“Romanticize your music as much as you can. It's possible for you to enjoy even your whole notes if you absorb yourself in the music as much as possible. It makes every single rehearsal more fun.”
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Your advice for young musicians?
“Be open to failure.”
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“Nothing is impossible with dedicated effort. Also, listen (no, I mean really, Listen!).”
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“Play music that you enjoy. At the end of the day, music is about fulfillment, and not just for the audience. Let the music you play speak to you as a person and as an artist.”
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“If you're passionate about music or starting to become really interested, take as many playing opportunities as you can get, but don't overwhelm yourself.”
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“Take criticism, and try and focus on what you can do better, not what others can do better.”
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“Get to know the other musicians in the ensemble! I have met some of the most special people in my life through school orchestra and AYPO. Even though there is a tendency to see your fellow musicians as purely "colleagues" towards a performance goal, I have found forming genuine friendships to be such an investment in the ensemble-building aspect of playing together.”
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“Practice with a goal in mind, whether that being learning a new section of music or fixing an old section.”
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“My advice for young musicians would be to get to know the people in your section really well. It's easy to isolate yourself in a bubble when you only see the people you're playing with for a couple hours a week, but nothing makes the experience of orchestra more exciting than enjoying the company of your peers. Having that friendship and intimacy with your fellow musicians can only make the music better.”
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“The classical music world tends to be competitive. It's easy to get caught up in who's playing the most difficult repertoire or who can play the fastest, especially when audition season rolls around. In the end, though, playing fast is not as important as playing well, and we play best when we enjoy what we're playing. Pick repertoire you love! Play with feeling! Have some fun with your music!”
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“Eat bananas to calm nerves.”
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“Listen to and explore as many genres of music as possible! Getting exposed to many different types and stylistic variations of music is incredibly helpful in developing your sound and expression.”
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“Try to create a narrative with every piece you play, it helps bring it to life!”
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“Find the kind of music and practicing that works for you, don’t worry about what other people expect of you. Music is supposed to be for you, so make it something you love.”
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“Make sure you have joy when you play! Do what you love most and never stress too hard, and even in strenuous times, make sure you’re doing some fun stuff on your instrument too.”
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“It’s important to do everything in music with a purpose. Practice for a purpose and play with purpose and it will translate to the audience.”
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“The best advice I could give would be to make everything as easy as possible for yourself. Listen to the piece before hand, write in accidentals before you miss them, practice anything that looks tricky! More meaningful progress is made when you aren't worried about what could go wrong and that giving yourself help allows you to grow as a musician; you aren't cheating for making something more simple. Also, the more horrible, embarrassing, loud mistakes that you make, the more confidence you'll have for the future. Trust me, I play the piccolo.”
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