The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 175 Esteban Batallán on Auditioning, Performing, and Passion – Backstage Pass Series

Episode Date: September 15, 2023

A casual and impactful backstage conversation with world-renowned trumpet player Esteban Batallán on topics ranging from how to practice for an audition, to how to prepare for a performance and listen to your sound.   MORE ABOUT ESTEBAN Website: https://estebanbatallan.com/biography/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/estebanbatallan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/esteban.batallancons/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estebanbatallan_official/   Book your free consultation with Renée HERE Download the transcript from this episode HERE   Mind Over Finger Visit MindOverFinger.com for resources on mindful practice and information on how to work with me. Connect: https://www.youtube.com/@MindOverFinger https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindoverfinger https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/     THANK YOU: Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme:  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson.

You're listening to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 175. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, where we dive into the world of mindful music making, peak performance, and crafting a purpose-driven life and career. I'm your host, violinist, certified performance and life coach for musicians, and your guide to unlocking your full potential, Dr. René-Paul Gaultier. Hi, everyone. I hope you're feeling great as you're tuning in today. Welcome to the first official episode of season six of the Mind Over Finger podcast. I don't know about you, but I love September. I love the beginning of the new performing season. I love putting the rehearsal and concert schedule in my calendar and thinking about all the

repertoire ahead. I love that everything feels like a fresh start, and an opportunity to redefine ourselves, to perhaps do things differently, experiment with new things. So much fun. And on the podcast this year, I am trying new things, and also keeping the ones you love. I'm going to have in-depth interviews, because you tell me you love those. And this season, for that series, I'll be speaking to musicians and experts on topics covering our health and our well-being, as well as ways to maximize learning and performing. Lots of topics to help us all thrive. In my solo shows, I'm going to dive even deeper into mindset and my management.

I'm going to give you tools you can use to create a big impact in your lives. Things like gaining more confidence, getting unstuck, whether there are some things you want to change directions you want to take and dreams you want to see realized there is a way and that's what we're going to talk about together and today we begin the season with a brand new series where i give you access to the artists you love at work in their element and i ask the questions you're curious about i bring you backstage with me where I sit with amazing world-class musicians and we have a relaxed conversation about music making and life as a musician. And I'm very excited to begin this new series with the incredible Esteban

Batayan, principal trumpet with the Chicago Symphony. Esteban was appointed principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony in 2019 by music director Ricardo Muti. He was previously the principal trumpet of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and for the Orchestra of the City of Granada. He also served as guest principal trumpet with the Royal Orchestra of Seville, the Orchestra del Teatro a la Scala, and the Philharmonica de la Scala. Esteban has appeared and performed as a soloist with distinguished orchestras around the world. He's the winner of several prestigious competitions, including the Jeunesse Musicale of Spain competition, Yamaha Zeno National Competition, Jeunesse Musicale of Europe Competition,

the Yamaha International Competition, and he was also a prize winner at the 2006 Maurice André International Trumpet Competition. A native of Spain, Esteban began his musical studies at the age of seven and pursued his training at the Conservatory of Music in Pontevedra, the Conservatory of Music of Vigo, and the Galicia School of Musical Studies. In addition to his activities as a performer, Esteban served as coach and has led masterclasses for many organizations, schools, and brass festivals around the world. Esteban is the epitome of the consummate artist, performing at the highest level week after week. Esteban and I had a great time chatting, and I know you're going to find a wealth of information and wisdom in what he shares with us. So, without further ado, for you, Esteban Batallón, enjoy your backstage pass.

Esteban, thank you so much for talking with me today. My pleasure, Renée. So, we're sitting here at Ravinia. You've been so incredible. We had some fun with, you know, Mahler 5, among others. and we're getting ready to play Copland 3 tonight. Tell me a little bit about what you're looking forward to the most in this piece. Well, looking at the composer, Copland, his story as a great brass composer, and just not brass, but in general for us,

Copland, because of the fanfare, he is one of those composers that we always have in our book as a reference for brass playing. The Fair Fair for Common Man, it's just a spectacular work, and actually is the beginning of the fourth movement of the Symphony No. 3, which is on the ending as well, just half a step higher, which makes it more shiny, but more demanding as well. So Copland, with this symphony, I think he represents a little bit the American proud, deep feeling of country you know like it's it's a you can tell it's a very very inspiring music

i think in my point of view for the i don't know how to actually say that but for the people to feel proud about in this case i think it's more about the country itself so it's that that kind of feeling internal feeling of the people when you know when you feel proud about something that's kind of symphony that kind of applies with that it's the because of its construction pain first and very smooth lines and powerful and the soft passages as well but but in in general charles very on the heroic side of the music somehow so yeah copeland aside of brass of course the clarinet concerto is very famous some other things and especially this piece is very demanding for strings you will know better a lot of little notes and fast passages that make this piece

really complicated and very demanding for the whole group so so it's it's a it's a symphony that i never played before so tonight is my first time as well but i obviously knew it and uh it was one of those that you always have kind of in your mind to play someday Whenever it happens, it seems that, all right, it's Copland Third, it's not something that you have been looking for a long time on a schedule, no, it's something that you really want to do because it's all, it's kind of a, how to say it, it's a good piece for brass, especially for trumpet. I mean, the fact of having four trumpets in this section, playing fanfares almost all the time, it's so, so nice.

I look forward to it. Speaking of performance, what advice would you give to musicians preparing for performance? So, well, I don't think you really should get ready for a performance. You should get ready for your own playing. Love that. So, I think the best you can do, obviously, aside of working on your technical aspects or musical aspects, the fact of getting ready just to play for yourself should be a part of your personal joy and not something that you have to do for something specific. Like in this case,

I'm going to prepare for a performance. That doesn't apply for auditions, for example. You have to be perfectionist with that and really think about that moment and somehow pursue that feeling and focus on that for a few months and prepare very well for that but for performance obviously i mean it's not completely true what i'm saying it's you have to prepare for the performance but mostly for yourself so you you have to be first you have to be you with yourself who is ready to offer your artistry or your music to just not the colleagues around you or for your for your own uh satisfaction but also for the audience which is in the end the first last recipient of that are that you are creating but everybody every musician has its own its own uh

routine you know of how to approach a performance or an audition or everything so for me personally i i always try to do all the job for the work in in advance so i know that copeland is a highly demanding piece in terms of strength endurance so i i will think about this in terms of getting ready to be prepared to rehearse for two three four hours and and don't hurt myself for example the stamina yeah exactly so or the musical side of the piece I will make sure that I know exactly the meaning behind each single phrase and what's happening also around me all the time because as a leader of the section I have to give the directions somehow without even saying a word but my saying so I use one technique that helps me a lot and it's the fact

of knowing the piece perfectly fine and the way I get to that point aside of my own preparation as a trumpet player it's to listen to the music as much as I can and try to find all the details that somebody else was applying into that recording or so as as you know i'm a big fan this is so so for me my reference was 1976 recording with leinsdorf on this same stage oh so fantastic yeah so yeah full circle so for me every time i i have to do something big i i have to get references for from the big names for herself obviously and and phil smith or all the other great players even today i mean like tom i will i will listen to tom for some stuff you know each of us has a different perspective as humans we all do so it's good to hear what somebody else

is doing the same because it might help you to be a part of your approach as well and obviously you have to think about your own personas relax enjoy the moment and play for the audience and and if something happens don't get too crazy with that you talked about routine do you also have what some people call a pre-performance ritual things that you do right before a performance Do you mean musically speaking or just in general by myself? How about both? All right. So by myself, I never eat before playing.

I just hate it. I cannot play comfortable if I feel kind of full stomach or I cannot clean my teeth right before playing. So I have to do this sometime in advance. I don't like to get dressed in the last minute. So I don't like stress, basically. So I don't want to do anything that stresses me. Whenever that happens, that doesn't mean that the concert is going to be a disaster. No, but I don't feel comfortable.

So I try to keep these little things that I can't do without any kind of, you know, thinking. Right. Control what you can. Yes, exactly. So I try to do that in kind of, it became almost like a routine, like it's normal for me to do that without thinking. uh and also um uh musically speaking i try to every time i i'm gonna play right before i play i i have the same three basic exercises that i do is playing with a mouthpiece but i have to do it at least 20 minutes before the performance 15 minutes 10 is the minute when i i feel kind of

my brush and i or or i feel that is something that is gonna if i played before in the day if it's something that is gonna be heavy i try to just not waste myself don't get tired because you know it's a piece of brass that you put in front of your lips it's brass against meat it's not a good combination you know you can hurt yourself so i try not to uh hurt myself so i I will do a little warm-up, the minimal I need to start with the best possible sound and to last longer for the whole show. Meaning Copland 3rd, Mahler 7, Mahler 6, the big pieces. I will not really be playing a lot before playing the concert.

If we have a rehearsal as we normally do here or in the morning before the first show, Well, I will have to make sure I have enough rest in between. If not, I will do some cool down exercises after that rehearsal and a really nice 10-15 minutes warm up to keep myself fresh as much as possible. I'm not a very muscular guy in terms of embouchure building, but I have a lot of endurance. But I have to, I know how to keep it balanced, just not to get too tired. If I know I'm going to get too tired during the performance, just how to manage that. And it's all about self-knowledge.

Yeah, of course, you have to know yourself perfectly. You talked about auditions earlier. What would be some advice you would give to people taking auditions? Luis? Well, in my own experience, the first feeling that you should have, it's that that audition has to be your goal. It's not just a simple fact of going to play an audition because I want to go and play an audition. No. If you do that, you might succeed. But in most of the cases, it's just you're not really focused on that. It's something that doesn't create any passion for you or you know it's kind of a random thing yeah so and i experienced that before i went to other

places before i came here and i then i understood that i never had the same passion and commitment and the same feelings about taking an audition like this i was really excited so if you feel excited about an audition that's a good starting point then obviously obviously you have to prepare yourself know all the music uh be very constant about your playing i will say depends the person not everybody's the same but for myself it before this first edition was two and a half two and a half months preparing and all the excerpts i knew perfectly fine the music i was ready to play the excerpts in whatever order they would ask me because sometimes we try to keep the uncomfortable situation so meaning if i have to play brandenburg number

two with the piccolo trumpet then i feel oh i cannot play carmen the beginning the product because it's b-flat trumpet and it goes very low so it's like um that's not the perfect scenario although it's not the perfect scenario and it's never gonna happen in a real situation but you have to be ready you don't know what the commission wants to ask to ask you so Prepare for the worst. Yes, exactly, exactly. And then the day of the audition, obviously, you already did all the work, so it's not the day to last-minute things.

No, you can probably take a look at your parts and have a last thought, but you should already have the work done. So when you get to the audition, I kind of follow the same pattern. It's quick warm-up, but I'm ready because I know because of the stressful situation i'm gonna waste a lot of energy and you know some people might get anxious or nervous and we all get we all get nervous in that situation so i know because of that my playing is gonna it's not gonna be 100 it's gonna be 90 or 95 or 85 or 80 depending how much i prepare myself so as much as you can be completely sure of the things that you

do and are really secure about the way that you play and everything, the better. And be ready to be asked to play softer, something that is soft, or play longer, something that needs to be more tenuto or sustained, so have all the possible resources covered as well. That's a great answer. How about a favorite piece? Just one? I have many favorite pieces, many.

But if I have to choose one, Wow, that's difficult. Really difficult. Oh, so let me think for one second. Because, you know, I'm a big fan of Mahler, but I'm a big fan of Bruegger, and Wagner, and Shostakovich, and Strauss. So if I have to say just one,

it's going to be complicated. I will probably start with Mahler's Seventh. But then as well Mahler's Fifth, Mahler's Sixth, Mahler's Ninth. But another favorite is this Alpine Symphony. I just love it so much. So I think probably between Mahler's Seventh, Alpine Symphony, Shostakovich's Seventh. That's on my top five for sure.

Yeah, so my top three, those pieces, Brandenburg. I love the Brandenburg. So I have a bunch of them. I love this question because you never get one and then you get to build a great playlist. Now I want to go listen to all of these. Yeah, and I can't tell you actually all the recordings of that that I have. Thank you.

My favorite for Shostakovich 7 is Lenny with CSO 1989 or 87. That's a great recording. the best for me of all times Mahler's Seville I have to Shorty or about

let's see so both of them are great different ways and Alpine Symphony the recording

with Barenboim was great so and I use always the same orchestra just because that's

that's where I heard on my ledge just see so some New York some Cleveland a little bit of

Berlin yeah not that much that's so wonderful that you're here now oh that's why i told you it's regarding the preparation for the audition it's about the passion that you put on top of that i'm not going to say that it became kind of a craziness in myself no but i was so passionate about that yes i love that you have the word passion yeah with audition yeah yeah yeah i'm thinking it's i think it's the right way to

approach it if you really desire something you might get a an extra percentage yeah into your success so it's like playing a little percentage of our playing is mental so the way you approach things makes a little different in your playing yeah can you tell a little bit more about that is i'm always fascinated by the mental aspect of things yeah you know i i think that all of us we should be more on the natural side of the player than the mechanical side. I want to say there's people who they practice hours and hours and hours. For example, Eugene Kesey. Every time he comes to Chicago, you can see him on the hallway practicing for hours and hours and hours.

The same passage or the same little excerpts for hours and hours, hundreds of times. Well, he's a perfectionist. so into his naturality he wants to find the perfection we all want to find the perfection obviously but i always think that if you become that mechanic it it goes against your naturality because then you are into the box you know how you are doing the things and it's very automatic very you know very square so when i as i see a bunch of times i like to open the box and if i depending what i feel how i feel when i see around me one day to the other might be completely different not completely but a little bit different just because of that naturality that

you put on your playing so for me that side is it's special it's something to not really think about it but to take in mind very very deeply yes and in wrapping up here give a tip or something that you would recommend that the listeners just try at home maybe in their playing or in their musical life well there is something as a player that you have to be aware of and it's yourself your sound should be the most pure possible aspect of your playing because that's what you are gonna transmit yourself obviously there are a bunch of things to get to that and that have to be a side of the sound like articulation in terms of brass playing articulation or the way you the shape of the notes uh you know there are many many different schools

and and if you go to europe you might hear somebody playing we don't do that here we are more front of the note and then we talk about the shape of the note at the end but not at the beginning sound pops up and it starts there so but the quality of your sound the beauty of your sound so you have to think about just not that in your practice aspect or your playing aspect and also you have to think about how having the right tools so you have to feel comfortable with the equipment that you're playing, your mouthpiece

or your bow or your instrument, you know like kind of feeling that that instrument that you hold in your hands is a part of you it's not something that you are holding and you played, no no it becomes a part of you, you make

it yours, it's like it's like a third arm somehow it's saying So I think the best advice for somebody who wants to create a pile of things to do, first thing, technical aspect. That's really important from the, in my case, trumpet player side. Musical aspect. As much music as you can listen. Every kind of music.

And just not hear the music. Listen to the music carefully and try to find details. Then you have to emulate what you just heard. So it's good that you have a reference and you try to be like somebody. That's what I did. And I think at a certain point, we all tried to be like somebody. That's not a problem. That's perfectly fine.

We have to do that. We have to emulate somebody. And then you have to be yourself. That's the last aspect. You have to create your own version, your own path, your own. So it's a mixture of things. But little by little, with all of this, you create a big pile of things that you have to be aware or you have to really pay attention to and that becomes your whole thing for for

yourself so i i'm not saying that i'm uh in particular special or different than somebody else but that each of us has its own way of being just not as a human but also as a musician so and it's so important that we never forget that in the end we are musicians especially we are team players we work we work in a big huge team of other people with 100 different ideas 100 different perspectives and you are 100 percent uh well one percent of that hundred of that group so it's uh you know trying to create a nice healthy environment in your work so and in your life in general so yeah i thank you so much for this thanks for taking the time to chat with me today.

It was my pleasure. Absolutely. Thank you, Renée. There you have it. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Esteban Batallón. One thing that struck me

about Esteban, and that's something that I almost always see in other performers of that level, is this incredible combination of passion and thorough, deeply personal process. And I really believe that's key. And if you feel like you have that passion, but you find yourself struggling and you need

guidance to refine your process and find your footing in this performance world, book a consult with me. Head over to mindoverfinger.com slash coaching or click the link in the show notes. When you book your free consultation, you and I are going to talk. We're going to go over what's going on for you right now, what kind of blueprint will give you the results you want, and we'll see how I can help you with your process. I work with my clients one-on-one for six months to transform their career and their life. The call is completely free, and either way, you're going to walk away from that call

with clarity. All right, that's what I have for you this week. Much love going your way, and à bientôt!