Hi Mr. Bell,

I am an 17 yr old pianist and want to pursue a career in the performing arts. I have performed as a soloist with a few local community orchestras in my area and am thinking seriously about attending a conservatory to pursue my education. Any advice you can give me a budding artist would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Edward Lewis
Minneapolis, MN

First, some confusion always seems to arise for those of us with either hyphenated or compound last names. My last name is Young, though I agree my middle name has greater onomotopaeic potential for a musician!

Well, regarding your question: Keep your ears open, for starters. Your teachers are probably the best equipped to make recommendations, in that they will know your strengths and weakenesses best next to you, of course! There are several fine conservatories and music schools within universities in this country, not the least of which are Oberlin Conservatory, Mannes, Manhattan School of Music, Cleveland, Indiana University School of Music, Peabody and others. If there are any pianists who you number as favorites and admire in particular, you might want to find out if they are teaching in a conservatory somewhere, and audition for them. Follow your intuition on this, but always try to learn things from those whose music making you most revere. No matter how famous they may be, find them and ask them. You will be astonished to see how receptive they are, at least in most cases.

I would also encourage you to learn as much about music beyond the piano as possible --vocal, opera, symphonic, chamber music, and to read broadly and voluminously on related subjects and in other relevant areas, such as musical interpretation, critical analysis, philosophy and aesthetics. I suggest, too, that you familiarize yourself with our sister arts, especially the theater and acting. I recommend Uta Hagen's as well as Michael Chekhov's book on acting. In addition, nowadays it is more important then ever to keep yourself informed about the business of music, the recording industry and what it takes to keep your head above water in a cruel and competitive business. Sure, there are probably a number of books about the "business of music" which would be useful, but there is no substitute for getting out there, asking lots of questions from folks who are authorities in their individual areas of expertise such as recording, arts administration, management, production, etc.

Which is to say: ask away, but don't necessarily follow the crowd. Find your own path, your own point of view, but one informed by rigorous study, investigation and analysis of musical data. Nothing beats a vivid imagination. Explore the repertoire, and not only the conventional works of major composers. There is a great deal out there that has rarely been played or recorded, and is eminently worthwhile. (Ever hear of the Latvian composer, Jazep Vitols, for example?) Become a kind of musical archaeologist. Open doors for listeners to have a new kind of musical experience; look around and see what you can find to contribute to the world of music that has not been done before. And see what attracts you and keeps your imagination stimulated. Once you have a vision of where you want to be and what you want to do, with a specific project and goal in mind, go for it, move on it, start talking about it with everyone, invest your time and energy in it until it becomes a living, breathing reality.

Oh, and network, network, network. The Internet is a terriffic tool that years ago would have made life a lot more convenient for artists. Use it. MP3. com has lost a lot of its luster and potential, but still offers a convenient forum for being heard. IUMA is even better as it is still entirely free of charge.

As a friend of mine once wisely said, turn everyone you know into your agent. Play as much as you can as frequently as you can, for friends, for a modest public (libraries and churches are always welcoming and cooperative), but stay ahead of the crowd by learning something about the business of music and business in general, about the skills involved in brokerage and negotiation. Cultivate liaisons with other musicains, conductors, critics, recording engineers and producers, and anyone else who may eventually have a place in your career. Enter competitions, which are always good places to network and meet people in the art and the buiness. Never ever be afraid to ask questions, to put yourself out there; and don't let the snobs and neerthewells, of which there are many in the world of classical music, intimidate you for one minute.

I hope this helps a little, general though it is...! JBY

[This message was edited by John Bell Young on May 08, 2003 at 08:58 PM.]

Thank you very much for this info! You gave me some great advice on considering factors outside the scope of just performing and I appreciate the time you have taken to write me.

You mentioned a couple of schools. I am looking at Cleveland and Peabody for conservatory focuse and Indiana and Northwestern to allow me to experience university life while attending a great music school. Do you know any of the piano teachers there you can recommend?

Thanks again,

Edward

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Originally posted by John Bell Young:

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Originally posted by Pianoman:
Thank you very much for this info! You gave me some great advice on considering factors outside the scope of just performing and I appreciate the time you have taken to write me.

You mentioned a couple of schools. I am looking at Cleveland and Peabody for conservatory focuse and Indiana and Northwestern to allow me to experience university life while attending a great music school. Do you know any of the piano teachers there you can recommend?

Thanks again,

Edward

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Well, at Peabody there are several top teachers. Leon Fleisher would be at the top of my list, but it would likely be very difficult to get into his class without some kind of inside track or recommendation, but it is always worth a try. Also, he is so busy with his duties and concerts elsewhere that I have no idea if he is able to keep up with teaching regularly, which sort of rigorous discipline young pianists such as yourself really need. Alexander Shtarkman is a virtual repository of the Russian tradition, and to have access to that kind of knowledge and training would be invaluable, but be prepared to work extremely hard: the Russians tend to be mercilessly critical, which is a good thing so long as you don't take it personally. Boris Slutsky has a good Russian pedigree, too, but I have no idea what his teaching is like. Finally, I would heartily recommend Marian Hahn, who I haven't seen in many years, although we studied with several of the same teachers, including Ben Kaplan and Olga Barabini. Through Barabini Hahn maintains an important link to the ideas and teaching of Arrau -- she is a solid musician and tremendously knowledgeable. You could learn a great deal from her.

As for Cleveland, there's Sergei Babayan, who is likewise a Russian disciplinarian (in spite of the Armenian surname), and who has cultivated quite an impressive reputation over the last several years as a master teacher. Indeed I have heard several of his students, who are without exception dedicated and on top of their game interpretively and technically. I see that Cliburn Silver Medalist Antonio Pompa-Baldi is teaching there, but again, though he is a good pianist, I don't know anything about him as a teacher. Paul Schenley has been there for many years and has a fine reputation as a teacher.

At Indiana I recommend Emile Naoumoff or Menahem Pressler. Edmund Battersby might be a possiblity. What a shame the great Michel Block passed away a few weeks ago! Luba Edlina-Dubinsky is not a name I know, but reading her bio, her studies in Moscow under the phenomonal Jakob Fliere would speak well for her. I seee only one pianist at Northwestern who I recognize, Ursula Oppens, who is a tremendous musician and virtuoso, of course. That doesn't mean the others there, who like so many are languishing in academia, not playing or recording all that much, or making a big name for themselves, are not good teachers or good pianists. They may or may not be. You just have to ask around. Indeed, if I were you, where lesser known pianists are concerned, I'd request copies of their recordings, if they have any, as well video tapes of their master classes before committing to study with any one of them. You should assume the attitude of auditioning *them* as much as they do auditioning you! After all, you're *paying* for this, and you are entitled to get your money's worth. Don't allow what once happend to me at Oberlin years ago to happen to you, when the teacher they assigned me as a freshman tried to sell me LSD at a lesson. That little miscalculation cost him his job. I saw to that personally, even though I was only 18. It was a good first lesson in routing out the misfits and refusing to put up with anything or anyone less than the very best.

I suggest you have a conversation with some of these folks first, as how you get along with them personally is just as important, if not more so, as cultivating a student-teacher relationship. Personally, I never had a problem with teachers; I just got as much information as I could from as many as I could, and generally kept my mouth shut and listened carefully to what they had to offer; that was personal my modus operundi, one not favored by everyone! Throughout my life I was generally most impresed by those teachers who were the most severely critical of me, and not given to niceties while trying to make me feel good. Usually they were the best. As Michelangeli once said, music is extremely complex; to stay relaxed about it, he said, even while playing you'd have to be an idiot. What's more, as he wisely observed, art-music is *not* a democracy! No room and no time for political correctness!

JBY

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[This message was edited by John Bell Young on May 08, 2003 at 09:02 PM.]

Hi John,

Thanks for the info. So much info to digest and I didn't know that I could contact the teachers I am interested in attending. I just thought that when you get in, they assign you a teacher. I am going to go to their web sites and see if I can find their email addresses to contact them.

Thanks so much for your help!

Edward