, it was amazing. And then I got to hear, you know, great conductors. James Levine was there, you know, a very, very young James Levine.

Starting point is 00:20:28 And the guy that was the music director of the orchestra was George Mester. And I was lucky because I got to play in the professional orchestra in my first year at Aspen. I was just 15. And Gary was playing principal clarinet in the festival orchestra. And he chose me to sit next to him. And I said, wow, this is amazing. And I even got to play Ein Heldenleben on the bass clarinet because they needed a bass clarinet player. And I happened to be because of Gary Gray. He encouraged me to play the bass clarinet because that he said that would make me much more versatile, you know, just don't play the regular clarinet, but play the bass clarinet, too. You know, you get to play more interesting parts in orchestra. And he was right, because I got to play this Ein Heldenleben, and that was also with Sidney Harth. That was, he was the soloist, the violin soloist, he was concertmaster at Aspen.

Starting point is 00:21:37 So all these, I got to, you know, work with, you know, great musicians that had been in the Philadelphia Orchestra. I remember hanging out with the timpanist that used to be in the Philadelphia Orchestra, Fred Hinger, and the principal percussionist, Charlie Owen, and the principal tuba player, Abe Torchinsky, and all these guys that were legends already at that time that had kind of like, at the time were kind of phasing out their orchestra careers and becoming actual, you know, educators full time. And I was like the beneficiary of just kind of like rubbing shoulders with these guys. And then at the pool during, you know, like before the concerts, these guys would be like hanging out at the pool. Misha Mishakov, who was also the concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony. little did I know when I was 15 that you know in less than five years I would be following in these guys's footsteps and sitting in the orchestra the legendary Chicago Symphony but it was all sort of

Starting point is 00:22:43 absorbing information and absorbing messages and absorbing just being next to them in an orchestra and seeing how it's done that i was able to like um develop my um my own form of communication and my own you know imagination that i could tell a story too you know this is the story these guys are telling and and i could do it too and it was it was so valuable to have these experiences Plus, I won the concerto competition. It was like, you know, I'm 15, and I said, Jerry, Mr. Gray said, you should probably audition for the concerto competition. I said, okay. And so I did, and I won. And the conductor that I was assigned to work with was a guy named Herbert Blomstedt. Blomstedt. And Herbert Blomstedt, to this day, I mean, is one of the most amazing, deep, very, very, you know, not only old school, but, you know, he's so, he draws the best out of every orchestra. And I didn't know who he was, you know, they put me

Starting point is 00:24:00 with him and said, okay, you're going to play the Weber Concertino with the student orchestra, And here's your first rehearsal. And on the very first note, I looked over and I said, Oh, my gosh, this guy's the real thing. It's like, it was like an opera suddenly burst forth in, you know, this, this little rehearsal hut that they had at, at Aspen. And I was just, like, floored, and it brought me to the highest level I could. You know, I wanted to rise to the level that this, at the time, Blomstedt, you know, was an unknown to me. But certainly now, I know he's one of the greats. And to have that experience at an early age, and then I reminded him of that, because he's been back to the Chicago Symphony several times. program this is 1973 at aspen oh yes i remember he said it was my only time at aspen and he said um but i really had a good time that summer and i said gosh you know i was so lucky to work with

Starting point is 00:25:07 you then because it it really um sparked an imagination in me that i will always always remember and so he continues you know we did eroica with him that a couple years ago here and unfortunately this season at the chicago symphony is canceled and he was supposed to come back and do nielsen five and i would have loved to do that with him but you know he's like 94 now and it's like he's if if you can believe it blumstead is more energetic now at 94 than he was you know 45 years ago it's it's truly incredible um how how uh you know such full of good vibes that was so that was an amazing opportunity for me and then the juilliard quartet was in residence at aspen And I got to get coaching with Robert Mann, who became one of my great mentors also.

Starting point is 00:26:08 And, you know, it's just like to be steeped in this, you know, level of excellence is just, was just invaluable to me. So, but at the same time, I was all set to go to college after, you know, my high school years. i would play music you know chamber music with with my friends that were also interested and then on saturdays i'd go to american youth symphony and play you know all the great you know they don't for jack brahms strauss with mailey meta and and he was intense boy he he wouldn't he would not stand for any you know um monkey business and if if you weren't paying attention he'd make sure you know it at the same time he'd always tell us he says you should always play chamber music because chamber music is so good for your musical development it really sharpens

Starting point is 00:27:12 your sensitivity to playing together and chamber music is the best thing for an orchestra because when you play chamber music you bring that experience back to you to the orchestra so i took his um advice to heart and not only only because of that but i really really loved it you know i had such a great time and gary my teacher gary gray got me opportunities to um to get coaching uh with two very very wonderful um musicians that came from berlin and they had moved to uh to los angeles and started teaching at usc and they were the schoenfeld sisters i don't know if you know alice who was the violinist and eleanor who was the cellist but they came and they also played uh they played the brahms double with um with the american youth symphony and i so that

Starting point is 00:28:05 was my first experience hearing the schoenfelds and then because um my teacher mr gray was able to get me an opportunity through the young musicians foundation i was able to coach chamber music with, uh, with both Alice and Eleanor. And so, um, that was also part of my, you know, upbringing, a big part of it to play chamber music, to play Mozart and to play Beethoven at, when I was in a, in a formative, um, stage in my, my development. But, um, so my parents would always encourage me. It was like, you know, we really think this is great that you're doing youth orchestra and you're doing chamber music but um when you go to college maybe you'd like to be in like the sciences like we were and and have music as your hobby

Starting point is 00:28:57 and i said yeah yeah you're probably right because i'm really enjoying music but you know i do very well i was i was really good at math and i was really good at um you know biology and stuff like that so i uh i um when i graduated from high school i went to aspen for that summer but i'd already applied to ucla in a pre-medical uh course so i was in pre-med when i started um college at ucla but i'd also still do american youth american youth symphony was for um not only pre-college but also for college age musicians so I'd still do that and I'd still do chamber music with my friends on the weekends even though I had a lot of homework you know had to do calculus and I do physics and that sort of started to get to be a drag for me it was like gosh you know I'm okay

Starting point is 00:29:56 at it and I do very well and I'm getting pretty good grades but I don't love it and so I would sort of secretly um imagine myself being in a being in a major orchestra it's like i would watch at that time they had um evening at symphony on uh every week on um pbs and that was the broadcast from the boston symphony and harold wright who was my uh idol at the time i have like i had this huge picture of him on my bedroom wall it was like two and a three by four foot picture of him pasted on my wall above my bed and i would look at harold wright and i said you know i want to be just like you when i grow up and and i got to hear him on on tv every week and they'd play all the great you know music and this was what my passion was and i i um i'd get

Starting point is 00:31:00 i'd write to like the curtis institute and the juilliard school and you know um where else boston university because that's where harold taught and get all the catalogs in those days they didn't have anything online there was no no such thing as the worldwide web so i'd write to them and they'd send me this brochure this catalog and i'd pour through the catalog and i'd say oh you know here's um uh chamber music classes with uh robert mann at juilliard and and here's like orchestra classes with um i guess it was john delancey at the curtis institute and with rudolph cirkin at the curtis institute and i i kind of drool over these college catalogs and then i said wouldn't it be great if i could just try that and i um went to this counselor at at ucla

Starting point is 00:31:56 and i uh they have these guidance counselors and i said to the guidance counselor i said you know i'm a pre-med major here at ucla but i love music and incidentally at that time i also entered and won all the music competitions at ucla i hadn't won the frank sinatra award yet that was the following year it's my second year but the first year i won like a couple of other awards and people are looking at me and say who is this guy he's a freshman and he's not even in the music department and he's won the um music competitions and so i told the uh guidance counselor i said you know i'm thinking of transferring and the guidance counselor said well you know music is a um very competitive it's only you know at the level you're talking about

Starting point is 00:32:48 only maybe one percent of people make it to that level and i said but i just love it so much and i've had a lot of good experiences you know my teacher who teaches here at um ucla took me to aspen and i had great experiences there so i want to try to apply to music schools they say well as long as you understand that you know it's very competitive and i said i totally understand but i have this incredible burning passion and i one day i sat down with all my you know catalogs at the dinner table with my parents and i told them i said i'm really thinking of transferring to music school and you know i've had experience with some of the teachers a lot of them because Aspen was sort of like a summer school for the Juilliard faculty and for the

Starting point is 00:33:43 Indiana University Music School faculty and a lot of these people taught at Juilliard where I was one of the places where I wanted to apply and my parents kind of looked at one another and they they knew I was really interested in music but they had no idea that it would be even an inkling of a thought that it would be my career so they were a little bit thrown for a loop and they kind looked at each other and then looked at me and then my dad said well you know Johnny we want you to be happy and um he said I see how you're so interested in that and you've done your research and that's really good so uh if you do your best we will support you and that was the best gift that my parents could have given me it was like acknowledging that yeah okay he has a passion

Starting point is 00:34:42 that may not be what we had in mind for him but let's let him give him give it a shot because he seems so interested in it and so passionate about it so we'll support him and that literally you know that the rest is is history again because i i um auditioned at juilliard you know i got into juilliard and i went there and i again the the immersion in the musical world of new york city is unlike anything except for maybe london but if you go to new york you can see a different performance every night. You can see several different performances every night of any, you know, great chamber music ensemble, orchestra, opera, anything. And then to be studying with great faculty and to be, you know, working with equally great and passionate classmates

Starting point is 00:35:45 was really a gift to me. And to have my parents' support, that was a gift. So it was, you know, I led a pretty charmed life. You know, it was like I had I had support. I had inspiration. I had the very highest level of models to to listen to and to look at and to get inspiration from. and then it just so happened that in my first year at Juilliard there were auditions for orchestras and that's what I wanted you know I wanted to be in an orchestra so in my very first year at Juilliard there was an opening in the Los Angeles Philharmonic my hometown orchestra for bass clarinet and so I said cool I'm signing up so I signed up and I came in and in those days they didn't have screens it was kind of and nowadays we all expect them to have screens you know it's completely uh you know anonymous those days you'd walk into a room and

Starting point is 00:36:51 you'd see the whole panel sitting there and these were all guys that i knew you know and they some of them knew me it was like i know this guy he was just a kid and and so i'm i start to play and it's like i noticed that they were kind of like listen listening to me and one of my teachers was actually on the committee you know michelle zakofsky in my second year in college i stayed in los angeles i did not go to aspen that year um so since mr gray was at aspen i took lessons with michelle zakofsky who was principal clarinetist of the los angeles philharmonic And she taught me so much about how to play in an orchestra. And so here she was listening on the panel to me to see if I could be good enough to be in the section with her and the orchestra. and they realized that i was i'd only been in music school for one year and you know they they

Starting point is 00:37:55 heard what i could do but then they were saying well you know you sound really good but maybe you need a little bit more experience at taking some other auditions so keep taking auditions and don't stop and keep going for it. And, and I, I, you know, at that point, maybe I didn't really expect to get the job, but I did. And I also didn't really expect to get the sort of encouragement that I did get. So they encouraged me. It was like these, um, members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic that I'd been listening to throughout my high school and junior high school years were actually telling me that i was on the right track that i should i should just continue doing what i'm doing and um and i could have a career uh in music in an orchestra like they did

Starting point is 00:38:49 and then the following year there were several other auditions that came up and they were all they were on bass clarinet strangely enough so the the cincinnati symphony and um uh this was in january of 1977 had an opening for bass clarinet so i went to a very very snowy cincinnati and you know trudged my way through like literally it was like six feet of snow to get to this audition and and then i made the finals and it was like oh cool you know i'm i'm progressing you know i must have been doing something right and and it was like basically fantasy of of playing in a great orchestra um it was like oh gosh you know this is a fantasy and i didn't really lock in my concentration it was i didn't really think i was going to get this

Starting point is 00:39:43 job i was just doing it because that's what you do and so i um i didn't get that job but then the very um a couple of months later there was an audition for the saint paul chamber orchestra And it was principal clarinet. And I said, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, they're the really the only full time chamber orchestra in America. And this would be really, really cool. So I was this was one job that I really did want to get, you know, I think this is the one I want. so I practiced and I uh you know honed my skills and and got all the repertoire together I went in and auditioned and um they picked me as one of two finalists and I said good I'm I've got to get this one you know and so I got to play with the with the wind quintet there you know you get to play with the players and I said this is amazing these players are great I could see doing this for the rest of my career and so they went and um deliberated and they said you know we can't

Starting point is 00:40:56 decide we'll let you know tomorrow it's like oh my gosh okay so I'm like all night I'm waiting and waiting waiting and in the morning I get a call from the music director Dennis Davies Dennis Russell Davies who was somebody that I had worked with at Aspen and I played in the a student orchestra at Aspen under Dennis Russell Davies. And this was another one of the major reasons why I really wanted this job, because I loved working with him at Aspen. And I said, gosh, you know, if I can do this on a regular basis, I'd be in heaven. And so Dennis calls me and he says, well, we decided to give the job to the other guy. And I said, no. And he said, you know it wasn't only because he had had experience he had already had five years of

Starting point is 00:41:49 experience being in a um in an orchestra you know he was already a seasoned professional and i said but he said but everybody was so impressed with your um virtuosity and and your you know just your playing in general and you know what we thought we would be holding you back from a major symphonic career. And I said, but this is the job I really want, Dennis. He said, no. He says, you want to play in a major symphonic orchestra. We're just a little chamber orchestra. And I said, okay. Well, so I was really dejected. But the very following month, there was an audition for the chicago symphony and it was bass clarinet in the chicago symphony and i said maybe this is what dennis was talking about so i said i'm gonna i'm gonna sign up and

Starting point is 00:42:53 i did and i went in audition and in those days they had you know not as many people turn out for these auditions as they do now you know nowadays you get at least 100 people or maybe even 150 people for a major um win especially a solo position in the um major orchestra like chicago so there were maybe like 50 or 60 people that came to audition and i was all ready boy was i ready and my teacher at juilliard was um had been the bass clarinetist of the nbc symphony joe allard was his name and he was very versatile musician you know he played he was the clarinet bass clarinet and saxophone teacher at Juilliard so he was able to coach me on a lot that had to do with the bass clarinet so it was good that I had all these auditions come up that were with

Starting point is 00:43:48 the bass clarinet repertoire so he coached me and of course you have to play the regular clarinet so I made sure I was really good and ready you know I remember staying up till like one and two in the morning practicing in the basement of this, um, three flat that I, uh, you know, had an apartment in, in, in, um, New York city. And they wouldn't let me practice in my apartment, but the landlady said, if you want to go down to the basement, you can practice down there. And boy, did I, and there were like, there were like roaches down there in the, it was like, ugh, you know, but I just like looked the other way and I have my scores. I had my scores for, you know, all the Strauss tone poems and I had to be practicing and looking at the score and

Starting point is 00:44:35 getting all ready. And I went to Chicago and it was great. Cause I got to stay with my friend who was, um, who had played, uh, extra trumpet in the Chicago symphony. And he got, let me stay in his apartment in the audition and the day before the audition he took me in to orchestra hall and um rick henley was his name he was a great guy we'd been to uh tanglewood together and so rick hosted me in chicago and and it made me feel really really at home and he took me up to the gallery of orchestra hall he said i want your first view of orchestra hall to be from the gallery takes me up all the way to the you know wherever sixth seventh floor and he says are you ready he opens the door and he says welcome to church and looks down and there's these organ pipes and

Starting point is 00:45:29 i'm looking down from the gallery of orchestra hall first time i've ever been there and that was my impression so the next day was my audition and i got um out of like 60 people that played they called me back and i said they said you're in the finals and i said great and they picked four finalists and all four of us were supposed to come back in a month so the finals were like a month later and so meanwhile i i'm sort of like okay you know nervous but i'm feeling good go back to do juilliard and everybody's like oh wow you're in the finals at the chicago symphony that's fantastic and in the meantime during that month the chicago symphony had made a tour to carnegie hall in those days they were playing carnegie hall twice a year but once in the spring

Starting point is 00:46:20 and this was in the spring and once in the fall so i got to go and hear the chicago symphony i'd never heard them live before i heard them in records of course you know all the reiner recordings and you know then in uh carnegie hall i got to hear the chicago symphony live i was just like the very first thing they played was um music for strings percussion celesta there wasn't even winds in it and i was like stunned here is schulte sir george will be larger than life and here he's like twitching away at the podium and it's like doing these weird motions and i was like gosh what's going on and the way this piece starts is so meandery and legato and here's he's twitching away and it's very strange and then i remember the cello solo and it was frank miller

Starting point is 00:47:19 who was the principal cellist at the time so powerful and so piercing and so incredibly deep and i said gosh you know and then they played the um tchaikovsky sixth symphony and i was like wow you know and then for an encore they played bolero it was like oh my goodness i was i was like gosh you know i don't know if i belong in this orchestra but it would be amazing if i could be and so that really um it got me so pumped up and afterwards of course i wait by the stage entrance and i wait for the clarinet guys to come out and they knew who i was because they'd been in the audition and so the principal clarinetist at the time was clark brody and um he comes in you know she shakes my hand he says have you been doing your homework i said i sure have and actually

Starting point is 00:48:17 being at this concert was a huge part of my homework and he says well you know we'll see in a few weeks and and all the best you know good luck and then um larry combs who was assistant principal at the time and he was so generous to me and he said you know if you want to come and play some things for me um you can you can come to my hotel room and so that was so so helpful also and so i was i was ready you know if if um if i didn't get this job i was really going to be sad but i i came in there may 20th of 1977 and and uh i played played my finals played the bass clarinet played the soprano clarinet, played the Mozart concerto, played a few Beethoven symphonies, played, you know, Strauss tone poems, played, you know, the Rite of Spring, played the

Starting point is 00:49:15 Cotterterian piano concerto on the bass clarinet. All these things, they just, you know, call him out and then Schulte would talk. It was funny because, you know, I wasn't used to hearing his voice. Now, of course, I can imagine, my dears, can you play this a little more clearly? And it was like oh okay so i play the the right of spring part a little more clearly for him and fine and then everybody goes away and then they called us all down after like everybody had played this was only four people so you know maybe 15 minutes each took about an hour they'd deliberate for about 45 minutes calm down and then the personnel manager says mr yay come with me and it was like wow you know he says um the maestro would like to speak with you you're you're um going to be

Starting point is 00:50:08 our new bass clarinet player and i was like oh my gosh so this is three days before my 20th birthday and here is sir george schulte my dear you play very well now do a good job be a good boy and that that's literally what he said to me and i i said and he pats me on the back and i said gosh you know this guy really reminds me of meli meza the guy who taught me everything i learned about about playing in an orchestra now i'm going to be in a major orchestra and schulte you know it's the same sort of you know towering stature of of a music director and a conductor and I wanted to do my best, you know, and my, and I called my parents and I said, guess what? I just got in the Chicago symphony and they said, oh, but you haven't graduated from

Starting point is 00:51:10 Juilliard yet. And I said, you know what? This might only happen once in my lifetime. They said, are you going to take it? And I said, yes. They said, okay, well, you know, we want you to be happy. And I said, well, the best on the job training is what I'm going to get in the Chicago symphony. I'm going to be a member of one of the greatest orchestras in the world. And I'm going to have all these colleagues as my teachers. And sure enough, you know, my very first rehearsal. So it was like, okay, when can you start? It was like, well, you know, uh, sure. You know, I can start as soon as you want me. And they, they said, okay, how about Ravinia? And so I said, okay, well, you know,

Starting point is 00:51:58 I've already been invited to Tanglewood for the second time. I said, well, you know, I kind of probably rather start with the Chicago symphony. I'd love Tanglewood, but I'm going to tell Tanglewood that, that I can't make it. So, so I got the start at summer of 1977 in June at Ravinia. and my very first rehearsal was Mahler's second symphony with James Levine and the Chicago symphony and the Chicago symphony chorus and so this was everybody and more and my friend um who I was staying with at the time uh Rick Henley he was playing offstage trumpet you know and it was

Starting point is 00:52:38 like it was like a party but at the same time I was like on pins and needles because you know this is like the big time i played in a professional orchestra at aspen but this was the chicago symphony orchestra and i was like all already i had my score with me you know and then it was kind of the easiest thing that i would that i've ever done because everything was in the right place everything was just like a well-oiled machine with all the cogs perfectly in the right place it was like all I had to do was fit my part in and it turned out and that was my first experience with the Chicago Symphony and everybody would come up to me all these you know um older guys you know was like gosh you know I was like I couldn't like address them the way they wanted

Starting point is 00:53:27 me to it's like okay Mr. Preeves and Mr. Herseth you know and Mr. Still you know it's like oh no no you have to call us by our first names you know just call me milt you know we're colleagues colleague is colleague okay you know just call me bud okay it was that took a little while to get used to you know but it was it was an amazing um introduction into into my career and and i have schulte to thank for it i have all my teachers all my influences my parents obviously it's it's just been an amazing career and so now here it is you know 43 years later and i've seen so much happen in the chicago symphony it's a completely different group of of individuals yet it's still the chicago symphony i've worked with so many uh amazing you know iconic conductors and and

Starting point is 00:54:25 soloists and and colleagues i'm truly truly blessed with with my career and i want to pass it on i want to pass on all my knowledge and that's part of our i'm so happy that you invited me here to um to share with you and your listeners john this is uh it's wonderful you're such an incredible storyteller and it's so great for me and for the listeners to i'm sure to you know take this trip through uh some really cool musical events and characters for sure and i feel like it really shows all of the elements that go into the making of a musician, that importance of the environment, the importance of that exposure to great music and great artists to develop this burning passion that you talked about. And I resonate with so much of what you said, because

Starting point is 00:55:23 it's really the essence of what Mind Over Finger is about. You mentioned at the very beginning of the story uh your teachers mr harrett and mr gray and they would talk about that vision of what you know they want to hear of what you want to hear um and then you get those examples of how to shape your ear and you know develop these mental images and um think about those strong concepts of what's on the page what you want to do with it and you know they have a clear plan on how to execute that this is uh so wonderful to hear you say all of these things absolutely it's the most important thing is to have a clear plan is to have an imagination is to know what you want to hear before you make it happen i think that is so important to have a mental image of the sound

Starting point is 00:56:24 that you want to produce, to have it already fully formed in your mind's ear, to know what you're going to aim for when you actually have it come out of your instrument. And then if it probably won't come out that way. So you want to make the result closer to what closer and closer and closer to what your imagination dictates it will be. That's the most important thing is to have a very very clear image of how you want something to sound i think another thing you said you mentioned on the job training oh yeah and we're in the middle of a pandemic so things are far from being normal but personally i'm confident that the classical music world will bounce back in full swing and once that happens there's going to be a lot of young musicians joining

Starting point is 00:57:19 the professional ranks so as a seasoned professional you've seen your share of newcomers at the CSO and of course you were one yourself back in the days as we've heard what advice would you give to young musicians as they enter the professional life how does one get prepared for performing you know with an orchestra like the CSO on their first day navigate those interpersonal relationships with new colleagues and adapt to a new position in the best way possible right well you know i was very fortunate because the chicago symphony has always been a very welcoming gregarious group of human beings i mean we're humans first and when we see a new member or a guest or somebody that's coming in the thing that we

Starting point is 00:58:16 are drawn to do is to welcome them and welcome them personally as well as musically so so i always am excited to to welcome somebody new to the orchestra somebody that may be from a different orchestra and has other experiences i also like to hear from them about what their experiences are but just to welcome them just as i was welcomed by my new colleagues when i joined the chicago symphony it's such a um you know collaboration between musicians in an orchestra that you want to give every good vibe the chance to, you know, develop. And I say, you know, a lot of times there's tension and there's disagreement and there's maybe even argument between players in any given situation. And I think if you have an open mind, if you have the ability to

Starting point is 00:59:19 take in what somebody else may have that could be a different idea this is a really really important thing to to bear in mind you want to have uh goodwill i think to show goodwill um is such a necessary uh um attribute to any musician uh that that comes to an ensemble To show goodwill, to have openness, to be willing to try things that maybe you didn't want to try or didn't even have an idea that you could try. I think that's the beauty of playing in an ensemble that's like ours, that we have many strong opinions and we have many strong artists. And I think one of the gifts to be in an ensemble like this is to be able to experience those strengths from everybody that comes to our stage. And so I think you approach a situation like that with open ears, with open heart, with open mind. everything should be open and um be be prepared to to give also you know and and and to take it's

Starting point is 01:00:43 it's a real true give and take in an ensemble and and that's the best um you you want to tell your story and you want to hear everybody else's story and then in the end you want to make an ensemble a unified story and that's what we do in the uh in the chicago symphony and in various different groups that we play together with we want to have a collaboration and we want to have goodwill so um i think you know there's no room in our profession for bad vibes so you want to kind of like make the bad vibes dissipate and go away and just have good vibes and and openness and and a willingness to collaborate i think that's that's so important i love this answer what about even before the first day on the job happened so um sure you've sat on several

Starting point is 01:01:44 audition committees and i think my listeners would be upset if i didn't ask you what do you look for in a musician when you're sitting in one of those committees sure well it's important to hear the overall music making of of a candidate of of anybody that that plays and just see what you know if they meet all the requirements and there are to be sure stringent requirements to be in um an orchestra like the chicago symphony you have to have perfect rhythm you have to demonstrate that you have perfect rhythm you have to play appropriate articulations you know um the intonation has to be as close to perfect as possible you have to demonstrate these things when you're playing an audition and of course you have to have the appropriate dynamics so

Starting point is 01:02:47 this is a checklist of four different um criteria and i remember them because of somebody once mentioned and i'll give him credit in a moment but if you think r for rhythm a for articulation i for intonation and d for dynamics it spells raid so you can always go down the checklist does this player demonstrate rhythm yes r does this demonstration demonstrate articulation i intonation a articulation i intonation and d dynamics those four criteria are absolutely required and then there are other uh you know maybe a little bit more subjective personal uh elements that may engage my imagination my my my ear my my you know my heart it's like this person has a beautiful singing sound this person has a beautiful tone quality that has

Starting point is 01:04:02 different colors that is able to tell the story so it's all in the service of telling the story appropriately so this is what i listen for when i'm listening to any performance you know whether it be an audition where one person is playing by him or herself or listening to a performance in a recital or a chamber music or an orchestra performance all these things are always being evaluated and while you can evaluate certain things subjectively objectively you also number one you want to be touched by somebody's ability to communicate a story which is why i'm wearing my Arnold Jacobs t-shirt that says, be a storyteller of sound. I love that. This is Arnold Jacobs, who was the principal tuba player in the Chicago Symphony for years. When I joined

Starting point is 01:05:01 the orchestra, he was principal tuba player. And he was a great teacher. Yeah, he was a great mentor to many of us. And his mantra was song and wind. So the song was the important thing, and the wind was what you have to use to achieve the song. And then his quote, be a storyteller of sound, really says it all. And I think listening to a performance, whether it's about listening to an audition, if I'm sitting on an audition committee, I want to hear somebody tell a story and I want to hear all the criteria met. perfect rhythm, perfect articulation, perfect intonation, perfect dynamics, all in the service

Starting point is 01:05:47 of telling the story. And so I think that pretty much sums it up. I think the preparation before that is making sure the knowledge that you possess includes really, really true factual information you know do you have the right text do you have the right music are you playing all the right pitches are you playing all the right articulations the right context there's a very very very important word it's context when you're playing your part in an orchestra there usually is a lot of other stuff going on and so you need to know become intimately aware of the context what else is going on when you're playing your part when you're waiting to play your next part or when you're not playing you know all these things are are um covered by the one word context

Starting point is 01:06:48 so so i think that's important to know and then the rhythmic rhythmic part of it that is first Because if somebody demonstrates that they have perfect rhythm, that's just required. If somebody demonstrates that they don't have perfect rhythm, that is an easy way to eliminate somebody. So you really, really have to understand how rhythm is related to the context of the piece that you're going to perform. so the underlying uh rhythmic subdivision and um the other thing that i um that i like to tell students and and you know i oftentimes work with groups of uh wind sectionals for example or orchestras that are in rehearsal i say the way to play together is everybody has to have unanimous subdivision you always have to subdivide together and therefore you place all your notes together

Starting point is 01:07:49 with the entire ensemble so unanimous subdivision and context are both very very important indispensable concepts to have when you're preparing to perform and when you're preparing to do an audition you have to be able to demonstrate that you have those attributes And one way to, I would say, evaluate whether you do or how close you are to having those attributes is to record yourself, record your practice, record things, and then listen very, very critically to what you have just played on your recording. and you might find that certain notes aren't in the right place rhythmically certain notes aren't in the right place um intonationally certain things are out of place and some information is available to you if you record yourself and listen back then you can make adjustments i like to do that because um when we have concerts in the chicago symphony when we used to play you know

Starting point is 01:08:58 when we used to play concerts on stage for an audience they used to uh record all of our performances and our um our great recording engineer would upon request send out the recording of that evening's concert and we'd be able to hear and evaluate um how we did and then we can make adjustments for the next rehearsal or for the next concert i think that's very valuable So just to have self-evaluation is a really important thing to be able to establish these criteria of context and rhythm and articulation, intonation and dynamics. That's how I would prepare. And here, great performances of the repertoire that you're going to play. Here, you know, the best artists.

Starting point is 01:09:53 nowadays we have such a huge uh resource online you can go to youtube and hear practically anything played by anybody so you have to make sure you choose the right one you have to choose somebody that's you know giving you really good information not somebody that's not doing it right you know and that in in a way you know usually you can tell if it's it's a major orchestra you know the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, you know, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, those are all likely to be good. And then get several of them, get several good ones and compare them. I would say that'll be part of your study plan is to get to know the context and the different way that these pieces can be played. You know, all great repertoire demands many

Starting point is 01:10:44 different interpretations so if you hear a Beethoven symphony it's going to be different with you know the Chicago symphony from the Berlin Philharmonic the New York Philharmonic the Philadelphia it's going to be different but you want to find out maybe the way if you're going to be auditioning for the Chicago symphony how they usually play it but then you know of course with different conductors we play different things different ways so I can um the one piece that I've recorded most with the chicago symphony is the is the mahler's first symphony for example i've recorded that piece with the chicago symphony five times you know it's like each one is a little bit different you know it's like with schulte or with abato or with boulez or with tenstedt or with

Starting point is 01:11:32 high tink so all five times are a little bit different but it's the same ensemble and so you can see elements that are similar, that are consistent from one performance to another, but different conductors will have their different requests. So your job to prepare for an audition is to be familiar with the context and to hone the skills that will give you perfect control over rhythm, articulation, intonation, dynamics, and context. This makes me think of a question that I think a lot of people would have, let's say a candidate is there, he or she is pulling a good raid, right? Good rhythm, articulation, intonation, and they are offering a very convincing interpretation that is somewhat different from the sound of the orchestra. What happens in those

Starting point is 01:12:28 circumstances? I would definitely give them high marks because if it were a convincing performance that would be a little bit different i i would say the the next step is to put this person this candidate in the finals and then have the music director work with them because that's what happens in the finals the music director will ask them to play it slightly differently you know play this part a little bit faster play this part a little bit slower play this part a little bit louder play this part a little bit you know staccato more or play this part a little bit all those things will be given an opportunity to be worked out in the final audition and then in the trial period nowadays you know when we have many candidates often a candidate is not

Starting point is 01:13:24 immediately hired on the spot but they're given a trial period with the orchestra a couple of weeks to work with the orchestra because you can usually tell in in the first rehearsal how the candidate is listening how the candidate is reacting how the candidate fits in with the ensemble based on what he or she is hearing and i would say this is a valuable way to to um to evaluate somebody's playing so I would say I would give them that opportunity and it's happened when you know I've had I've sat on as you said many audition committees and there have been times when I've not been in the majority opinion where I've said I think this is an amazing player we should give him or her a chance to sit in the orchestra and show if they could fit in and some of my colleagues

Starting point is 01:14:22 will say no it's too different it's they're never going to be able to to to fit in so i said i think we've lost somebody that would be a very um a good potential and so that's why we have we have committees and it's it's not a perfect way there is no real perfect way to um to hold an audition But I think we've come over the years to a pretty good system where we have nowadays anonymous preliminary auditions. So we're not affected by any other quality of whoever's playing except for their ability to play the music. and then during the final audition oftentimes there is no screen and the music director gets to work with them and then if they pass that that they get to work in the orchestra for a trial period and then of course there's the probationary period once somebody is hired in the orchestra

Starting point is 01:15:25 there's an 18-month probation where they get to show even more that they can that they can fit in And so there are various steps into becoming a full member of our orchestra, at least. And I think it's pretty much universal in the major orchestras this way. I know in Berlin, they do it slightly differently because they have the entire orchestra invited to every audition for every position in their orchestra. So they're very democratic. I'm sure they have a lot of different discussions within these auditions where everybody's going to have his or her own opinion. So we don't do it that way. We have an elected audition committee for every vacancy that occurs in our orchestra. And that committee of nine members of the orchestra gets to evaluate all the players that come into audition for that position until that position becomes filled. And then another audition committee is convened for a different vacancy in the orchestra, for example. So each audition committee can be made up of, like, if it's a string vacancy, then maybe there'll be a predominance of string players, and probably the string principals will be involved. If it's a wind opening, there'll be probably more woodwind players involved and so forth like that.

Starting point is 01:16:59 Thank you so much for this extremely useful information. My pleasure. John, do you have time for one more question before I take you through a round of rapid fire question? Absolutely. Absolutely. In addition to being the associate principal clarinetist with the Chicago Symphony, you're the longest tenure clarinetist, but you're also a very active soloist, a chamber musician, a teacher, clinician, a family man. So you're one busy person and we know it's not an easy profession. So what does that look like for you to organize your life in the way that allows you to show up day after day, operating at the highest level while juggling such a busy schedule?

Starting point is 01:17:43 Right. Well, I've come to the conclusion that my major challenge in life is scheduling. That's my major challenge. That's why I'd be lost without my schedule book. If I were to misplace this, I wouldn't know where I would have to be, you know, in a particular hour of a particular day. So this is really, really important. And then I've come to the conclusion that balance is the key to life. That's become my motto. Balance is the key to life. And you've just mentioned all the different facets of my career and my life. And as you say, family is such an important part of my life and that has to be maintained in the balance you know i have my career which has different facets to it the orchestra part the educational part i i teach

Starting point is 01:18:41 at um at roosevelt university and and i have you know uh orchestra sectionals that i coach so that is a balance i i play different kinds of music outside of the orchestra i have um an ensemble called chicago pro musica in fact i'll show you our new cd just came out chicago pro musica two composers that are chicago composers lawrence rapchak and william neal that we recorded these two pieces almost 20 years ago and because we've been so busy with you know the regular orchestra concerts more chicago pro musical concerts teaching you know just paying attention to the family everything like that only during this covid pandemic have we actually had the time to sit down and edit and master and produce this recording so this is a new recording that's going

Starting point is 01:19:43 to come out in april i think the the release date is set for april 2nd it's called chicago pro musica troika by rapjack and project phoenix by neil and it's on the centaur label wonderful your listeners can be looking for that so this is our chamber group that um i formed in 1979 and we won the grammy in 1985 for best new classical artist and we um that was for a series of recordings that we did um in medina temple we had the soldier's tale by stravinsky as one of them and facade by william walton and a bunch of other music and we were honored by the recording Academy as best new classical artists. So we've had several different recordings since then. We are able to give several concerts a year, but not many. We choose our repertoire and a lot of it is

Starting point is 01:20:43 cutting edge new music that we've had written for us because that's one of our missions is to create new music for chamber music ensembles. And of course, we love playing the classics beethoven and brahms and mozart too but that's one of my major um activities chicago pro musica teaching at roosevelt you know spending time with my three daughters and my wife my wife um theresa who's also clarinetist one of my fondest um activities is to be on stage with her she plays from time to time with the chicago symphony as a substitute clarinetist also and We have some projects going on now that, you know, in this day, in this year, it's already become a year of this pandemic, life has changed. And so we don't generally have to worry about commuting and finding a parking space and finding traffic and getting from one place to another.

Starting point is 01:21:45 We are able to communicate with people all over the world, you know. i have um renewed and established connections with colleagues in hong kong my very very very good friend andy simon who's principal clarinetist of the hong kong philharmonic and i um have have kept in close touch because he has a um facebook uh live event called andy's licorice talk and he's um interviewed a series of of clarinetists i mean some of them actually he's interviewed other uh other people too besides clarinetists but it's mostly clarinetists and andy's licorice talk has been something that that's been an amazing thing so i've been on his talk three times now and i think that's the most any of his guests has been on and um then i'm able to hear

Starting point is 01:22:41 his other guests from from europe you know the the players in the berlin philharmonic the players in the paris opera the players in in london and to reconnect with these people has been literally the the silver cloud a silver lining of of the corona cloud you know that we've been clouded by this terrible pandemic but there is there are many silver linings you know the opportunity to have conversations like this with you to to you know um share our uh our experiences to share our artistry to share our ideas with people all over the world i think has been a gift that's been in a way enabled by by this pandemic so yes we do want to get back to the stage and play for live audiences that we really miss john how about a round of rapid fire questions please

Starting point is 01:23:35 what skills do you think young musicians studying today should acquire in addition to learning to play their instruments well i would say just being communicative skills just just being able to to speak to one another on on a on an interpersonal level i think interpersonal skills is is really important being being a good uh just being a good just being a good guy you know try try to develop your good guyness i love that do you have a favorite tool in the practice room i would say you know it keeps me honest it's the metronome and it's the tone generator you know a lot of times you you have these tuning machines you have to have one that plays the sound though a lot of people you know they look at a at a at a needle on the on

Starting point is 01:24:39 the tuning machine that's not good enough you have to have one that you can match your sound to when you play it so it has to be a tone generator and then the metronome you know keeps you keeps you even keeps you honest i would say keeps you honest you always need a pencil i would say you have to have a pencil i i would never remember you know even a tenth of the things that cross my mind when i practice unless i write it down so the pencil is very important and you can erase it because you might have a different idea about it next time that's a great selection now i think the next one's going to be hard because i'm sure over the years you've gotten so many wonderful pieces of advice is there one that was given to you that you'd like to pass on

Starting point is 01:25:25 to the listeners yes um you know this is kind of simple but just keep your eyes and ears and heart open and i don't even remember if somebody just told me that but i would say that's really really a piece of advice. Just be open. I love that. That's beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. It's simple, but I think it's very meaningful also. Is there a book that you'd like to share with the listeners? I wanted to tell everybody they have to read this book. Let's hear about this. It's called Our Time Is Now by Stacey Abrams. Stacey Abrams is an amazing teacher and she is a um political organizer in the state of georgia whom as you know recently has been the political epicenter of the united states of america and i think nowadays it is so

Starting point is 01:26:28 vital for everybody every human being to be involved with the politics of our nation just to be um involved is to not be complacent we cannot be complacent about the uh the actions and the events that have occurred in our society especially in the last week and you know in the last four years uh if i would say there there's one thing that that's come out of the the chaos and a stupidity of this current presidential administration, it's been the elevation of everybody's consciousness to how important it is to be involved in our democracy. And this book by Stacey Abrams, Our Time Is Now,

Starting point is 01:27:27 will really, really be a good primer for everybody. Everybody should read this book. It's so, so, so important. because our democracy is very fragile and we have to all be invested in protecting it. Thank you for this recommendation. I'll be reading that book for sure. Thank you.

Starting point is 01:27:49 I think it's so easy to understand too. I mean, it's like you pick it up and it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And actionable, totally. There's one other book, there's a musical book and then I've read it recently. It's called The Infinite Variety of Music by Leonard Bernstein. Oh, wow.

Starting point is 01:28:07 Also fascinating. Thank you so much for this. How about a quick actionable tip that the listeners could implement today in their musical lives? Okay, this is really important. Have a story and tell it musically. If you're working on a piece, create an image in your mind's ear and then tell the story when you play it. I think that's what I try to do all the time in everything that I do is to create a mental, oral image, audible image, and then impart that to the listener or record it and then you be your own listener. I think that's an actionable thing.

Starting point is 01:28:56 Play, okay, let's do it this way. Have an image of something you want to play. Have a story. Tell the story, record it, and then listen to it. That should be your task for today. And then when you listen to it, be very critical and ask yourself, did I tell the story that I wanted to tell? That's excellent. Cool.

Starting point is 01:29:18 John, thank you so much for this gift of your insight and wisdom today. I'm so glad that my listeners had an opportunity to learn from you. And I can't wait till we're able to sit down together again and make some music. On stage with the Chicago Symphony. This is so great. Thanks for reaching out and having me be a part of your series. I'm so happy to participate. And I do look forward to that time when we can both be on stage together.

Starting point is 01:29:48 Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this discussion with CSO Assistant Principal Clarinetist, John Brussier. I walk away so inspired by our conversation, and I would love to know what your favorite takeaways from today's episode were. So get in touch with me. I'm mindoverfinger on both Instagram and Facebook, and let me know. As always, I'll have all the information related to this episode in the show notes. You can find them via your podcast app or by visiting mindoverfinger.com, where you can also find more information about mindful and efficient practice and performance preparation. And as I said in the intro, if you're looking to completely transform your playing this summer, I have the perfect program for you.

Starting point is 01:30:41 Early Sign Up has started for the Music Mastery Experience, my life-changing, highly personalized group coaching program. It starts on June 1st, and over the course of three months, I take you through a massive transformation in your music making. Whether you want to experience peak performance consistently, or you're preparing for an audition you would very much like to win, or your goal is to start learning repertoire are faster and better, or you're simply wanting to elevate your mastery of your instrument, join us for the Music Mastery Experience. The program will give you all the tools to bring

Starting point is 01:31:18 more intentionality, joy, and efficiency in your practice, and you're going to start to experience the results you want in performance and in your musical life. Emily shared this about the Music Mastery Experience. Working with Renee is a wonderful experience. She puts a lot of time and effort in for the people in her program and has lots of wisdom to share. I feel like I can go to her with any issues I have and she will support me and help me through it. Now I don't fear having a problem in my practice because I know I can use the deep practice model and my new problem solving mindset to help me get through that. I no longer need to obsess over an issue. You should do this program because the concepts can also relate to how to deal with issues in life itself as well

Starting point is 01:32:06 as in music. Well, those are some of the results you can expect when you join the Music Mastery Experience. I like to keep the group very small, so there are going to be a limited number of spots. It's not too early to save yours, and by signing up now, you get access to all the early access bonuses. So go to mindoverfinger.com slash MME, and let's talk. Let's have you show up ahead of the game come September. That's it for today. Thanks again for tuning in, and à bientôt!

The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 092 John Bruce Yeh: Storyteller of Sound

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