What It Takes To Be A Successful Concert Artist: Conversations With World Renowned Musicians

What it Takes to be a Successful Concert Artist: Conversations with World
Renowned Musicians
By Rebecca Jackson
Introduction
How does one become a successful concert artist? During my twenty one years of studying and
performing as a violinist I continue to witness many like myself spend tireless hours trying to
master the great works. Besides the obvious requirement of work on your craft I have always
been curious of other factors present in the journey musicians take to establish their success.
Why become a classical musician in the first place? Odds don't seem to be stacked in our favor.
At first glance, what you see on stage may seem glamorous. Hundreds of people flock to watch
and listen to beautiful music performed effortlessly. Paganini, Liszt, Heifetz, and Horowitz are
some of the legendary performers that come to mind. Despite the initial attraction, the life of a
musician is strewn with difficulties and unpredictabilities. Leila Josefowicz said, “The lifestyle
of this whole business is awful. I'll not mince words about that.”1 The unattractive aspects I
have observed create a substantial list: (1) It is a life led in solitude within the four walls of a
practice room. While I was studying at Juilliard the average daily practice session was between
five and eight hours. And this is a ritual that begins very early in life. (2) Musicians spend equal
if not more time studying than doctors and yet “starving artist” depicts the characteristically
1 Violin Virtuosos, Mary VanClay ed. (California: String Letter Publishing, 2000): 20.
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little money we earn. (3) One endures constant scrutiny. Even the note-perfect Heifetz made
Dallas front-page news, “HEIFETZ FORGETS,” when music came to a stop during the Sibelius
Violin Concerto.2 (4) Perfectionism is a common trait making it rare to feel completely satisfied
with one's performance. (5) Often times musicians live life out of a suitcase, in and out of hotel
rooms and airports. And finally, (6) much of the public fear death more than public speaking.3
Musicians handle such stress of public performance on a regular basis.
Cliburn, in retirement, was once told by an interviewer that his friends “didn't see
how Cliburn could be happy unless he returned to the concert stage”; he “roared
with laughter” and shouted “Try me!” Asked how it felt to play his final concert,
in 1978, Cliburn replied, “The one thing I felt when I got off the stage was: I don't
have to do this anymore.”4
Job availability in orchestras is rare and with the growing number of musicians the competition is
fierce. During my December 2006 audition for the San Francisco Opera Orchestra there were
two openings in the first violin section and approximately seventy people auditioned. Not only
are the openings rare, many orchestras are on the verge of bankruptcy, many having collapsed
already. In chamber music, specifically string quartets, there are only about three groups that can
solely live off of what they make from performances. The string quartet repertoire is some of the
most beloved but unfortunately the demand is not very high. In the most competitive world of
soloist, many go to the top international competitions to get try to get their start. In the case of
the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition, violinists are required to prepare an
amount of repertoire that most musicians struggle to learn in a lifetime. They also must learn a
2 Joseph Horowitz, Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall (New York: W.W. Norton, 2005):
338.
3 Emily Krone “Studies Show Public Speaking Tops Death on Lists of People's Greatest Fears,” Daily Herald
[Arlington Heights, IL]. 13 December 2005, p. 3.
4 Joseph Horowitz, Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall (New York: W.W. Norton, 2005):
356.
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new commissioned piece in two weeks.
Even with all these seemingly insurmountable circumstances I can say without a doubt I feel
privileged to be a musician and whole-heartedly love what I do. Aside from the obvious
necessity to practice my instrument, I have found it invaluable to converse with some of the
world's most successful about their personal paths. In the following pages you will hear mostly
from violinists but also conductors, singers, and a cellist. Many of the musicians came from
abroad to study and expand their careers in the United States. In a recent article one discovers
the continued dominance of non-American's in this field.
Baltimore Symphony named Marin Alsop music director... This has been big news
in the usually somnolent world of classical music for a number of reasons: First,
Alsop, 48, is the first woman to take the top artistic job at a major American
orchestra. Second, she's American born and trained, in a field still dominated by
Europeans. Third, she's made her reputation conducting new, unusual and often
American music. Fourth, she's a working jazz violinist and has boldly crossed over
idioms in the inner sanctum of classical subscription series.5
Returning to the quote by Ms. Josefowicz I add her next few words, “The lifestyle of this whole
business is awful. I'll not mince words about that. So what you end up truly living for is the
music.”6
Background
In an attempt to quench my curiosity I conducted a series of personal, phone and email
5 Tom Strini. “All ears turn to new director of Baltimore Symphony,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online, (July
24, 2005), <http://www.jsonline.com/> (accessed 12 May 2007).
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interviews with world renowned musicians. In addition to those I conducted, I have also added
extra interviews whenever I found answers addressing questions I asked in this study.
Following are the dates that I conducted the interviews along with the musicians' biographies.
I conducted a personal interview with Laura Albers on May 6, 2007.

Colorado native, Laura Albers, is the Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera
Orchestra. She began studying Suzuki violin with her mother, Ellie LeRoux, at the age of two.
Laura performed regularly with her parents and three siblings, and at the age of eight spent a
month in Japan studying with Dr. Suzuki. From an early age, she loved the stage and soloed with
many Denver-area orchestras. Laura received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the
Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein
and Ronald Copes. In Cleveland she worked extensively with the Cavani Quartet and Peter
Salaff in the Intensive Quartet Seminar and as an assistant music therapist in the Cleveland
University Hospitals. Laura also spent time in Cuernavaca, Mexico playing viola in pianist Sergei
Babyon’s festival. While attending Juilliard, Laura toured with the Astor String Quartet and the
Wild Ginger Philharmonic, and taught Suzuki violin at the Diller-Quaile School of Music. During
the summertime, Laura returned to the mountains for the Aspen Music Festival and the National
Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge. She and her sister, cellist Julie Albers, performed the
Brahms Double Concerto with the NRO. They also recorded the Kodaly Duo together in Munich
for the Bayerischer Rundfunk. More recently she has spent summers performing in Rhode
Island’s Newport Music Festival and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa
Cruz, California. Laura began her job at the San Francisco Opera the fall after she graduated from
Juilliard. In addition to the opera, she is a member of the Albers Trio, a string trio with sisters
Becca and Julie. In addition to the opera, Laura performs in the bay area with the Broderick
Ensemble and the Empyrean Ensemble, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in New York City and
Sarasota Opera in Florida. Laura volunteers for California Pacific Medical Center’s Soothing
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Sounds program, bringing music to patients, visitors and employees. She enjoys studying
languages and creating culinary delights. Laura is an age group triathlete and spends most of her
free time training.
I conducted a personal interview with David Arben on May 10, 2007.
David Arben, associate concertmaster emeritus of the Philadelphia Orchestra, obtained his early
musical education at the Chopin Academy of Music in his native Warsaw, Poland. He continued
his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and the Geneva Conservatory of Music in
Switzerland. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Efrem
Zimbalist. Mr. Arben's solo career has taken him to many European countries, the far east,
Mexico and South America, as well as the United States. His numerous solo appearances with
orchestras includes those with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, the Orchestra de
la Suisse Romand, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, and others.
He was heard as joint soloist with Henryk Szeryng in the Bach Double Concerto in Nice, France
and also with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Music Center. M r. Arben has given many
solo recitals, radio and television broadcasts, and chamber music performances, and has been
acclaimed by the press as an artist of the highest calibur.
I conducted a personal interview with Luis Biava on May 12, 2007.

Luis Biava has been associated with The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1968, when he joined the
ensemble as a member of the second violin section. He was first asked to act as a cover conductor
in 1985, and has served as conductor in residence since 1994. He stepped down as principal
second violin at the end of the 1999-2000 season, having played as a member of the Orchestra for
more than three decades. Luis Biava began his musical training in his native Colombia with his
father, who was director of one of the country's leading conservatories, located in Barranquilla.
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He attended the National Conservatory in Bogotá, and later earned a master of music degree in
conducting from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where he privately studied violin
with Joseph Fuchs. He also attended the Accademia di St. Cecilia in Rome, where he studied with
Pina Carmirelli. Prior to joining The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr. Biava was a member of the
National Symphony in Washington D.C. from 1963-68. He has also served as concertmaster and
associate conductor of the Colombia Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Biava joined the second violin
section of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1968, moving to the first violin section the following
year. In 1981, he was appointed music director of the National Orchestra of Colombia and spent
the 1983-84 season in Bogotá. He subsequently returned to Philadelphia to assume the position
of principal second violin. In 1985 he was asked by Riccardo Muti to serve as standby conductor
for Associate Conductor William Smith. During the 1992-93 season he was appointed acting
assistant conductor of the Orchestra, and made his subscription debut in April 1993 at the
invitation of Music Director Wolfgang Sawallisch. He conducted the Orchestra’s entire series of
education concerts during the 1993-94 season. Luis Biava became conductor in residence of The
Philadelphia Orchestra at the start of the 1994-95 season. Highlights of his recent appearances
with the Orchestra include leading the world premiere of a work for computer and orchestra by
Roger Reynolds in October 1997, and the introduction of special-event programs for April Fool's
Day and for the Christmas holiday season. In addition to his work with The Philadelphia
Orchestra, Mr. Biava has served since 1985 as music director of the Orchestra Society of
Philadelphia and, since 1986, as music director of the orchestral programs at Temple University,
including directing the Temple Youth Chamber Orchestra from the Center for Gifted Young
Musicians. In 1995, he led the Temple Symphony Orchestra in the Philadelphia-area premiere of
John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1. He regularly plays first violin with the Philadelphia Chamber
Ensemble, and has been featured as a guest conductor in both Latin America and Europe,
appearing with such ensembles as the Accademica Napolitana Orchestra and the Municipal
Orchestra of São Paulo. Luis Biava has received many awards throughout his career. He was
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awarded the rank of Commendatore in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, and the Medal
of San Carlos, in the rank of Official, from the President of the Republic of Colombia. In 1992, he
received The Philadelphia Orchestra’s C. Hartman Kuhn Award, given annually to “a musician
who has shown both musical ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the musical
standards and reputation of The Philadelphia Orchestra.”
I conducted a personal interview with Victor DeRenzi on May 14, 2007.

2007-08 marks Victor DeRenzi’s 26th season as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of
Sarasota Opera. As Sarasota’s Principal Conductor Maestro DeRenzi has produced over 70
different operas, conducting over 400 performances. He has devoted much of his career to
building Sarasota Opera while continuing to conduct nationally and internationally. Maestro
DeRenzi has appeared across the United States, with Lyric Opera of Chicago as well as at the St.
Louis, Toledo and New Orleans operas. Internationally he has worked in many Canadian cities
(most recently at L’Opéra du Montréal), Hong Kong, Nice and the Canary Islands. He has
conducted much of Verdi’s non-operatic music and Sarasota Opera’s I due Foscari in March
2007, will mark the 25th different Verdi opera he has conducted.
Maestro DeRenzi’s artistic vision, expressed in Sarasota through the Verdi Cycle and the
Masterworks Revival Series, has consistently garnered Sarasota Opera international attention as a
place to experience rarely performed operatic works. This growth in artistic reputation has been
matched in many other areas as well. Under DeRenzi’s leadership, Sarasota Opera has created
important educational and outreach activities. The year-round activities of the Sarasota Youth
Opera Program introduce young people, ages of 9 to 18, to all aspects of opera. The program
constitutes a remarkable learning and performing opportunity with four Youth Opera Choruses
and an annual production of a professionally staged opera with young people performing. In
2006 the Youth Opera presented performances of Aaron Copland's The Second Hurricane.
Maestro DeRenzi’s interest in the training of professional singers led to the founding of Sarasota
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Opera’s Apprentice and Studio Artists programs. Chosen from national auditions, the
participants in the Apprentice Artists Program form the chorus for the main stage opera
productions and perform outreach programs.
Recently Maestro DeRenzi returned to the Canary Islands in Spain to conduct Un Ballo in
Maschera. He followed these performances with a debut at the Spoleto Festival, USA for their
finale concert.
Although Maestro DeRenzi is a noted Verdi and Puccini conductor, his repertorie includes operas
by Janá_ek, Mozart, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Smetana, and Stravinsky, among others. For Sarasota
Opera’s 2008 season he will conduct Verdi's Rigoletto and I Due Foscari. Through the Verdi
Cycle, which he began in 1989, Maestro DeRenzi and Sarasota Opera are committed to
performing the entire canon of Verdi’s works in Sarasota by 2013, the bicentennial of Verdi's
birth.
I conducted a personal interview with Cho-liang Lin on May 14, 2007.

Taiwanese-American violinist Cho-Liang Lin is lauded the world over for the eloquence of his
playing and for the superb musicianship that marks his performances. Renowned for appearances
as a soloist with major orchestras, he is also frequently heard in recital and in chamber music.
Musical America named Mr. Lin its Instrumentalist of the Year in 2000. During the current year,
M r. Lin continues his wide-ranging musical activities. Performing on four continents, he appears
as soloist with orchestras in Norway, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia,
Canada and the United States. Apart from conventional repertoire, Mr. Lin continues his
advocacy for contemporary music by presenting the world premiere of Taiwanese composer
Gordon Chin’s Double Concerto with cellist Felix Fan with the San Diego Symphony conducted
by Jahja Ling as well as Chinese composer Bright Sheng’s Three Fantasies at the Library of
Congress with pianist Andre-Michel Schub. This summer, he will perform at festivals in Aspen,
Ravinia, Santa Fe and Naantali, Finland. As artistic director of La Jolla SummerFest for the sixth
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summer, the Los Angeles Times stated that M r. Lin “has put together another bracing and
provocative series.” In his capacity as music director, he has helped commission and premiere
works by Chen Yi, Chick Corea, Philip Glass, John Harbison, Mark O’Connor, Esa-Pekka
Salonen among others. As a solo artist, he has premiered concerti by Tan Dun, Joel Hoffman,
Christopher Rouse, Elie Siegmeister, Bright Sheng, George Tsontakis, George Walker and Chen
Yi. Cho-Liang Lin has recorded for Sony Classical, Decca, Ondine and BIS. His albums have won
such awards as Gramophone’s Record of the Year, as well as two Grammy Award nominations.
On Sony Classical, his discography includes standard violin repertoire such as concerti ranging
from Mozart to Stravinsky as well as chamber music of Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky,
Debussy and Ravel. For Decca, he recorded the Concerto for Violin and Guitar by Aaron Jay
Kernis with Sharon Isbin, conductor HughWolff and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. For BIS,
he recorded Chen Yi’s concerto Folk Dance Suite. His recording of the concerto by Christopher
Rouse on Ondine was recently named one of the best classical releases of 2004 by The New York
Times. His current recording projects include Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with International Sejong
Soloists and Anthony Newman, music of Austrian composer/conductor Georg Tintner with
pianist Helen Huang scheduled for release this autumn on Naxos.
Born in Taiwan in 1960, Cho-Liang Lin began his violin lessons when he was 5 years old. At the
age of 12, he went to Sydney to continue his musical studies. His early teachers include Sylvia
Lee and Robert Pikler. Inspired by an encounter with Itzhak Perlman while in Sydney, he arrived
in New York in 1975 to audition for Mr. Perlman’s teacher, the late Dorothy DeLay, at the
Juilliard School. Within two years of his enrollment, Mr. Lin won the first Queen Sofia Violin
Competition in Madrid and his concert career was soon launched. He has been a member of the
Juilliard faculty since 1991 and resides in New York with his wife and daughter.
I conducted an email interview with Sheldon Morgenstern on April 27, 2007.

Sheldon Morgenstern is Music Director Emeritus of the Eastern Music Festival, where he
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received two ASCAP programming awards. He was on the conducting staff at the New England
Conservatory and was Principal Guest Conductor of orchestras in Budapest, Seville, and
Warsaw, as well as Interim Music Director of the Mississippi State Symphony. He continues to
pursue an active conducting and teaching career, and lives in France.
I conducted a phone interview with Elmar Oliveira on May 27, 2007.
Among his generation’s most honored artists, Elmar Oliveira remains the first and only
American violinist to win the Gold Medal at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky International Competition.
He is also the first violinist to receive the coveted Avery Fisher Prize, in addition to capturing
First Prizes at the Naumburg international Competition and the G.B. Dealey Competition.
M r. Oliveira has become a familiar and much-admired figure at the world’s foremost concert
venues. His rigorous international itinerary includes appearances in recital and with many of the
world’s greatest orchestras, including the Zurich Tonhalle, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Leipzig,
Gewandhaus Orchestras; the New York, Helsinki, Los Angeles and London Philharmonic
Orchestras; and the San Francisco, Saint Louis, Boston, and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. He
has also extensively toured the Far East, South America, Australia and New Zealand. M r.
Oliveira’s upcoming engagements include performances at the Amelia Island Festival, Chamber
Music Northwest and with the orchestras of Detroit, Rochester, Honolulu, Seattle, Chattanooga,
Puerto Rico and Buffalo, guest appearances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center,
and several recitals. Mr. Oliveira’s repertoire is among the most diverse of any of today’s
preeminent artists. While he has been hailed for his performances of the standard violin literature,
he is also a much sought-after interpreter of the music of our time. He has premiered works by
such distinguished composers as Krysztof Penderecki, Morton Gould, Ezra Laderman, Charles
Wuorinen, Joan Tower, Aaron Kernis, Andrzej Panufnik, Benjamin Lees, Nicholas Flagello,
Leonard Rosenman, Hugh Aitken, and Richard Yardumian. He has also performed seldom-heard
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concerti by Alberto Ginastera, Einoujuhani Rautavaara, Joseph Achron, Joseph Joachim, and
many others. A prodigious recording artist, Elmar Oliveira was a Grammy nominee for his CD of
the Barber Concerto with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony. His discography on
Artek, Angel, SONY Masterworks, Vox, Delos, IMP, Naxos, Ondine, and Melodiya ranges
widely from works by Bach and Vivaldi to the Present. His best-selling recording of the
Rautavaara Violin Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic (Ondine) won a Cannes Classical
Award and has appeared on Gramophone’s “Editor’s Choice” and other Best Recordings lists
around the world.
Other recordings include the Brahms and Saint-Saens B minor Concerti with Gerard Schwarz and
the Seattle Symphony (Artek), the Respighi B minor and Pizzeti A Major Violin Sonatas
(Artek), “Favorite Encores” with pianist Robert Koenig (Artek), The three Brahms Sonatas with
pianist Jorge Federico Osorio (Artek), the Joachim Concerto “in the Hungarian Manner” with the
London Philharmonic (IMP) and the Tower Concerto (written for him) with the Louisville
Orchestra (d’Note), the Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, and the Lekeu
Sonata (Biddulph). Of great historical significance are two unique projects: a CD released by Bein
& Fushi of Chicago, featuring Mr. Oliveira performing on some of the world’s greatest violins
(fifteen Stradivaris and fifteen Guarneri del Gesus), and a recording of short pieces highlighting
the rare violins from the collection of the Library of Congress. The son of Portuguese
immigrants, Mr. Oliveira was nine when he began studying the violin with his brother John. He
later continued his studies with Ariana Bronne and Raphael Bronstein at the Hartt College of
Music and the Manhattan School of Music, where Mr. Oliveira also received an honorary
doctorate. Other honors include an honorary doctorate from Binghamton University and the
Order of Santiago, Portugal’s highest civilian honor. He has served on the juries of some of the
most prestigious violin competitions, including the Montreal, Indianapolis, Naumburg, and
Vianna da Motta. Elmar Oliveira performs on an instrument known as the “Stretton,” made ca.
1729-30 by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu, and on several other violins by outstanding
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contemporary makers.
M r. Oliveira is a Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Lynn University Conservatory of

Music in Boca Raton, Florida.
I conducted a personal interview with Suzy Perelman on May 14, 2007.
Violinist Suzy Perelman began her study of the violin at age 6 in the Philadelphia public
schools. At age 8, she enrolled at Settlement Music School for private lessons with Lee Snyder
who remained Suzy’s teacher for the next 7 years. Suzy then attended the Cleveland Institute of
Music (where she received a Bachelor in Music in 1994), Case Western Reserve University
(Bachelor of Science in Music Education , 1995), and Carnegie Mellon University (Master of
Music, 1998). Her teachers were Linda Cerone, Bernie Goldshmidt, David Updegraff, David
Russell, and Andrés Cardenes. Following school, Suzy played for 1 year with the Utah
Symphony in Salt Lake City, and then for 5 years with the San Antonio Symphony. She left San
Antonio to become the concertmaster of The Phantom of the Opera national tour, with whom
she traveled for 2 years. Suzy moved to NY 2 years ago and became the assistant concertmaster
for the Broadway show Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Suzy is a member of the Brooklyn
Philharmonic, and can also be heard playing in several other orchestras in the NY and
Philadelphia areas. Suzy is the assistant concertmaster of the Broadway show “LoveMusik”,
featuring the music of Kurt Weill. Suzy is a trained Suzuki Violin teacher and is frequently asked
to serve as a guest clinician at various workshops and institutes throughout the country. She is
very proud of her 18 young private students. When not practicing, performing, or teaching, Suzy
enjoys rollerblading, doing trapeze, playing games, Israeli folk dancing, emailing, TRAVELING,
hiking, and spending time with family and friends.
I conducted a phone interview with Arnold Steinhardt on May 4, 2007.
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Arnold Steinhardt was born in Los Angeles, receiving his early training from Karl Moldrem,
Peter Meremblum and Toscha Seidel, and making his solo debut with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic Orchestra at age 14. He continued his studies with Ivan Galamian at the Curtis
Institute of Music and with Joseph Szigeti in Switzerland in 1962 under the sponsorship of
George Szell. Winner of the Philadelphia Youth Competition in 1957, the 1958 Leventritt Award,
and Bronze Medalist in the Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition in 1963, M r.
Steinhardt has appeared throughout North America and Europe as a recitalist and soloist with
orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and the Cleveland
Orchestra, among others. Mr. Steinhardt is first violinist and a founding member (1964) of the
internationally acclaimed Guarneri String Quartet with which he has made innumerable tours
across the globe and recorded dozens of albums for RCA Victor, Philips, Arabesque and
Surrounded by Entertainment. He is professor of violin at Rutgers University Mason Gross
School of the Arts, the University of Maryland, and the Curtis Institute of Music where he has
directed the Curtis Orchestra in several concerts including an appearance on French television.
Arnold Steinhardt is the author of two books, Indivisible by Four: A String Quartet in Pursuit of
Harmony, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the fall of 1998, and Violin Dreams, a
personal memoir and "love letter to the violin," published by Houghton Mifflin in 2006. He is the
author of articles which have appeared in Chamber Music America, Musical America and
Keynote. Recipient of Honorary Doctorates from the University of South Florida and Harpur
College, Arnold Steinhardt has also received an award for distinguished cultural service from the
City of New York presented by Mayor Koch. Mr. Steinhardt's recordings include Romantic
Music for Violin and Piano which he recorded "direct-to-disc" with pianist Lincoln Mayorga for
the audiophile Sheffield label, an album of music for violin and piano by women composers on
Northeastern Records; and a TownHall label recording of unaccompanied Bach works.
Steinhardt's latest CD of Robert Fuchs' music on Biddulph recordings features him on both violin
and viola with his brother Victor as pianist. Arnold Steinhardt plays a Lorenzo Storioni violin
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from Cremona, Italy, late 18th century.
I conducted an email interview with Lisa Sutton on May 27, 2007.
Lisa Sutton, violinist, is a native of Vancouver, Canada, where she began her musical studies at
an early age on piano and violin. During high school she studied with Canadian virtuoso Steven
Staryk, and performed as concertmaster and soloist with the National Youth Orchestra of
Canada. Having been awarded grants from both the British Columbia Cultural Fund and Canada
Council for the Arts, she entered the Yale School of Music as a performance major. While at Yale
she was a prize winner in the Sprague Woolsey Competition and performed as a soloist with the
Yale Philharmonia. Ms. Sutton holds a Master of Music degree from Yale University, and
studied there with Broadus Erle, Syoko Aki and Szymon Goldberg. Currently Ms. Sutton
resides in Altadena, California, and is the Assistant Concertmaster for the Los Angeles Opera
Orchestra. She also works as a recording musician in the motion picture and television industry.
For many years she was a Principal player with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as well as
Associate Concertmaster with the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Prior
to living in Los Angeles, Ms. Sutton was a member of the Houston Symphony Orchestra.
I conducted a phone interview with Donald Weilerstein on June 3, 2007.
Donald Weilerstein has concertized extensively as soloist and chamber musician throughout the
world. For twenty years (1969-1989) Mr. Weilerstein was the first violinist of the renowned
Cleveland Quartet with whom he toured the world. His recordings with the quartet can be heard
on the RCA, Telarc, CBS, Phillips, and Pro Arte labels. These recordings have earned seven
Grammy nominations and won Best of the Year awards from Time and Stereo Review. He was a
member of the Young Concert Artists and a participant in the Marlboro Music Festival,
performing on several "Music from Marlboro" Tours. In 1968 he won the Munich International
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Competition for violin and piano duo. Mr. Weilerstein has taught and performed at such major
American and European music festivals as Tanglewood, Caramoor, Aspen, Ravinia, Marlboro,
Mostly Mozart, Salzburg, Luzern, Verbier, Ishikawa, Keshet Eilon, "Chamber Music
Encounters" sponsored by La Cité de la Musique and the Paris Conservatory, and many more.
He regulary particpates in theYellow Barn Music Festival and the Perlman Music Program. He
will teach in Shanghai,China this summer as part of the Morningside Music Bridge. Formerly a
professor of violin and chamber music at the Eastman School and the Cleveland Institute of
Music, he is currently on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music. His students
have been prize winners in major national and international competitions, including first prizes in
the Indianapolis, Naumburg and Hanover competitions and second prize in the Queen Elizabeth
Competition. His students can be heard in many of today's leading orchestras and chamber
ensembles. Mr. Weilerstein is also a faculty member at the Juilliard School.
My enthusiasm for this project led me to invest in trips to New York, Philadelphia, and around
California. Due to the busy nature of a performers' schedule, interviews with Roy Malan
(Concertmaster of San Francisco Ballet), Midori (renowned soloist), and Aaron Rosand
(renowned soloist) have been scheduled for a later date. In addition to the hours of travel and
conducting interviews, there were many more hours spent transcribing their words. This has
become a project that I plan to expand either in written form or on film.
My research may be subjective- Cho-liang Lin refers to such issues as the “intangibles” in the
music business- but I believe extremely valuable for all music lovers but especially for those
interested in pursuing a concert career. I have a high respect and admiration for all those who
contributed. They share a profound love and devotion to their art. I am grateful for their service
to the field and generosity towards my research.
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Interviews
Question 1
What is your definition of a successful concert artist?
Victor DeRenzi: You start off tough [chuckles]. For me it is a person who gets to perform music
in a way they want to in places they want to. I think the most important thing is the way they
want to.7
Arnold Steindhardt: Somebody who has succeeded in getting people to hire him or her to play
concerts with the result that people walk away feeling happy or at least more fulfilled by the
experience.8
Suzy Perelman: The first thing that comes to mind is someone who makes the bulk of their living
performing and that is usually the result of a very spirited performer who has something to say
with their music, who has done their homework throughout the years and plays not only with
that beautiful spirit but with cleanliness and precision.9
Lisa Sutton: Someone who is earning a living in their desired profession.10
Sheldon Morgenstern: Someone who performs in such a manner as to attract sufficient interest
for engagement by orchestras, and, more importantly someone who continues to strive for
improvement throughout their career.11
7 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

8 Arnold Steinhardt, Phone Interview, 4 May 2007.
9 Suzy Perelman, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.
10 Lisa Sutton, Email Interview, 27 May 2007.
11 Sheldon Morgenstern, Email Interview, 27 April 2007.
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Mark Summer: There's success on a lot of levels. There's financial success which is the ability to
support yourself and your family if you have one. Definitely artistic success: feeling inspired to
keep growing as a musician and as an artist. There's success in terms of what you're contributing
to society. In [Turtle Island String Quartet's] case the string community, creating opportunities
for people to join what you're doing. One of the levels that I feel really pleased with my success
is that other cellists are playing my music- something I never imagined. And it's confusing to me
because my ego is very happy on one level and my critical self is saying, “Why are they playing
my music? They should be playing such and such.” Ultimately I'm really pleased with anything
I do to inspire other string players, especially young string players.12
Luis Biava: Performing beautifully on stage, whether it's a concerto or recital with sonatas.
Personal satisfaction is also to produce a lot of good music, not just to play the notes. In
addition, to play for an audience that appreciates what you do. You can feel that on stage. In
performance I don't think there is a definitive idea that, “This was great.” We never think that
way. If you want to make progress as a musician we consider that we could always do better. I
don't know there is an ideal situation for a successful concert artist because we're always thinking
of doing better.13
Cho-liang Lin: When I was younger, just out of college, I would have said that a successful
concert career would mean that you were regularly engaged by the top tier orchestras around the
world, had recording contract of substance, solo albums, and recitals around the world. A few
years ago there was a New York Times profile on Yo Yo Ma. He was trying to define success.
What he said provoked so many different reactions from my colleagues who read that article. Yo
Yo said that real success is how fulfilling your musical endeavors are, in that if you practice
12 Mark Summer, Personal Interview, 1 May 2007.

13 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.
17
towards a particular end the process of trying to achieve that goal can already be a very fulfilling
experience. In that sense, it's already a success. Some of my colleagues said, “That's great. It's
so philosophical.” And then other colleagues said, “Yes. Well, that's easy for Yo Yo to say.”
[laughter] To this day I'm grappling with [what a successful concert artist is]. Artistic venues
have changed so much. Let's take for example my definition of a successful concert career 25
years ago. It's no longer viable for everybody. Let's use violinists for instance... they use
different, sometimes unconventional venues to promote a career. For instance some will play and
actively promote contemporary music. I know some of these colleagues that are true believers of
new music. They genuinely love it. At the same time I've talked to managers who worry about
these very artists saying, “You know so and so? She's carving a real niche for herself but perhaps
in the wrong area. She'll be identified forever as a contemporary music violinist. Nobody will
every want her to play Brahms or Beethoven.” Everybody has different worries. I now have a
much broader view and definition of what is a successful concert career because I think you can
find great joy and reward in becoming a respected teacher. You can carve a very significant niche
in your community by advocating concert activities and musical education. Some of my
colleagues have become administrators. Even I have become an administrator in the sense that I
have a music festival in San Diego. [Musicians] branch out in all sorts of ways. To deviate from
violinists for a second, let me share about two cellists. Matt Haimovitz's career had a great
beginning. At 18 or 19 he was recording for Deutsch Gramophone with Levine and Chicago
Symphony. Then something changed. His name was no longer on the concert billboards and
next thing I knew I read in the New York Times that he was playing at pizza parlors around the
country. He played anything from George Crumb to Bach. He seems to be happy doing
whatever he is doing. Then there is David Finckel who already has a great quartet established,
the Emerson. He finds additional fulfillment in running Music at Menlo as well as Chamber
Music Society at Lincoln Center. So, in a way, I think everybody gets his or her thrills
differently and I think the old definition that I mentioned earlier no longer suffice. Also, when
18
you become a respected member of a tremendous top rank orchestra there's a lot of pride in that
too. There's such a broad range of possibilities that I hate painting anybody into a niche saying,
“This is the only way you can be ranked as successful.”14
Donald Weilerstein: I don’t think of it as being successful or unsuccessful but more what would
be a fulfilled person doing this kind of work. A successful, or fulfilled, concert artist would be
one that can directly communicate and move and inspire his listeners. One condition of being a
successful concert artist is whether they have something to say. It's not so much the size of the
venue. Another aspect is performing in the community, communicating with children and
reaching as many people as possible. The first thing is the ability to communicate. To reach
people in any venue is a wonderful thing, whether it be in schools or nursing homes. It's also
wonderful if they can teach and inspire others. I do think they have to be moved by what they
are doing and really communicate that with people. Some people are able to teach more easily
than others are. I don’t think a person would have to be a teacher to be fulfilled or successful as a
concert artist, although it’s wonderful if the two can go together.15
David Arben: What one aspires to become in life... You must be very much in love with the
music or the instrument that you play and be totally dedicated. And then you have to have luck.
When you have both [dedication and luck] you have to have a lot of patience. Through hard
work, patience and luck, it is possible for some to make it. There are many wonderful artists and
great talents. Not that they don't deserve [a great career] but things in life happen that make it
unachievable.16
14 Cho-liang Lin, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

15 Donald Weilerstein, Phone Interview, 3 June 2007.
16 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.
19
Question 2
What were/are the key factors to establishing your success as a concert artist?
Elmar Oliveira: I grew up in a household where music, especially the violin, was something that
was very special. My father had such a love for the instrument. My mother did as well but for
my father it was almost an obsession. Of course he adored Heifetz. There was always music in
the home and specifically violin music, more so than anything else. Also, my brother was a
professional violinist. He was 11 years older than me and played with the Houston Symphony
for 20 years and in other orchestras. He was my mentor as I was growing up. He watched over
me, the way I practiced, what I did, so that was a great help. So, having that support all the time
in the home was one of the most important things for developing my love and discipline for the
violin. My schooling stems from the Russian Leopold Auer school. My main teacher was
Raphael Bronstein, from the time I was 13. He was a pupil of Auer in the same class as Nathan
Milstein... I garnered a tremendous amount from that tradition of teaching. Also, Bronstein had
his own things to add to that. I think the tie to that type of violin playing, [the schooling] that
produced Heifetz, Milstein, Zimbalist, Elman, has always been a strong part of my playing. The
stylistic approach to playing the violin that is inherent in that schooling was something that was
unique to me as a younger artist in a generation when that was already not so prevalent. 17
Luis Biava: Sounds like I believe I am really successful [smiling]. But we never stop thinking and
trying to be better. I want to make that point. I think it's trying to be prepared in life. If you
play the violin try to be the best. When I was born there were already great violinists- Heifetz,
Oistrakh, Milstein... That didn't mean that I should lower my guard and not practice. I felt
there's room for everybody. My father always told me, 'If you are prepared in life, you will go
far.' So that's what I've been doing all my life. I never accept a responsibility I cannot
17 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.
20
completely fulfill. I don't like to learn on the job. I like to be prepared and do it.18
Donald Weilerstein: For me the key factors were having a lot of music in the home, being taken to
concerts, being around other musicians and being exposed to all kinds of music. I was taken to
string concerts but also to jazz, pop concerts and operas. I also had supportive parents and
teachers I could learn. It's important to just be excited about it. When I was around 10 or 11
years old I had a recording of Arthur Rubinstein playing Appassionata Sonata. I rode my
tricycle frantically around the house during the last movement because I was so excited by it.19
Arnold Steinhardt: First of all, recognizing that I had the talent, the inclination to pursue that
talent for at least the first steps. Getting an undisciplined kid, as almost all children are, to
practice, because unlike some instruments that you can start later on in childhood, string
instruments, especially the violin, demands working pretty early on. What child wants to do
that? This is a joint project of parents and teacher and the child involved. That combination, the
three being essential, doesn't necessarily always happen, so in that sense I was lucky.20
David Arben: This is a great formula because the child needs the approval of the parent. We
were three children and my mother and father would always say to us, “You are very special.
Nobody can ever hurt you. You are talented. You are everything good.” Because of living in an
atmosphere where the parents say you're very special, when bad times comes along you are a
much better fighter to survive. If somebody said, “You'll never amount to anything. You're so
stupid. You don't understand anything.” That would have been death. You cannot grow. M y
mother used to take me to lessons. My father worried that my mother may not understand what
she was hearing and what to tell me so my father started to take me to lessons. In the old days a

21
lesson was not 45 minutes, watching the clock. A lesson was a minimum of two hours and I had
lessons that would last 3 hours. Three hours. My father thought I could not digest the three
hours, that I would get sick. My father fainted during one of my lessons. We had to revive him.
My father was concerned it was too much for me. It was too much for him [smiles]. My father
sacrificed himself in a sense, he sacrificed his family. I would go home and practice. He sat in the
chair next to me. He would say, “this is a wrong note.” He became very knowledgeable about
my violin playing. “You made a mistake. You have to do it again.” And I did it again. So you
have to have the teacher, the parent and the child working together to make it a success.21
Suzy Perelman: Oh, I can talk for hours about that. I’m a Suzuki violin teacher, so working with
a parent and a student in a triangle is the way all of my lessons work. For a lot of my upbringing,
that’s the way my lessons worked. In the early years it was just as important to have the
support at home as it was in the lesson. I could do no wrong by my mom. Everything deserved
applause. Dad was kind of a counter balance to that. He kept me real. That positive
reinforcement kept me going as a little kid. Later when my parents didn’t have nearly the role in
my lessons and couldn’t help me as much at home they still, especially my mom, kept pouring
on encouragement I remember my father would sit there and practice with me for years. He
would sit on the piano bench and I would stand. He would help me with my practicing every
step of the way from six through when I was nine. I remember the day he said, “I can’t practice
with you anymore, the music is too hard for me.” And I was totally at a loss. I didn’t know
what I would do, but it worked out.22
Lisa Sutton: I would say that factors that contribute to success are a) talent, b) training, c)
practice, d) focus, e)intuition and f) awareness.23

22
Cho-liang Lin: Let me go a little further back. I think the key ingredients are (1) family support,
(2) educational environment, and that involves teachers. You also need to have a very stimulating
environment in which to grow. For me, Juilliard was the right place. I saw the challenge
everyday and I wanted to rise to the occasion. And third is what I call the intangibles. Those
intangibles include luck and timing. Also, a personal aura or personal approach that will endear
you to your audience and those who shape the music world. This category is the hardest to
define. You can be an excellent violinist in school and that does not translate into a successful
career. It's how you transmit your ideas on stage, how you walk on stage, how you present
yourself in front of the audience, how to communicate your thoughts clearly to your audience.
Also, how to work with other musicians. That's why I encourage chamber music training to all
young players. It's not that they will end up playing chamber music, there's nothing wrong with
that, it's great, but some people who say, “I'm going to play the Brahms or Tchaikovsky
Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic four years from now so why should I bother with
chamber music?” I have to remind them that when you're playing a concerto with the Berlin
Philharmonic you are in fact playing chamber music with 80 players in the orchestra. You'd
better know your stuff because you can't play however you feel that day and [expect] the
orchestra to follow. You'll lose the respect of those players and [it could possibly be] the end of
your career. It comes down to how you listen to music and how you work with other musicians.
This is very important in this third group that I call the intangibles. To go back to the first
ingredient, the support, initially, without that support, help, and encouragement, a young talent
will find it very hard to grow.24
Laura Albers: I would say discipline is a key factor, having that discipline from an early age. I
know a lot of people start much later but it seems that most of us have started fairly early and
23
had parents who taught us the discipline of practicing every day or practiced with us every day.
I think you have to be able to relate to people well and follow through - and I think that’s what a
lot of musicians are lacking. Your general personality and energy makes all the difference in the
world whether you get hired again.25
Fritz Kreisler: I think the technical element in the artist's education is often unduly stressed.
Remember [added Mr. Kreisler, with a smile] I am not a teacher, and this is a purely personal
opinion I am giving you. But it seems to me that absolute sincerity of effort, actual impossibility
not to react to a genuine musical impulse are of great importance. I firmly believe that if one is
destined to become an artist the technical means find themselves. The necessity of expression
will follow the line of least resistance. Too great a manual equipment often leads to an
exaggeration of the technical and tempts the artist to stress it unduly. I have worked a great deal
in my life, but have always found that too large an amount of purely technico-musical work
fatigued me and reacted unfavorably on my imagination. As a rule I only practice enough to keep
my fingers in trim; the nervous strain is such that doing more is out of the question. And for a
concert-violinist when on tour, playing every day, the technical question is not absorbing. Far
more important is it for him to keep himself mentally and physically fresh and in the right mood
for his work. For myself I have to enjoy whatever I play or I cannot play it. And it has often
done me more good to dip my finger-tips in hot water for a few seconds before stepping out on
the platform than to spend a couple of hours practicing. But I should not wish the student to
draw any deductions from what I say on this head. It is purely personal and has no general
application. Technical exercises I use very moderately. I wish my imagination to be responsive,
my interest fresh, and as a rule I have found that too much work along routine channels does not
accord with the best development of my Art. I feel that technique should be in the player's head,
it should be a mental picture, a sort of 'master record.' It should be a matter of will power to
25 Laura Albers, Personal Interview, 6 May 2007.
24
which the manual possibilities should be subjected. Technique to me is a mental and not a
manual thing.26
Sheldon Morgenstern: My horn and conducting teachers, plus the unique conducting program
that then existed at NEC; in other words, four students maximum with each having a 45 minute
weekly rehearsal with the repertoire orchestra.27
Victor DeRenzi: For me, there are a couple things but I think the most important thing was that I
spent a lot of time in the theater watching performances. I try to never take myself out of that
position [as an audience member]. The audience is a very important part of any artistic
experience whether it's opera, a solo pianist or whether you're in a symphony. I think sometimes
as musicians we forget about that- we forget that it's really nice if the audience likes what we're
doing. Sometimes we play and perform for ourselves which in certain ways of making music is a
valid way of making music but if you're out there and you want to have a career it's good to
consider the audience. So for me going to the opera four times a week, growing up in New York
where you have the option of seeing 15 things every night if you wanted to, was a very
important part of my training.28
Leila Josefowicz: You have to believe that you can have a crack at whatever you want to do, and
in this I had incredible support from my family. Some people would have called it pressure, I
guess- it depends on who you talk to- but without that kind of help I couldn't have succeeded.
Viktoria Mullova's father, an engineer, attended many of her violin lessons, making notes about
her performance, and afterward they would discuss technical details at home. It wasn't unusual
26 Violin Mastery: Interviews with Heifetz, Auer, Kreisler and Others, Frederick H. Martens ed. (New York: Dover
Publications, 2006): 63, 64.
25
for the young Viktoria- still a child- to practice for several hours a day under his guidance.
Chee-Yun Kim: ...in my parents' generation, the mother always stayed home with their children
to nurture and motivate them. I don't remember any students who were successful at Juilliard,
whether they were from here or Korea, who did not have one parent who came with them to
Juilliard.
These musicians follow the pattern of starting study at a very young age: for example,
Josefowicz began at three, Mullova at four, Hahn at four, Repin at five and Lin at five.29
Question 3
“Talent.” Can one acquire it?
Elmar Oliveira: Talent can be many things. Some people have a talent in a certain area. For
instance, the facility in which they play the violin. Others have talent in the more deeper, more
musical understanding. Other people have a talent in way they produce the sound on the
instrument. These are all individual talents but [ideally] you shouldn't separate one from the
other. In the end, the violinist is the total sum of all his talents. Some people have more of one
thing than another. But it is essential that one is born with this talent for the violin. One can
acquire the development, and even extraordinary development, of the fundamental aspects of
violin playing. But one will never sound the same as a person who has the sheer talent for these
fundamentals.30
29 Violin Virtuosos, Mary VanClay ed. (California: String Letter Publishing, 2000): 16, 49, 76, 92, 102.
26
Donald Weilerstein: I think there definitely has to be a certain amount of instinct. I think that
one can develop what one has. I do believe there is something like 20 to 25% that is innate or
instinctual and the rest is how you develop it, what influences you are exposed to, how you
yourself develop [your talent], such as practice habits. There are some people who may not be
able to develop [their talent] if they are completely tone deaf but there are some people who
think that you can develop an ear from that too. I think some are more talented than others but
you can do an awful lot to develop depending on the influences surrounding you.31
Lisa Sutton: No, I don’t think so. There are however, different levels of talent, which means that
with hard work and some talent it is possible to be successful.32
Cho-liang Lin: I think there are two layers of talent. One is the instinctive, your automatic grasp
of how you feel about music. That translates into how well you express your feelings through
music. I think that is a given talent, you cannot acquire it. The second layer of talent is the
physical talent, to be able to play the instrument well. That can be trained although on the
highest level you still need the natural ability. That's what separates Heifetz from the other great
violinists. There is that extra 10% that makes Heifetz's playing utterly incredible. We all gasp at
what it is Heifetz was able to do. I ask other great violinists but we can't figure out what it is
that made him do it. That special kind of talent is very unusual but on a more common place
level, the physical talent can be taught. In the end it's up to the individual to combine those two
talents.33

27
David Arben: First of all, as I said before, my parents called me a violin virtuoso. When I heard
talented I thought it was coming with the territory. I didn't know what talent meant. Sometimes
talent can be acquired. I've had students who had some talent and after a few years became very
talented. With hard work, intelligence and total dedication one can become very talented. Even a
non-talent can achieve something.34
Laura Albers: I hate it when somebody tells me how talented I am - because I think that’s the
most ridiculous thing. I think that how you play has a lot more to do with your personality than
your talent. If you have good solid training, discipline and the nurturing, I think anybody can
become an outstanding musician. But some people will get much further with the exact same
training and practice schedule because it comes more naturally.35
Suzy Perelman: I think every person can learn to play the violin well. Does it come more easily
to some? Absolutely. The reason it comes more easily to some is mostly their environment. If a
child is reared with music constantly around them, with constant rhythm, with constant
encouragement to express, with constant positive reinforcement, with constant dedication to
doing something meaningful, that kid is going to be more talented. Is there any genetic
component? Definitely, but I think there is much more of the nurture in this “nature versus
nurture.”36
Luis Biava: Sarah Chang played for me when she was six, the third Mozart Concerto. She's from
Philadelphia. I remember when she started. Her vibrato was good. So there was something that
comes from upstairs. There was already talent there. There are some instances when the parents
start pushing a lot. They think this is support and that it's good for them but you have to

28
establish a good relationship and make them feel well-balanced. You have to be very careful with
the child prodigy because they are not normal. The tendency is for it to go to their head. For
instance, if I have a boy that is very good with numbers then I have to give him some guidance in
the right direction. I think support from family and friends is important [for those children].37
Fritz Kreisler: I do not believe that any artist is truly a master of his instrument unless his
control of it is an integral part of a whole. The musician is born – his medium of expression is
often a matter of accident. I believe on may be intended for an artist prenatally; but whether
violinist, cellist or pianist is partly a matter of circumstance. 'Violin Master,' to my mind, still
falls short of perfection, in spite of the completest technical and musical equipment, if the artist
thinks only of the instrument he plays. After all, it is just a single medium of expression. The
true musician is an artist with a special instrument. And every real artist has the feeling for other
forms and mediums of expression if he is truly a master of his own... Nothing can express music
but music itself. Tradition in interpretation does not mean a cut-and-dried set of rules handed
down; it is, or should be, a matter of individual sentiment, of inner conviction. What makes one
man an artist and keeps another an amateur is a God-given instinct for the artistically and
musically right. It is not a thing to be explained, but to be felt. There is often only a narrow line
of demarcation between the artistically right and wrong. Yet nearly every real artist will be found
to agree as to when and when not that boundary has been overstepped. Sincerity and personality
as well as disinterestedness, an expression of himself in his art that is absolutely honest, thes, I
believe, are ideals which every artist should cherish and try to realize.38
Question 4
Besides the formative years, what things become important later on in order to achieve success?

38 Violin Mastery: Interviews with Heifetz, Auer, Kreisler and Others, Frederick H. Martens ed. (New York: Dover
Publications, 2006): 63, 66.
29
Lisa Sutton: Focus and determination, along with intuition and awareness.39
Elmar Oliveira: It depends on a lot of different things. It depends on discipline, talents and luck.
If you're talking about a soloist, one has to start when they are very young. And one has to
develop a very strong facility and a grasp of the repertoire at a very early age. I think by the time
you are 17 or 18 years old you should be able to play most of the standard repertoire in
performance. And then, of course, you develop from there for the rest of your life. One never
achieves one's expectations. I think in terms of having a successful career as a concert artist, one
has to have a plan in mind of how one is going to proceed to try to achieve a career. There are
lots of ways of doing this and not all of them work for everyone. One of the ways of achieving a
successful career is through winning a major competition. If you're lucky enough to do that and
you can sustain the interest from the orchestras, conductors and presenters after that is done then
that gives you a certain assurance that you are at least going to have a long run, if not one that
lasts forever. The other way people achieve success in a career is perhaps by having the support
of one or two conductors that really likes the playing of that person and helps to promote their
career by engaging them with different orchestras they conduct, helping to secure recording
contracts, etc. The other way is the long, strong haul which is just having that perseverance,
keeping at every possible way one can achieve a career for oneself. Just stick with that and see
how far you can go with it. Many people have been very successful in achieving important
careers in that manner.40
Victor DeRenzi: In the beginning it was just doing a lot of stuff. At a certain point I was just
committed to conducting those 20 operas a year even though the quality was pretty bad. I
needed the experience. Then along the way I made the call to eliminate those and do less work

30
but feel better about the work that I was producing. In the beginning as a conductor you have to
conduct anybody who is willing to watch you beat time. If you stay in that position it's very
easy to gain a technique that's about keeping things together and not really making music. It's a
technique geared towards working with amateurs or not very good professionals. At a certain
point you have to transition out of that, as a conductor especially, and say, my life is not to make
amateurs better amateurs, not that there's anything wrong with that, but if that's not where you
want to remain, then you have to decide to work with professionals.41
Arnold Steinhardt: For a career, you can be a wonderful musician and a wonderful instrumentalist
and still wind up not having a career. Many factors are involved. This happens later on in life.
If you're a child prodigy it happens earlier but most of us are not child prodigy's. In general there
are other things and they have to do with timing, your ambition, perhaps a little bit of cleverness,
and maybe just dumb luck. [Laughter from RJ] Don't dismiss that as idle, the dumb luck element
in this.42
Sheldon Morgenstern: I don't believe in sheer luck in our discipline, and very little in business
skills. Talent, in my view, is the primary "must."43
Suzy Perelman: There is certainly the factor of rubbing elbows with the right people and knowing
how to act, knowing not to be too forward, humble and not to be too afraid to ask the advice of
people who have been around longer than you have. There is a good friend of mine here in New
York who has been around for awhile and he is constantly mentoring me as to what I should and
should not say to people. I really appreciate that. When a big time contractor here in New York
calls and offers you a gig, you cannot say, “How much does it pay?” Of course it seems logical.

31
You want to know how much it pays and it’s an understandable request, but they don’t have
time for that. They don’t want to feel like you’re putting them on the spot, like if it’s not
enough money, you’re going to turn them down. You can look that up and not waste their time.
So lately I’ve had a lot of people advise me on that. There’s also the issue, especially in the
Broadway world, getting yourself a substitute who does the work well and has a great attitude.
And it’s important to keep that sub happy. Certainly getting yourself out there, even the rock
bottom gigs, even the free gigs, even the ones where you’re surrounded by people you feel have
retired and are just doing this because they want to have something in their life. You have to start
somewhere and I never think when I hear about a gig, especially if I have just moved to a new
place, “I’m too good for it.” I would happily start at the bottom because it’s starting. So I think
there is a humility that’s needed. At least from there you get some exposure and you get to move
up. That’s certainly happened with me. And play for people even if they appear to have no
power. You never know when that person might be asked to recommend a friend, to recommend
a last minute substitute. Every time I prepare an audition I play it through for people.
Sometimes I have to pay them. Sometimes they view it as coaching and that’s fine. I can use
coaching. We can all use coaching. I certainly can. It’s money well spent. And not only do I
have a run through and I’m more prepared for my audition, but maybe they had some great stuff
to offer me and maybe they will remember me in the future and you never know when those
things might pay off.44
David Arben: When it comes to music in profession, besides having proven to yourself, when
you want a job you have to prove to somebody else who has the job to give you- [chuckle] that's
a different story. Once again, I was very fortunate that I never had any difficulties getting a
position. From my first try I got the job. My first job after school was the Detroit Symphony
for one year. Then I went to Cleveland Orchestra for four years. I wanted to come back to
32
Philadelphia because I knew Philadelphia having been here at the Curtis Institute. I graduated
from the Curtis Institute. I auditioned [for Philadelphia Orchestra] and got the job. When I got
the job I was at the end of the section. My first year I was in the second violins. My second
year Mr. Ormandy put me in the first violins and gradually I moved up until I became associate
concertmaster for 23 years, and soloist for many years.45
Mark Summer: There are a lot of ways to answer that question. Having a project that was viable
was huge. To have an on-going schedule you need to have a project that generates the support to
carry it through the lean times in the beginning and sometimes lean times in the middle. Careers
are like waves, they go up and they go down. So having a vehicle like Turtle Island for me has
been essential. The business is a hard business. It's wonderful to have something that you can
hook onto that's such a great concept. Perserverence. The willingness to part ways with people
when you need to. Turtle Island has had a lot of people come and go. The ability to create new
work and to enlist the support of record companies, booking agents, publicists, all the people
that are going to help make it fly.46
Laura Albers: Attitude. Attitude makes all the difference in the world, because I’ve seen millions
of people who have the exact same training but life is hard for them. So, they probably won’t be
working and will always be complaining, and the more they complain the harder it gets. I think
attitude is a lot of what it has to do with.47
Victor DeRenzi: The obvious thing [I'm looking for when I hire the musicians for the Sarasota
Opera Orchestra] is that you have to play a certain number of right notes in tune and at a certain
time. Beyond that there is an expressivity that is very important to making music. I often hear

33
people preparing for auditions with a metronome. To me, that's the last thing I want to hear. I
don't know what's good about following a metronome. I don't think that was the intention of a
metronome. I think the intention was to give you an idea of how fast a piece went. It's become a
crutch for musicians. I would rather hear a musician play an expressive phrase. And there is
something they say about the music that is not what everybody else says. How much someone
can do that from a tape [shrugs shoulders]. The next step is after their first season, how do they
actually make that happen in a performance situation, how they deal with their colleagues, how
much they are willing to jump into the situation at Sarasota Opera and say, “I feel like this is my
company and I want to play as part of this company.” Some people get that immediately and
some people never really get it.48
Question 5
How much does music conservatory contribute to one's success?
Cho-liang Lin: The conservatory is a very important factor. It can a lay a really good foundation.
Isaac Stern used to say he never went to high school. He never went to a conservatory. He
learned by asking questions all his life. He used to say, “I was a pest. I would ceaselessly asked
questions.” He learned that way. But not everyone has the brash and inquisitive mind of Isaac
Stern. We have to be spoon-fed certain knowledge about music, and conservatories do that.
From my own Juilliard experience, the school here was a microcosm of what was to be outside.
Except the world was 50 times tougher than what Juilliard had to offer. However Juilliard
prepared me well. First off I thought the competitive atmosphere from within the school I
thought was healthy. Some of my schoolmates hated it but it turned out to be a sneak peek of
the real pressure in the outside world. Secondly , if you take every academic course seriously,
let me qualify that, to the extent that you had time to study all these subjects apart from your
48 Victor Derenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.
34
violin, you really could learn a lot. When I was in school I had the typical teenager attitude
saying, “Well, who needs ear training. It doesn't help me play the Paganini Caprices more in
tune.” But in the end when you do come around, 15 years later you are confronted with certain
rhythmic patterns in Berg, Stravinsky, or Ned Rorem's music where those rhythmic dictations
come in handy. You come back and utilize those things. There's a ground laying effect for
conservatory training but it's up to the individual to continue that inquisitive path.49
Laura Albers: I think there are so many more well-trained musicians with nowhere to go after
school, which is why everybody stays in school for five million degrees these days. They keep
making up more degrees. [smiles] It has to do with how you relate to your teacher, how you
experience it all. Some people can go in and practice ten hours a day and then come out [of
school], and wonder why they are not getting anywhere. That’s because they didn’t experience
anything else along with the conservatory. What you put into it, you get out of it - not just a
zillion hours of practice, but the involvement. For example, I found in Cleveland [Institute of
Music], I had never played in studio class, which was something that really, really bothered me
because I came from a background of being on stage, performing all the time, and suddenly there
were no performance opportunities. I found out at the end of my last year that all I had to do
was ask. I thought [my teacher] only had his really good students [play] in studio class. That's a
good example of when I could have been more pro-active in creating the experience I wanted to be
have. At Juilliard it was more standard. Our class was small with Copes and people rotated
around and everybody always had a chance [to perform].50
Lisa Sutton: In my case, greatly. I was at the Yale School of Music, and it was a good

35
environment for me to develop as a violinist.51
Luis Biava: [Music conservatory] does not always contribute to one's success. You are lucky to
have a place that can really help. I think it's a good idea. It's a center of development for a young
person to start. It's important to start young. Take advantage by watching how others do it.
Know that you are not alone. Use that knowledge to make you practice more.52
Donald Weilerstein: I think conservatories can make a big difference, absolutely. I think it's really
important to be exposed to a lot of music and a kind of atmosphere where you are able to inspire
yourself. It's nice to find a teacher that can bring that out of you but ultimately it has to come
from the individual. It is terribly important to find your positive influences, whether it's your
[private] teacher, a chamber music coach, conductor or anybody who loves music and is able to
impart that and influence you. I think who you are exposed to has a lot to do with it, the kinds
of values you're around, the types of reading and music listening you can do. Listen to different
kinds of music. I think particularly opera and vocal music is really important for any [musician]
to listen to. Listen to all types of music, pop and folk music as well. The atmosphere you are in
and the private teacher that you are working with can help bring our your innate abilities. I think
it is important for each individual to find his own way and find what conservatory or college
suits him and what teacher suit them as well.53
Mark Summer: That's a very important question for me because I like to say I'm in recovery from
classical music. I have a lot of baggage that I've had to overcome. There were a lot of negative

36
things that went along with the positive things I got from a music education that I've had to heal
from. That being said, my technique is from my classical training. Certainly my arco technique-
all the basic ways I play the instrument. My solid foundation came from classical training. In
conservatory there is a certain cookie-cutter approach of, 'We're going to take everyone that
comes in and try to make them into this certain kind of player.' Some of it's like when you
become a doctor. You learn about physiology and the body. In music you learn all your scales,
sight-singing, ear training, harmony... But the basic attitude, at least when I went to school,
seemed to be you start at a deficit- almost like they're going to mold you into something rather
than discover what you already are. I know that every school wasn't like that, but for me I was
not at all certain I wanted to be a classical musician. I was at a place that was pre-disposed to
turn me into one so when I left school I got a job in the Winnipeg Symphony. I don't think I had
a lot of confidence in myself and I really had to push through that. I know that people at my
school developed tendonitis, playing problems. I know that it wasn't a happy place for me. It
was a hard road. But it definitely made me stronger. I couldn't do what I do without having gone
to conservatory.54
Sheldon Morgenstern: [Music conservatory contributes] zero. It's the teacher(s) who made the
difference.55
Victor DeRenzi: It depends on a lot of things. It depends on what you do. If you're a soloist it
has more to do with your specific teacher. It depends on the city you're in. I think the advantage
of going to Manhattan [School of Music] or Juilliard is that it's in New York City. You meet a lot
of people, make a lot of connections, and you're surrounded by a lot of people who love what

37
you do. I think that's more important than what conservatory you go to. I think we go to school
for too long. We spend too much time in universities instead of just going out and making [a
career]. Where did Horowitz or Heifetz go?56
David Arben: I think the music school can contribute to ones success. First of all, the school is
very proud if they can have someone who graduates and makes a career. It's good for the school.
It's good for the student. It's good for everybody. Some of the schools can help and some of the
schools did help.57
Arnold Steinhardt: [It contributes] a lot, in that in music conservatory you are presumably taught
by the best music teachers. You learn about music at large- music history, theory, counterpoint,
harmony, how to be a soloist, a chamber musician, an orchestral musician. You learn all those
things in addition to the idea of a network of musicians. You don't realize it when you're in music
school but so many of the people you rub shoulders with you're going to be rubbing shoulders
with for perhaps the rest of your whole life. I'm still playing with, playing for, and concerned
with, in one way or another, with many of the people I went to music school- over fifty years
ago. Those things are important. It's nice to have a wonderful teacher. But when you go to a
music school you are educated by your fellow students as well as those studying on either side of
you, having different points of view and playing differently. It was certainly important for me to
see there's that way to do it and this way to do it. “This I like a little more. This I don't like so
much.” I just heard a recital by a graduating student. Wow! I never thought of doing it that way.
That's interesting and stimulating. I think music school has enormous implications for the future

38
of a musician.58
Suzy Perelman: It is totally different for each person. There are artists like Cho-liang Lin, big
soloists who probably didn’t necessarily need a college education or a teacher enlightening them.
I think people like that are already successful by the time they get to college. They definitely
need the connection that a well-known, well-connected conservatory violin pedagogue could give
them. That’s the question. Do they need his pedagogy? It couldn’t hurt but I don’t know that
necessarily made them who they are. For people like me conservatory was absolutely necessary.
It’s there that I learned how not to be spoon-fed. I didn’t make many musical decisions of my
own until the end when I was taught how to be my own teacher. I’ve never been asked to show a
[college] degree in my life unless it’s for a teaching position and even my teaching positions
people mostly asked whether you have a bachelor’s. But for performing it’s all about how you
play. In an audition it’s definitely about how you play. In my world [music school] was
absolutely necessary. This was the place I was able to practice six hours a day. I couldn’t do
that in high school. There was just no time. This was the place that I met a million people that
were in the same boat and was inspired by that atmosphere. Yes, I think for most of us it’s
absolutely necessary.59
Elmar Oliveira: It can contribute a great deal if the atmosphere is one that is conducive to pushing
the young player to do better all the time, in a healthy way. I think there are a lot of schools, and
particularly the bigger schools, like Juilliard, Curtis Institute and Indiana University in
Bloomington... Obviously the talent level at these places is so high that the students are actually
in competition with each other. But that's not necessarily the healthy part of a school

39
environment. I can probably use Curtis as the best example where all the students are listening
not only to themselves but to their colleagues. Also getting a lot of feedback from all of the
teachers that are involved in the school. It's a healthy environment for creativity instead of being
an unhealthy competitive environment. I think that's what all wonderful schools should strive
for. This obviously contributes to the growth of young musicians in the healthiest way.60
Question 6
What are music schools lacking in equipping/educating the student who desires a career as a
concert artist?
Suzy Perelman: I haven’t been to conservatory in 15 years but I definitely wish they’d covered
the business aspect of music, arts management. I really had no understanding of how an
orchestra works behind the scenes and I wish somebody would have talked to me about that. I
wish there were a course in how the American Federation of Musicians Union works. Perhaps
seminars on how to take auditions and also a pedagogy course. Perhaps something about keeping
audiences alive. This is a big concern that could cost us our jobs in the future and it was never
addressed in the conservatory. I don’t know how that would play into a course but it’s an
important thing.61
Victor DeRenzi: The whole purpose of music conservatory is to make money. And that's the
purpose of every college. In order to make money you have to have lots of students. So if you
have to have lots of students by definition you will take in the mediocre as well as the very
talented. When you have that many students you are going to spread the amount of attention
you can give them. The closest dealings I have are with the vocal programs which I think are

40
really bad. First of all, they take too long, they don't prepare you to be a classical singer, they
don't give you the tools you need to learn music... As a violinist or pianist from the very
beginning you are actually learning how to learn music. You're given a tool so when you are 25
years old and get a new piece of music you don't have to take it to your teacher. You have the
tools to take that piece of paper and turn it into music. Singers don't do that. Singers have to
bring it to a voice teacher or a coach. They should be trained to be independent and they don't do
that. They don't do that for voice students in any of the conservatories. It's different to learn
music as a vocalist because it involves text and drama.62
Donald Weilerstein: I think each music school has its own strengths and weaknesses but I think
that the conservatories are now moving towards inspiring their students to be more aware of
community, in terms of outreach, for example in hospitals and schools. I think that type of a
thing is incredibly important. Conservatories who do this provide performance opportunities
for their students. Some conservatories do better than others. The history and theory
department should work together with the performance-oriented departments. The students can
really benefit from the best of both worlds. Perhaps the academic courses could be more
inspiring and help students make connections to what they are accomplishing in the practice
room. At Juilliard they are working towards making those courses as inspiring as possible.
Diverse and inspiring academic courses are important but ones without having enormous amount
of work so students still have time to practice.63
Elmar Oliveira: I think quite often the awareness of what one needs to do to achieve success as a
concert artist is not part of the concern of music schools. I think that's something that should be

41
included and addressed. Young people should know what they are getting into before they get
into it. They really need to know those incredible challenges to make a career in music today. I
think also often it's not as well-rounded as it should be in terms of talented players that are
striving to be soloists don't necessarily involve themselves, or the schools don't involve those
people, in the really fine art of chamber music which is the greatest contribution one can have in
one's playing as an instrumentalist, or a soloist for that matter. That's the thing that you can feed
the most off of, really learning about chamber music, how to play it, how to play with your
colleagues, how to listen... It all contributes to your artistry. Sometimes that becomes secondary
or tertiary to the role of what music schools think they need to do.64
Arnold Steinhardt: The obvious thing is that they’re hot houses. A hot house concentrates on
one thing. You concentrate so much of your life on one thing because to be a success in anything
that’s difficult requires a certain amount of obsessiveness. So that’s the good thing. The bad
thing about conservatories is that you just push away all kinds of other life experiences that
might be pleasurable and valuable to you. There’s an interesting program at Bard college for
musicians who want to be double majors and they go to conservatory there and they go to the
liberal arts college as well. For those who have the aptitude and the interest to do such a thing so
that they can broaden their horizons.65
Sheldon Morgenstern: Even those music schools that have career counseling programs are not
nearly as up front as they should be about the extraordinarily difficulties of finding work as an
orchestral musician in a truly professional orchestra to say nothing of what it takes to have a

42
career as a soloist or member of a chamber ensemble.66
Luis Biava: I think many things are lacking. Sometimes you encounter a teacher that doesn't have
the qualifications to create a nice position [on the instrument]. We should have an inspector of
music like you have an inspector of discipline.67
Laura Albers: Chamber music. I think so many of the programs are just useless. I think chamber
music is the most valuable skill you can have no matter what division you’re going into. There
are so many orchestral musicians that don’t even listen and play with their stand partner.
Cleveland had the most amazing program, regular and intensive coachings and that was what my
focus was on instead of orchestra. Once I got to Juilliard, the chamber music was a joke. I think
there was some sort of requirement but we got by on the bare minimum. And orchestra, I don’t
know what the emphasis was on actually, because the orchestra could have been good but
nobody cared either. I’ll take my sister for example, in what I see as the “concert artist.” She’s
making her living soloing with orchestras. However, between engagements, she plays in many
chamber music festivals - and she gets invited back because A: she’s got this shining personality,
everybody loves her. B: she knows how to play chamber music, she’s easy to play with, and I
attribute a lot of that to our own upbringing. My mom had an outstanding quartet program for
us. From a very early age we were playing together. [Also, chamber music is] a good way of
socializing.68
David Arben: To be hard-working is a great virtue but it doesn't mean that everyone who is hard-

43
working is going to achieve greatness. Today, from what I hear, every school- and it may be
global- talks in one language, and the language is called money. It seems there is never enough
money to do what many schools want to do. Maybe it's true. Maybe to some extent it's true. I
don't know. But from what I hear it's because we don't have the funds.69
Cho-liang Lin: [There are] two things that can be fortified. One is career counseling, although that
is a very tough job. Career counseling is not exactly like going to law school because law students
know exactly what they're going to do. In music you can diversify so quickly. In my days there
was this unrealistic thinking that everybody that came through Juilliard would have an
extraordinary solo career. When they didn't do it, it was a huge disappointment. Or at least that
was the perception. Now I think people are more realistic, at least among my students. But
often even at there master's degree they are not sure what they want to do, not defined at all.
However I don't get these bragging students who say, “I'm going to win the Queen Elisabeth
Competition two years from now and get an exclusive recording contract with Deutch
Gramophone soon thereafter.” They might harbor those dreams but it's not like in my day when
it was the expected outcome. So that's healthier. Number two is concert performing experience.
Encouraging students to perform at every opportunity because there's no substitute.70
Question 7
Please share your thoughts on politics, networking and one's people skills?
Luis Biava: I hate that. But it's a disease that we need to know how to do and we shouldn't
procrastinate doing it. You need connections nowadays, for any career. But what I like is that
you can't make a career as a musician through your mouth. I'm so happy that music is about how

44
you sound. If you are delivering/producing good music- if you don't make it it's because there are
others that are a little better than you, or a lot better.71
Lisa Sutton: In the free-lance world, networking and people skills are really important, since there
is no job security. In the world of the orchestral musician, it is important to have people skills
as part of your goal to achieve tenure. Beyond that it is pretty hard to get fired, but ultimately if
you cultivate relationships in your workplace you will be happier and more successful.72
Elmar Oliveira: Wow. I have to be quite honest. In this day and age they all seem to be very
important in making a career. I'm really not very good at any of that. Obviously one's
personality is very important in dealing with the people in the music industry. Being a part of
the music industry you have to realize, besides enjoying your playing, people have to be able to
socially be around you, enjoy your company, and respect you as a person along with your ideas.
If one can do that without being artificial about it then that's important to networking and to the
politics of music. I think it is also important to have a plan in your mind because part of having a
plan is contacting people, talking to people, and trying to get people interested in what you are
doing. It's not anything new except that it seems we need more and more of it. Everyone in the
past did these social obligations, the reaching out to people that they thought could help with
their career. I think that now it is perhaps more essential.73
Sheldon Morgenstern: Networking, politics, people skills are important to varying degrees
although none will assist unless the performer is highly gifted and has a great sense of diligence.74
Mark Summer: It's not who you know but it's definitely maximizing all of your contacts and

45
support. We met Paquito D'Rivera, the Cuban-American clarinetist/composer/saxophone player.
We met him years and years ago. We were on the same plane together. I kept that card for years.
One day we talked about who we could get to write a piece for us for a commission- probably
connected with Meet the Composer or Chamber Music America. We just called him and he
wrote us a piece. The piece was so much less important than the fact that he toured with us and
also recorded with us. Then I ended up playing in a trio with him and that recording got
nominated for a Grammy at the same time as our last recording. Holding that card, thinking about
all the opportunities that are out there, and actually taking action by calling. I did want to make
clear that the group was started with a member who had a recording contract. So we didn't have
to struggle with that first step. In our case it has been more of a process of struggling to clarify
who we are. Oddly enough, winning a Grammy has been completely illuminating in the sense
that the Grammy was for a Classical category called Classical Crossover. People tend to think of
our group as a jazz string quartet. Now we are able to clearly delineate what we are which is a
classical crossover group made up of classically trained musicians who are jazz improvisers. I'm
dancing around your question a little bit... Having a leg up by having someone who had a
recording career started the whole ball rolling. And making mistakes... We went to ICM Artists
in New York, one of the biggest booking agents, and it was a total mistake for us. It was a place
for us to get completely lost. We ended up being booked by Mark Baylin at Baylin Artists,
someone who had connections with chamber music through Chamber Music America, which is an
organization that David Balakrishnan was on the board of. Again connections that ended up
yielding tremendous results for us.75
Arnold Steinhardt: It’s interesting to me that, the kids in music school who are destined to do
great things, sometimes did and sometimes didn’t. And I guess that has to do with personality,
amongst other things, and again dumb luck, the good timing or the bad timing of things. There are
46
people who I went to school with who were very talented musicians, who decided not to become
musicians. They went off to do other things and I don’t consider that a tragedy in any way.
Music remained a part of their lives but they went on to become doctors and dentists and other
things. I am in contact with one or two of them and they’re happy people. So, music was a
blessing for them and continues to be so.76
Suzy Perelman: If getting the job is through an audition, it doesn’t require people skills. Keeping
the job is what requires people skills. People are very conscious of a bad egg, of someone
spoiling the mood. If you are not emanating enjoyment with what’s around you, you are not
going make friends. And in fact you are going to make people miserable and your job won’t last
long. I think summoning that feeling of success or happiness or why you ever do this in the first
place is the only way to stay successful in your job.77
Victor DeRenzi: I think they are very important. I don't think young people realize that people
on top of their game spent a lot of time networking. If you're a famous conductor, whomever
you are, and you're conducting the symphony, you probably take the head of the opera company
out to lunch. If you're a singer in the opera company you should take out the head of the record
company out. People feel that they can just perform great on stage and that's it. It doesn't work
that way. You're also responsible for this business. I'm sure Horowitz dealt a lot with the
business of the piano. One of the things that happens to performers is once they have a manager
they think, “Wow! Great! Now I have a manager and I can just practice eight hours a day and
don't have to deal with that.” You still have to worry about that. I think it's always been a part
of the business. Everybody did it in some way. I think the art is great and I think you need the
business to make the arts survive. The disaster is the industry because we've turned this art into
a big industry which tends to make it generic. As a result you do what people want to hear

47
instead of trusting that people will want to hear it because it has my belief in it. I think we've
developed an unhealthy path on the industry side and that tends to make everything status
quo.78
Cho-liang Lin: I mentioned a part of that in my intangibles. Networking is important in a sense

that it's part of everyday reality. You can lock yourself up in a practice room and play like god
but it's the moment when you have to work with others that will prove your real worth. By that
I mean you will still need to be able to communicate whatever you're working on with your
audience. And that communicative skill can be taught but only to a limited extent. A lot of it has
to be felt. When I was a student I went to hear Bernstein, Horowitz, Rostropovich... There was
a certain aura about them. When they walked on stage you felt like you were about to witness
something great. Likewise for chamber music groups, when I heard the Guarneri Quartet for the
first time and Isaac Stern playing chamber music, it was something incredible. You're talking
about people skills, networking. It's a very tough question to answer. You can and you should
connect with people but if you rely exclusively on this to promote a career then I think one's
priorities are all screwed up. I think one's aim is to play well. The aim is to believe strongly in
the music that you play. Love it. If the aim is, “I know the manager of such and such an
orchestra.” “I know this artists manager.” “I know this publicist.” “Let's see if I can put them
all together and suddenly become the next Itzhak Perlman.” I'm afraid that's not going to happen.
It just doesn't. I think being a recluse in the Glenn Gould way doesn't really work anymore. In
this day and age, people always crave for some sort of communication. Probably the only
equivalent of those iconic hermits today is Martha Argerich who can play only five concerts a
year and people go crazy over these five concerts. To be honest, you can network without
thinking about it. The fact is you can make really good friends with colleagues and people in the
business without the pretense, “I must know so and so.” The really nice part about the business
48
side of music is making friends without thinking, “They must have an agenda.” Genuine
friendships can be forged.79
Question 8
How has the journey to success changed for today's musician?
Arnold Steinhardt: I think the general standards have risen tremendously. In other words,
whereas there were fewer people who reached a really fantastic level of artistry- there were
always those in any age- but now the sheer number of musicians who are on a high artistic and
technical level coming out of the conservatories is pretty amazing. In the old days, there tended
to be, I don't know if it was the need or the culture of music that compartmentalized musicians so
that you became a soloist, a chamber music player, an orchestra player, or you became a teacher.
And yes, one element bled slightly into the other. People didn't do exactly one thing or the other
with the exclusion of everything else. But I think there were these walls that were built up. I
think those have come down to a large extent. I would tell a violin student of mine if they would
ask my opinion, not too many necessarily do [chuckles], I would say try and play with a full
deck of cards. In other words, play the violin, play the viola. Study music. Study the
background of music. Study so that you are a musician rather than an instrumentalist. Also, go
and speak in public. Learn as much of the world around you as possible because you don't know
where your career will lead you. The more things you have at your disposal, just to become a
complete musician, never mind the career possibilities, is for the better. But also for your career
possibilities, you widen them. That was even true to a smaller degree when I was going to
school. I discovered the viola and began playing the viola. I had no idea what the career
implications for that were. I just did it because I loved it and at some point while I was still in
school I landed a job as last chair viola in the Casals Festival Orchestra. This was a huge turning
49
point in my life, musically. I didn't learn the viola because I thought this would be a good career
move for me but it just turned out to be very significant.80
Cho-liang Lin: Juilliard in the 70's put a lot of emphasis on the solo repertoire training especially
the violin department. The two main teachers were Galamian and Delay. They wanted nothing
less than superstar violinists to come out of their studios. Now I think there is more grounding in
orchestral and chamber music training. The expectation is one that will land you a secure job
soon. That's the priority, not some lofty goal. That's the main difference between Juilliard then
and Juilliard now.81
Elmar Oliveira: I think it is so difficult now. First of all, I think the competition has increased.
There are so many more violinists vying for solo careers, for orchestra positions, for positions in
string quartets and chamber groups. It's just enormous! If there's an orchestra audition for an
opening in the second violin section of a B grade orchestra in the United States you often have
100, 200, even more applicants. This is something that never happened 40 or 50 years ago. The
enormous development of just the physical ability to play the instrument has improved on a
general level. I have to absolutely make a point of the word general because I don't believe
anybody plays the violin better than any of the great violinists of the past. Even on a technical
level I don't think anybody has achieved anything more incredible than Jascha Heifetz, Milstein
or Leonid Kogan in his prime. These are violinists that no one has surpassed in the younger
generations. But there are many more that can play on a general level, much higher than the
general level of violin playing was of, let's say, 40 or 50 years ago.82
Suzy Perelman: I think the standards are higher. People just play more cleanly. There is this

50
mass success of Asians. I played through an audition recently for a friend in New York Phil and
he said “Suzie, you sound amazing, but there will be Asians there who will kick your ass.” It’s
an interesting phenomenon, but no one will deny that there are enormous amounts, and I’m just
going to stick with violin playing, Asian violin players that play so cleanly. I am forever
analyzing this. Are Asians more genetically, anatomically fit for it? Do the chopsticks at an
early age make the fine motor skills develop more quickly? Is it the discipline that they spend
more hours in the practice room? Maybe all of the above, I don’t know. But it used to be that
the symphony orchestras were filled with Jews and I am one of them. Jewish people had the
reputation of staying in the practice room and having it in their souls. Now symphony
orchestras have a huge Asian population. The standards on cleanliness is higher.83
David Arben: In my time you didn't have jets. In my days it took you 7,8,9 days to cross the
Atlantic. Artur Rubinstein would bring his piano on the boat. Menuhin would cross the Atlantic
giving concerts in Europe or the United States. You didn't play 150-175 concerts per year.
There was no such thing. There was a very great Romanian pianist who died at the age of 33 of
Hodgkin's disease, years ago. Those who know pianists know of Dinu Lipatti. And I was
fortunate enough to hear him in 1949 in Geneva playing the Schumann Concerto. I must admit I
didn't know that much about piano music [at that time] but I was very impressed and so was the
entire world. I would read articles he wrote and he would say, “A true artist cannot play more
than one concert a week.” Dedication to each concert you play requires a charge emotionally,
spiritually, and mentally in order to come out fresh again. People who play 2,3,4 concerts a
week don't take it seriously. They just make more money.84
Luis Biava: I think it's probably the best time for musicians- a chance to be so close to the best. I
see these DVDs now that come out with the old artists. Now you can actually see their position

51
and bow arms. Before we were just imagining it. There is so much access to our history which is
important to have. I believe in tradition and technology takes you back to the past in so many
ways. It's great! It's wonderful for us to get that culture and knowledge, the old style, the new
style. It's more competitive than ever with so many more musicians. We have countries that
never before were involved in the western classical field- Japan, Korea, also South America.
Finally we see many talented people growing up in different cities where you never expected to
see musicians. Also the opportunity you have to travel. It's easier now because you have many
more festivals and summer camps. There's more competition so you have to be better.85
Lisa Sutton: Well, it seems that the job market has not increased in line with the number of
qualified people who are graduating from music schools. Therefore it seems that the successful
ones are those who are extremely motivated and determined. Also, today’s brand of young
musician seems to be armed with confidence and more prepared to create job opportunities for
themselves, if necessary.86
Mark Summer: You'd think that I'd be able to speak to that really well but when I was younger I
had so much less clarity about what I needed to do to make it. To me it's an awakening as I get
older and keeping my eyes open. We had a record company, Windham Hill, that was very
supportive of us in a way that I couldn't even see. They hired a publicist for one of our
recordings. They took good care of their artists. They paid royalties. It's been finding out that a
lot of the clichés of the music business are true and that you really have to pay attention. You
have to be willing to walk away from things and keep your eyes open. The big things that have
changed are if people had trouble selling recordings before they're really having trouble now
because of digital downloading and file swapping. Live performances are more important for
artists than ever before. You know when you hear David Bowie talking about how he's going to

52
make most of his money from live performance as opposed to recording- that startled me. I think
what is happening for people in my part of the business is alternative chamber music is becoming
more mainstream. It's kind of becoming the new classical music. Mainstream classical music is
having to grow and evolve. The old school audiences that want to hear the orchestras play the
old war horses are all dying. Young people aren't necessarily going to be drawn into their
standard fare that was being presented when I was first starting out. My group was way ahead
of its time. When we first started out and played a four movement string quartet that was all
original music that David had written that combined Indian styles and Jazz, Bluegrass and
Classical music, the audience was a little mystified. They always really liked us but in terms of
convincing the public that this is something to support in a big way- it's been challenging. M y
feeling is that this is becoming easier and more mainstream.87
David Arben: I haven't had a boy student in years. Boys don't seem to be as interested. Now
you go to every major and minor orchestra, you see every year, there are- I have nothing against
girls, I love women, I love girls- but every year there are more girls and less boys, especially in
the United States. The new crop of talent comes from China. The first [Asian country
producing talent] was Japan, then Korea and now it's China.88
Question 9
What role does the competition serve in the artist's career?
Elmar Oliveira: I think competitions are good. They are good because of the opportunity it can
give a young person. But the importance of winning a competition perhaps has been diminished
in our current time because there are so many competitions and there have been so many winners.

53
The market can only assume so many players. [Competitions are good] in the sense that they
can draw that attention and maybe give one the opportunity to at least present one's art to the
public. I'm not sure that what happens after that is so dependent on winning a competition.89
Luis Biava: I think the purpose of the competition is for the experience. When I go for a
competition for the first time I don't expect to win but I go [hoping] to win. I'm going to find out
so many other things. There are many situations when you have to be physically and mentally
strong. And then there's the politics of judges with students in the competition. I would always
go to a competition or an audition, very positive, to learn and to win. And if you don't win, you
get up again and keep going.90
Arnold Steinhardt: I hate them but I probably wouldn’t be where I am today without them. I
lost my share of competitions but for the ones that I did well in, they were a huge factor of my
life, both educationally and in terms of advancing my career. Many people are against them, and
I understand for the obvious reasons why they are, but on the other hand, unless you’re lucky
enough to have a wealthy, private sponsor, to provide you with the money and open all the
necessary doors to connect you with the people who matter, competitions are a valuable tool.91
David Arben: Competitions can be a great help to fame. They have done it for quite a few
people over the years. It's a tiny planet. The minute you win a competition the whole world
knows that you won. Everybody signs you up and everybody wants you to be the first to play
for them. If you're very good the managers want you. Van Cliburn was a wonderful pianist and
playing occasionally. He won the Tchaikovsky International Competition at a time when a cold
war was going on between the United States. This started his international career. He deserved it

54
anyway but he may not have had this kind of career [if he hadn't won the Tchaikovsky
International Competition]. When I was a little boy David Oistrakh came to compete in the
Wieniawski Competition in Warsaw. There was a women by the name of Jeanette Nevu. She got
the first prize. Oistrakh got the second prize. I don't have to sell Oistrakh to you. He was a
great violinist. A fantastic violinist, I heard him a number of times. He was just incredible. By
the way, a very wonderful human being.92
Cho-liang Lin: I think they are both good and bad. It's good in that it gives young violinists a
chance to show their stuff, to learn about where they stand among their peers. Also on the few
occasions that the winner, finalists, will get recognized is great. The bad part is that many,
including the top winners don't get anywhere after a competition, even a major one. If you
tabulate the top competitions around the world- Tchaikovsky, Queen Elisabeth, Indianapolis-
and look at their past winners for the last 20 years to see where they have gone and how many
names you might recognize, you might be surprised you don't know most of them.
[Competitions] don't carry the same impact that they did in the 60s and 70s. The three biggies
were Levintritt in the States, Tchaikovsky in Moscow, and Queen Elisabeth in Brussels. Also at
that time the cold war created competition between the Soviet Union and US which created a lot
of news. It was news worthy. Now you announce the winner of the Tchaikovsky and
everybody yawns. I hate to be cynical but I think that is accurate. Competitions can be good. I
encourage my students to participate in them only if they want to. If they find that it's a good
challenge for them to work, gets them to practice more and get certain repertoire ready, great.93
Twenty year old Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, still a student at Juilliard, won the Walter W.
Naumburg 1981 International Violin competition. Of the experience, she says, “Never again – I
lost 8 pounds in 5 days!” But winning the competition put into high gear a career that already

55
included playing with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Manila Symphony in the Philippines.94
Josef Gingold: Bela Bartok once suggested that musical competitions are like horse races, and that
musicians make poor horses. I agree that a musical competition can be dehumanizing if it loses
sight of its purpose: that is, to help the most talented young musicians at a critical time in their
transformation from brilliant students to acknowledged artists. On the other hand, a great
competition, as we know from recent experience, does not produce a single winner like a horse
race, but many winners who achieve critical and popular acclaim as a direct result of their
participation.95
Question 10
What are your feelings on managers and how they've affected the concert artist's career?
Mary Lou Falcone, ML Falcone Public Relations: At the beginning of a career nothing is ever too
much. Everybody wants more, more dates, more publicity, more record contracts, you name it.
After that kicks in and that becomes a reality a lot of artists find themselves overwhelmed.96
Sheldon Morgenstern: I know of only three managers worldwide who I trust and respect. 99.9%
have little or no interest in the client's personal well being. Except for one management agency I
was quite fortunate.97
Elmar Oliveira: I think a manager is a very important person in a concert artist's career. Once a
person puts all the elements together, the networking, the socializing, the violin playing, the
94 Marum, Lisa, “Keep your eye on Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg” Ovation Vol. 3 No. 7 (Aug 1982): 38.
95 Gingold, Josef, “In Defense of Competitions” Ovation Vol. 3 (Mar 1982): 8.
96 Falcone, Mary Lou, ML Falcone Public Relations. Speaking in Strings. Dir. Paola di Florio. Perf. Nadja
Salerno-Sonnenberg. CounterPoint Films, 1999.
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talent and the sound... At that point there is nothing that the artist can do. It is up to the
manager to be the great presenter that a manger should be. A manager is basically a salesman.
They should be extremely well connected and extremely well respected by the people in the
music industry that put on concerts. Once everything is as together as it can be on the artist's
side, the key element is what can the manager do with it. Of course the manager has to face the
same reality that the violinist, pianist, soloist, instrumentalist has to face, that it is an incredibly
competitive world out there. It's not always possible to get the ultimate results that you're
looking for but it should be in the ballpark.98
Luis Biava: They have the power. They can bring you close to many good things. I really don't
mind. You need an agent, people that promote you because they know how to do it.99
Mark Summer: For our group an agent manager has been essential to getting us to a certain place
of success. I can see how that would be true of many artists. As much as they want to be in
control of their careers and make all their decisions, without some input from a manager... I'm
differentiating between a manager- we had managers who were dealing the business of things and
who also had artistic input. I'd say they're pretty essential.100
Question 11
What do you think of recordings, old versus new? What effects have they had?
Victor DeRenzi: A lot of great, dead people have made recordings. So if you're looking for a
string quartet- let's say the Budapest String Quartet from the 1940's. It's going to be pretty

57
fantastic so why would you want another recording when you can get 5 recordings by all these
famous people. In addition you have these over-produced recordings that are slick, farely
emotionless and no error in them. I think it sends an unhealthy message to performers and
audience because it says, “This is what we expect.” In a recording no one misses their high note
so we want our singers on stage not to miss their high notes. So what happens is development of
a technique that is not about being expressive or about taking risks, it's about matching the
unrealistic recording. I don't know what's going to happen to the industry because nobody is
buying recordings. First of all, they're copying them from friends instead of spending $20 on a
CD.101
Cho-liang Lin: First of all, going back to my old definition of success where I said recording career
was priority. 25 years later, it's not a priority anymore because recording labels are all suffering
and they are cutting way back. Sales are way down. Right now it's rather amorphous in that a
recording contract may not guarantee anything. It's a bonus if you have a big label pushing you
but if you look at labels, what they're pushing and whom they're pushing, it's often based on
appearance, sex appeal, a certain look, a certain marketability. It's not a recognition of real talent
anymore. In that sense, it's a very different game today and I would not put a strong recording
career as a priority in any young artists' career.102
Lisa Sutton: Recordings are a fantastic resource for all of us, old or new. With regard to our own
recordings, it is important to remember that whenever you record a product, even if it is a simple
audition or demo CD, it must be your best possible effort. Anything less than that can have a
very negative affect on your success.103

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Luis Biava: I think they are an important vehicle to promote yourself, also through radio and TV.
I think this should be part of the career. Now when you present a resume to a manager you also
include a recording which is a great help. I think it is also good to record because the microphone
is the worst judge of all. I also like to record myself.104
Suzy Perelman: I think [excessive editing] is a shame. I think there is a dehumanization in the
whole thing. We are people and we are not perfect. I would rather hear the real person and have
him play a sour note once in a while than have everything touched up to be perfect. But that’s
the standard these days. If I were to make a recording myself and I have the option of somewhat
doctoring it up to make my sour notes beautiful, I might take it too. That’s what happens these
days. But that’s why we prefer live performances as opposed to listening [to recordings]. I
listened to my share of music but I listen to more of it in person. That’s where you really
connect with the person.105
Sheldon Morgenstern: It seems to me that recordings are no longer as useful as they were even a
decade ago since anyone can now make their own CD.106
Laura Albers: I don't see the whole point [in all the editing]. Give me an old recording any day.
[The editing makes] everybody sound the same. Julie and I did the Kodaly duo in Munich. The
guy edited it like there was no tomorrow. It doesn’t sound anything like us. There’s no
character and you’re missing stuff.107
David Arben: How come Heifetz didn't try to play like anybody else? That's the greatness. You
can try any recording and spend your life trying but nobody can achieve it. The ones you can

105 Suzy Perelman, 14 May 2007.
106 Sheldon Morgenstern, Email Interview, 27 May 2007.
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achieve imitating, you don't want to imitate. I don't believe in imitating. I like the way you look
but I don't want to look like you. I would be better off if I looked like you [smile]. You have to
be an original. Unfortunately with young people today, they are very skilled technically. They
buy records. They don't hear what they are listening to. The emotions these artists possess,
[these students] don't have, so they don't recognize it. They try to imitate. They play well.
They might even have a career, but it's not authentic.108
Arnold Steinhardt: I’m not a wild fan of recordings because I think they suppress talent rather
than aiding it. In many cases I think records do not represent the best of an artist. There are
very few artists who sound as good on record as they do in the public. I bought a record of a
very famous pianist playing Schubert’s Improptu and thinking when I listened to it, 'This is all
very, very good, but just a little boring.' And I heard an electrifying performance, on the air,
wondered who it was, and it was the same pianist, but it was a recording that had been released
of a live performance. When was the last time you heard a mistake [on a recording]. CD’s don’t
have mistakes on them. They often don’t have much that’s inspiring. They’re all good, all clean,
but many of them are rather cautious. That’s certainly one of the dangers of recording. So, I
guess it really has changed things. It’s put much more pressure on people to be accurate. But it
hasn't put more pressure on people to really flap their wings, take off and fly as musicians.109
Hilary Hahn: One thing I don't like about recordings these days, as opposed to old recordings
that I like listening to, is that old recording technology was selective in what it picked up. Each
players differences were magnified because the technology couldn't pick up everything. Certain
things would jump out clearer and other things wouldn't be heard. For example, extra noise that
the bow produces, I don't think it would have been an issue for primitive recording technology
because they were playing into a horn [chuckle]. The orchestra couldn't pick up the orchestra

60
half the time. Later on the technology started to pick up more but it still wasn't the case that it is
today which is that every little extra noise in the hall, every little motion back and forth around
the microphone, every little violin mechanical noise, if I have a sticky finger and I lift it off the
string it'll pluck the string a little bit. That can't be on the recording because it's extra noise that
should not be present under current recording standards. You have to be aware of more things
than is really convenient when playing but nonetheless I still prefer the idea of studio recording
to the idea of live recording because when I'm on stage I don't want to be thinking about how it's
coming across on the microphones. I just want to be thinking about how it's coming across to the
audience.110
Elmar Oliveira: I think the state of the art of recording has improved phenomenally. I think that's
great for the listener. It's virtually impossible to know how an artist plays until you actually
hear them play in a performance venue because of all the editing and splicing that everybody does
in the studio. Quite often people are disappointed because their expectations are set so high.
These days almost everybody puts out a technically perfect recording, and sounds that project to
the back of the hall. You go to the concert and all of a sudden you're quite surprised at what you
hear. I think that's one of the drawbacks of what we've done with the recording industry. We've
basically made everyone perfect in their own way.111
Question 12
Most of the things I read about classical music in America is that it's on its way out. Since this is
a vital component to our success what do you think?
Victor DeRenzi: I think they've been saying that for years and I think they're full of baloney. I
110 Hilary Hahn, violinist. Hilary Hahn: A Portrait. Dir. Benedict Mirow. Deutsch Gramaphone, 2007.
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think if you opened an article from 1920 when Rudy Valley was recording some stupid song,
people were saying the same thing. I think there are two things they don't trust, and they're the
two most important things. One is the music. The music is never, ever wrong. So you don't
need to fix that. And the other thing is the audience and there's never anything wrong with the
audience. If there's something wrong with the performance it's because we as the performers are
not performing the music well. I don't know what makes a greater impact than a Beethoven
Symphony, a Verdi Opera, or any of the great music that we play. There's nothing better than
that. But you have to believe it and you have to trust that the audience will get it if you just do it
[right]. It doesn't need a gimmick, a light show or anything like that. The people in this country
have started not trusting our product. They say, “People aren't coming.” Well maybe people
aren't coming because you're boring them. Sometimes it's a good sign when an audience doesn't
come. We're not doing our job and they're saying we'd better do our job better. For me, part of
the job is that the audience is involved in the performance. I've always felt that the audience is as
much part of a performance as the musicians or the singers. I went to opera in the 60's in New
York when that's really what happened. People would scream and yell. When a singer came on
stage, before they even sang a note, the audience would applaud and be a part of the performance.
That's how it always was. We have this idea that we live in this sterile musical world and don't
applaud between movements of a symphony. Well, why not? If you like it, why not applaud?
Why deny the audience? You can cough, talk to your neighbor and your cell phone can go off but
you can't applaud for us. They used to encore movements of symphonies. For many years, the
end of the 1800s, you would play a movement of the symphony, not the entire thing... I think
the wrong thing is to distrust the music and to distrust the audience. If you're doing an opera like
La Boheme and your selling 70% of your house, the problem is not Puccini, the problem is how
we're performing it.112
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Luis Biava: I don't see it as on its way out. I have a grandson and he lives in Montgomery
County. I went to one of the Symphony concerts when my grandson was young. The concert
involved the entire organization. They had the highest symphony orchestra. They had the 2nd
and 3rd tier orchestra, 4th ... I heard 5 orchestras that day, all symphony repertoire. Big cases,
little cases. It was like a new world, a new paradise. This is happening now. This happened not
too long ago.113
Cho-liang Lin: I don't think classical music is on its way out. It's constantly in danger of being
wiped off because we occupy this tenuous niche that is so at the mercy of funding. We don't
usually make that much money in this business, not like a pop tour or a rock concert where the
profit is clear. Often a lot of people work in this business based on good faith and a passion for
music. Right now I still see a huge amount of passion among those in the business and that's a
good sign. Periodically you see doom and gloom reports about so and so sales dropping, ticket
revenue down, CD sales down, but ten years after such reports come out you see the same
orchestras operating. Some of them rebound nicely. Composers today are still cranking out
some really wonderful works. I think it's there. The question is what format. CD sales are a
worrisome trend but I think that's an industry-wide worry. The pop world is worried about it
too. In that sense I feel good that classical music is in the same boat as the multi-billion dollar
Hollywood and pop music industry. I wonder if 50 years ago there were only elderly people
going to concerts too. What became of them? They couldn't have continued to live for the next
50 years [laughter] so there must be a steady supply of these people. This country faces a big
problem in that music education in the schools is poor and non-existent. So where you find the
next generation of audience is always a struggle. Whereas when you go to Asia the audience you
find are much younger. That is healthier in a sense. But the same thing exists whether the
average age is 65 or the average age is 35, if you don't turn out something attractive to the crowd
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nobody will show up. It's that simple.114
Jorja Fleezanix: We have no control of the future. But I'm in it right now; I'm actively involved...
If [music] comes from the core of the performer, the voice of the creator, then you're getting a line
that's one of the most powerful ways of drawing us together- and I've never known music to pull
people apart.115
Elmar Oliveira: I don't believe it. I don't think classical music will every disappear. Classical
music is one of the few lasting things we have. We have so many more orchestras than we did, so
many more concerts than we did, so many more soloists than we did. We're trying to absorb all
of this into everyone's life and it's not possible to do. We have to face the reality that not
everyone can have a place in the music world. But having said that, I think there are many more
places than there used to be. You can hear more in a major city than you could ever hear 30 or 40
years ago. And not even major cities, minor cities. There are orchestras that have crept up in so
many different places in the United States that never had orchestras before, or had orchestras that
were of minimal artistic importance. We're seeing that a lot of them are surviving. Some of them
have their problems and some continue to have their problems that have a lot to do with what
they expect to achieve and how much money they think they need to do it. We've also been in a
flux from a style of sponsorship in this country that was mostly dependent on corporate
sponsorship and has totally gone to the individual sponsorship field. Corporate sponsorship is
something that most orchestras and series don't spend the amount of time chasing after anymore
because they know they need individual people to give them the kind of support money-wise
that can sustain what their doing. So that's been another change that's caused orchestras to not do
so well for a time. But that's changing as people learn what it is that needs to be done.
Unfortunately we don't have the interest in classical music in the home like we did and in the

115 Violin Virtuosos (California: String Letter Publishing, 2000): 45.
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schools like we used to have. That's the biggest loss in this country that has caused young
audiences to be so hard to develop. We need to work on that. But I definitely don't think
classical music will ever die in this country or any country that has supported it for the last 300
years.116
Mark Kaplan: There is a real crisis in classical music in the United States today... Now all those
series are gone, orchestras are closing down, and wherever you go, people are complaining that
there's not enough audience, especially young audience. The reason is not hard to find. When I
was a kid, elementary schools had orchestras and you could study any instrument. Hardly any
of the students became musicians, but they did become lovers of classical music and members of
future audiences. Most of these public-school programs were cut and a whole generation has
grown up thinking classical music is weird. There is an illusion that art, like virtue, is its own
reward, so it's all right to let artists starve. Musicians don't expect to get rich, but they do have
to live. And what's more, virtue can be practiced silently, but art demands to be
communicated.117
Hilary Hahn: I think [the future of classical music in America] has a big future. We have a lot of
great musicians and there is so much great music. It's a matter of bringing music to people who
ordinarily wouldn't come to concerts.118
Question 13
What do you consider your greatest successes and why?

117 Violin Virtuosos, Mary VanClay ed. (California: String Letter Publishing, 2000): 65,67.
118 Ibid, 99.
65
Cho-liang Lin: I've done all sorts of things in my life with my musical abilities. There are some
defining moments in my life as a concert violinist that were very thrilling and life-changing. For
instance, making my debut when I was twenty with the Philadelphia Orchestra. That was a
thrilling moment for me. One that made me feel like I belonged. When you're studying as a
teenager in school you're never sure whether you'll become a worthy player or not. You keep
trying. You win a little here. You lose a little there. But that moment when I was playing with
Ormandy and Philadelphia, it made me feel like I could do it after all. That was a very important
moment in my life. Then, similarly, another moment came in 1991 when my late teacher
Dorothy Delay asked me if I would consider teaching at Juilliard. Of course, that was a very
exciting proposition. One that I actually hesitated before I said yes because I thought I was not
qualified. I had been giving masterclasses around the world but I wasn't sure if I was ready to
take [teaching] on seriously. But I did and 16, 17 years later I feel like it has added one more
dimension to my overall musical make-up. Another very defining moment is the realization that I
could do something about music, not only by playing but by actively promoting and getting new
works written- whether I can persuade an orchestra to commission a violin concerto for me or
through my La Jolla Summerfest to pursue composers to write chamber music works for the
festival. In other words, how to use other people's money effectively [laughter] for not only
what I personally think is worthwhile but also for music at large. Those three areas have been
very defining moments- concert career, first as a player and performer, as a teacher, and as a
musical administrator.119
Elmar Oliveira: I think winning the Tchaikovsky Competition was a great musical success for me
because it enabled me to get the attention of the public. Before I went to the Tchaikovsky
Competition I had won the Naumberg Violin Competition and that helped my career somewhat.
I started performing when I was very young. I appeared with the New York Philharmonic when
66
I was 16 years old. I made my orchestral debut when I was 14. I've always had concerts to play
on a regular basis. When I was much younger I didn't play a lot because my parents didn't feel it
was necessarily a good thing to do. I think they were very right about that. My career first
developed as a persevering kind of career, as I said before. Trying to do everything one can to
make more things happen for oneself. The Naumberg helped quite a bit but the Tchaikovsky was
the thing that really brought my name to the attention of the international music world. Once I
was able to do that and appear with all of the major orchestras and major presenters of recitals,
etc. the good that happened was I performed very consistently, I had something individual to
offer and people noticed that. And that's what sustained my re-engagements over the last 30
years.120
Victor DeRenzi: I think my greatest success is in building Sarasota Opera. I've been there
twenty-five years and when I got there there was, practically speaking, no opera company. I
was able to take this idea of how I think music should be made and make Sarasota a place where
that could happen. Also creating a performance community where these 250 people are there
every season, coming together and working towards the same goal. I think often when you have
that many people coming together it's very hard to get those people to commit to the same
aesthetic of performance and to find a way that everyone can do that without losing their own
personality. I think this happens very often in the music field- people will buy into something
but suddenly it becomes a personality-less, dehumanized situation. My hope is that I've created
this community of music-makers but everyone feels like they're important and getting to be
themselves.121
Suzy Perelman: I’ll answer the why first. Throughout my life people have instilled in me and
maybe it’s inherent, but belief that I have something very special about my playing that no one

67
else has. In audition, what is known as a cattle call, 25 people can be in the same room playing
their most successful licks. It’s the little voice inside of me that says, “It sounds like they are
having an easy time of this, but there is something about my playing that no one has and I am
going to show the judges that.” What have been my greatest successes? I’ve won a couple of
orchestra jobs and that’s been my dream since I was little. I was in the Utah Symphony for one
year. I got to the finals in Pittsburg and I subbed with them, all over the world. I went to South
America with them, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Carnegie Hall. And then I won the San Antonio
job and was there for five years, five years in Texas which was not my cup of tea exactly, but
they were wonderful people and a great orchestra, despite its’ financial woes and its’ deadly heat.
I enjoyed it and considered those major successes. Next I left Texas and became concert master
of Phantom of the Opera National Tour. Broadway was always in the back of my mind. I
auditioned, but it was an invited audition. I spent two years of homelessness. I was on the road
with Phantom of the Opera and I loved every second of it. Seven hundred twenty performances
of the same thing and I loved it. New York has been great to me. I came in with a Broadway job
and thanks to Phantom my connections, my angels looked out for me and I came in with Chitty,
Chitty Bang Bang which lasted a year. That show introduced me to new people. My most
recent success is I got a job with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. And I have another Broadway
show. It’s called Love Music. It’s the life story of Kurt Vile. I’m crazy about it.122
Luis Biava: I think even when you are turning the corner because of age, you never think that you
have done enough, not only for yourself but for others. There's always so much to do. Working
with the students. It's a big field to try to create good things for them. But I am very proud of
some of the things I have done in my life like creating this program at [Temple Prep], the Youth
Chamber Orchestra which started this year. As a musician, something that comes to mind, I was
very happy when I won the audition for Philadelphia Orchestra. As a violinist, I was coming
68
from a different country, so I was fortunate to audition and make it here. I came from National
Symphony. Also, my achievements in my native country, Bogota. I studied violin there. I am a
product of the National Symphony Orchestra because I became a part of them. I became
concertmaster, assistant conductor, associate conductor and finally music director. So these are
the artistic achievements that I feel [most proud of]. I always try to do things in the name of the
music.123
Lisa Sutton: Rebecca, when you got into the finals at San Francisco Opera, that was a great
success for me. To be able to share what I know with someone and to have it result in something
positive is hugely rewarding. Also, doing work on committees that represent musicians is
rewarding – knowing that you have helped secure employment and working conditions for future
generations. Artistically, it is rewarding to work for a really great conductor, or to collaborate
with wonderful colleagues on great music – it is good for the soul.124
Question 14
Do you think music serves a purpose? Why do you do what you do?
Pablo Casals: Music is [a] marvelous universal language understood by everyone, everywhere. It
ought to be a source of better communication among men. I have played my cello for more than
half a century. He is my companion and I love him and he loves me. He sounds well to make me
happy [smiles].125
David Arben: Humanity gains a lot from whatever [musicians] have to offer. Can you imagine a

125 Casals, Pablo, cellist. Pablo Casals: A Cry for Peace. Dir. Robert Snyder. Masters and Masterworks
Productions Inc., 2002.
69
world without music?126
Elmar Oliveira: It serves so many purposes. The biggest purpose it has is what it communicates
emotionally to the listener. The listener doesn't necessarily need to know that much about what
they're listening to. If they've had a lousy day and they go to a concert and hear something and it
makes them feel good, they might not even know why, that's already so much better than going
to the psychiatrist and paying $100 to figure out why you're so depressed. Music stirs emotions
of human beings the way nothing else can. Music can make you angry, scared, upset, laugh, cry,
there's nothing that it can't do. Ultimately that's what an artist wants to do, to communicate all
those emotions to the public. In a very abstract way, as a performer we connect so much with
our audiences individually in ways that we don't know. It's completely abstract but that's what
happens. You don't meet [your audience] and yet you've affected their lives. It's an incredibly
strong force of nature. I love performing. It's like breathing and eating. It's something I could not
live without. It's a great responsibility. I don't play in a void. The quality, consistency,
musicianship, and artistry of my playing are very important to me. [These are things I] am
constantly involved with from the moment I wake up until I go to sleep. I strive to achieve the
best playing in order to communicate everything that I can to my audience about me as the
performer, the composer and the music. It's a great honor to play the violin. It's an honor that
has been given to me in which I have a great respect. I continually strive and work hard to
deserve that honor.127
Luis Biava: [The purpose] has to be music always. Music will be with us forever, which is a
great thing. Music can do wonders to the spirit, young or old. We should all learn and study
music.128

70
Donald Weilerstein: Music is what I generally respond to and am most inspired by. And I try to
transfer that response into communicating to others, both through my playing and through my
teaching. I've always wanted to try to help as much as I can in terms of making other people's
lives as fulfilling as they can be, to help bring out what they have to communicate to others too.
That's the basis of a lot of what I do, the urge to communicate with people through music and
also to communicate to others in helping them to give their music to other people. It is in this
field that I feel the most response to and the most able to help of anything that I can do. I reach
out as much as I can through my own playing and a lot through my teaching. I find it very
rewarding and fulfilling work. I'm very happy doing that.129
Lisa Sutton: Music serves many purposes – but hopefully it is something that is food for the
collective soul. I do it because I am able to – and I enjoy it.130
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg: Classical music is like a drug. It's food for your soul.131
Cho-liang Lin: Music began as an expression of human emotion and it's evolved so. Humans have
manipulated the shape and form of music but for me it has always come from the heart. So as
long as it echoes human emotion and continues to do so, I don't see any change in that. It's like
great paintings and great dramas. It will always be a part of human existence.132
Suzy Perelman: I think it has a purpose on many levels. The most important of which is it’s a
vehicle of expression. Sounds so cliché, but it is… My violin is my voice in many ways. I have

131 Salerno-Sonnenberg, Nadja, violinist. Speaking in Strings. Dir. Paola di Florio. Counterpoint Films,
1999.
71
a voice, but the violin is more of a voice. It can do more things that my own voice can do.
People have something to express, but if they don’t know how to do it they come to us and
watch us do it and somehow that gets it out of them as well. It is what I do on the most joyous
occasions. I remember getting on to a subway train one morning after a really hard audition, and
the subway train was completely empty. What did I do? I started belting out lyrics, because
that’s what we do when you have a lot of stuff inside. When you feel like screaming, that’s
music. Or if you feel like crying, that’s music. All of that is doable on the violin. When your
own voice doesn’t have enough power to get that out, the violin does, at least for me. I think it’s
necessary to have music study in life.133
Victor DeRenzi: It's the only reason to live. Art is the only thing that makes us different from
the animals. Every animal needs a place to sleep. The fact that we make the place to sleep more
beautiful makes us different. It places us higher on the food chain. If we didn't have great music I
think life would be unbearable because there's such horror that goes on all over the world- not just
today but there always has been. You need something to balance out these atrocities of the
horrible side of man. Germany gave us Hitler and they gave us Beethoven. If they didn't give us
Beethoven how would we deal with Hitler? I don't believe [music is] all the same. I'm not one of
these people that think there's validity in everything. Conducting is the second hardest thing I do
in my life. The first hardest is not conducting.134
Question 15
What are the words of wisdom you would like to pass on to the future concert artists?
Donald Weilerstein: I've learned more just by example of watching fine musicians and how they

72
work. For instance Robert Mann's total dedication to music, or Ivan Galamian, how he taught
and related to people. In terms of advice to give someone, be true to oneself and one's response
to music. But also be true to the music you're playing, be guided by what the composer has
written. Then use your imagination to take off from [the page]. Realize that music-making is a
lifelong process of growing and communicating to others. It doesn't have to be in so called
“important” venues. It is equally important to give the music to small children in a nursery
school setting, church, nursing homes... One should remember that the basic reason one is in
music, or for me anyway, is to communicate it the best way I possibly can.135
Suzy Perelman: First of all it’s important to keep in mind that you started in this business
because you loved it. It should always be a joyous experience. And if it’s not, pull out that child
in you that loved to play music and just make sure she is still part of who you are in a big way.
Also, keep in mind that nobody plays like you do. Nobody has your unique quality of playing.
That is a beautiful thing that you enjoy and other people will enjoy. Of course, there is no
substitute for putting in those hours and learning [the music], playing it through for a million
people. Then just put it out in the world because people will help you.136
Cho-liang Lin: The more important disciplines given to me are be very tough on myself. I don't
beat myself up over every performance but in the preparation and in general existence I require a
very high standard for myself. I'm a perfectionist. That is very important for all young players.
But the second most important fact that I have learned over the years is simply to have fun.
Labor carefully and diligently but don't lose the idea that music should be joy, love, bring a smile
to your face, rather than having a sour expression. You often wonder, “Why am I practicing 5
hours a day for the last 15 years killing myself? What for?” Realize it's a privilege to play great

73
music. I think that's a good reminder for everyone, myself included.137
Victor DeRenzi: I think the most important thing is you can't let people take your passion away
from you. You can't allow that to happen and I find it happens too much. It is the nicest and
saddest thing when somebody comes to me after a season and says, “I really loved playing. I
haven't enjoyed it this much in years.” You can't let somebody take away your love to play
music. One of the great things about being a musician is we all depend on each other and are a
part of a community. You make music with other people. You need other people but you can't
let other people drain you of your love for music. You have to take from the people you work
with what makes them good, not what makes them bad or makes them unhappy. The other thing
is to accept where you are and find the positive in that. People want to be soloists and they end
up in a string quartet, not so bad. Or you want to be a chamber music player and you end up in
an orchestra, still not so bad. Or you want to be an orchestral player and you end up in a pit
orchestra, that's really still not so bad. Or you want to be in a pit orchestra and you end up
teaching, that's even better. There's just so many things you can do. Rather than I could have
been or I should have been, it's where am I and how do I make that a better situation. I would
have liked to been music director of La Scala but I enjoy what I do and I try to make it as good as
it can be rather than me being miserable because I'm not at La Scala.138
Mark Summer: People always say, “I want to be famous” or “I want to be rich.” How much
money do you want? How many concerts do you want to play? Who do you want to play
with? Do the things you want to do. You want to play Jazz? Then go and play Jazz. Go listen
to the recordings. Go listen to the musicians. Take lessons. Don't just talk about it like it's a
nice idea. Take steps. Buy books. Educate yourself.139

74
Leila Josefowicz: I've always believed that it's best to forget about what everyone else is doing.
The way to be most free as a performer is to not really care what other people think of you, and
to not worry about what others have done in the past. You should focus on what you want to do
and then go for it. This is advice that I give to every other violinist out there- to every musician,
in fact.140
Laura Albers: I would say find your own personality, and develop that. I think that’s more
important than anything else - more important than the hours that you spend in the practice
room. For an individual, I think it’s most important to be true to yourself. If what you’re
playing feels right to you or the gig that you’re taking feels right, go with it. If it doesn’t, find
something else.141
Lisa Sutton: Don’t be discouraged, but be realistic about what you can achieve. Be careful what
you write; personal conversations are often best. Make sure all the references on your resume
are rock-solid. Negotiate when you are offered the job, not after you have taken the job. Read
your contract. Smile at the conductor. Remember to say thank-you to the contractor. Be a
supportive colleague.142
Elmar Oliveira: Much of the advice are things I've already been saying to you in the interview.
Work hard, be disciplined, be honest to what you're doing, strive to develop the skills that you
need. Look at your weaknesses and develop them as much as you develop your strengths so that
75
you can be an outstanding artist, not just a violinist or a performer. Be someone that is able to
communicate music on a level which is not just a technical or showmanship level, something that
has meaning that can transmit to another human being.143
Luis Biava: Practice. Always be prepared. This is something that my father taught me. The
other piece of advice is from Persichetti. He told me once, “Music has so much power for
everybody in life.” Let's say you're learning a sonata and you don't know this sonata. If the
music is well-written it's going to take you little by little into the right tempo to play this piece.
As a conductor this has been tremendous advice. I use it for Beethoven. It eventually falls into
the right tempo. Love what you do. I was playing in orchestra and saw people that were bitter.
When you sit down or stand up [to conduct], enjoy what you do because this is a great feeling.
Also there is so much to learn so try to learn as much as you can. The advice I give to my son, a
cellist, is to always be humble. If you're not humble you will not go ahead because you will not
learn.144
Arnold Steinhardt: Casals' idea of freedom. At a masterclass he told me the best playing of Bach
he ever heard was played by a gypsy. And that I could let my hair down a little bit more. He
was actually coaching me to be less disciplined. I thought that was [an] interesting remark. But I
think one of the best things I ever received was, and this is in my book that I just wrote; I played
Bach for Arthur Loessor, the pianist and scholar, and he said, “Let me dance this piece for you.”
And he danced the D minor Partita of Bach, the Ciaconne. This made a deep impression on me,
the idea that this sense of dance is embedded in most music. I think that’s an idea that’s grown in
me. I have no idea [laughing] whether it’s true or not, but it’s certainly grown in me. [My

76
personal advice would be to] let your curiosities and your passions lead the way.145
Conclusion
I've been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to interview some of the world's best
musicians. I want to conclude with the most poignant story of all, the words of David Arben. I
first met Mr. Arben when I was eighteen in Puerto Rico at a music festival (where Luis Biava
was music director). Mr. Arben led the violin sectionals. I was immediately struck by his
dedication to help us, even when collectively we were sounding like a disaster. He had a
wonderfully subtle sense of humor. Each day he would characteristically greet me with a kiss on
the cheek, sometimes with a cigar in hand. He possesses a peace and calm that is rare. When I
wrote him a card after that summer he still remains the only one to respond to my note of thanks.
This forged what has become one of my most treasured friendships. I have only witnessed M r.
Arben perform once, the Schubert cello quintet, and no words can describe the beauty that
poured forth. Nothing prepared me for the journey he shared with me that Thursday morning in
Philadelphia. I knew he was Jewish and that he survived the war. Though I was curious of his
history, I never had the courage to ask. As he began, the street noises through his kitchen
window faded. The hairs on my arms stood up. My muscles tightened. There was a deep,
aching pain in my heart. I could never imagine the horrors he described but I did feel
overwhelming grief that someone I cared for so deeply had suffered so much. May his words
serve as an inspiration to us all.
“Since I was two and a half years old, I always wanted to play the violin. What made me
interested in the violin was when I was about two and half- and I'm from Warsaw, Poland- I
77
would go with my father who got shaved in the barber shop. There were three barbers and one
violin and bow hanging on the wall. When one of the barbers didn't have a client, he would pick
up the violin and play and the other two barbers would sing along. I was very enchanted with
the sound of the violin. The violin scroll reminded me of a human head and I could not
understand how this human scroll could make such beautiful sounds. I would go home and pick
up two sticks and imitate. I did this since I was about six and a half or seven years old. At
seven I insisted and finally got the violin.
“In the old days I was always interested in music although I come from a family of non-
musicians. We had a little radio box and the box was elevated, cemented on the wall. At night I
would take a chair, stand on the chair and look into the box listening to the music. It seemed like
there should be many people, an orchestra. I was looking in the box for the people and I couldn't
find them. This is my story of getting involved with violin. From the very beginning I was
always taken to the best teachers. I had a lesson everyday, six days a week. I will never forget
after two weeks I was playing something in A Minor and I thought I had achieved greatness
because there was one sharp in it. I was so proud of that sharp [smiles]. To me it meant I had
achieved something. Then I found out there is more than one sharp- I realized I had not achieved
anything. [laughter] Then I found out there are flats, [more laughter] so much more work to be
done. I always wanted to play the violin- I loved the violin. I did practice. At that point, I
practiced three hours which was a lot. My father had heard other people speaking that I have
talent. He took me from one teacher to another which made me more famous. [smiling] After
nine months I had already played a recital at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw. Of course
everybody was proud of me. And it continued until I was almost thirteen.
“When I was twelve the war started and everything fell apart. We tried to hide. We tried to run
away. At thirteen my family and I were separated. I had an older brother and a younger sister,
78
grandparents, uncles and aunts. Tragedy happened. Nazis occupied Poland and we were all sent
to different concentration camps where my entire family was murdered. The reason I am alive
today is because of that violin. There were two occasions where the violin saved my life. In one
of the concentration camps, when I was about fourteen and a half, there was a Polish prisoner of
war, captured by the Nazis. He was a Jewish man from Poland, I would say in his mid-thirties.
The Nazis appointed this Polish prisoner of war, this officer, to be the head of the camp and
report to the Nazis. When I entered this camp I reported to him. Not knowing any better, I told
him I was a violin virtuoso, because this is what my mother and father used to say. I thought
anybody who plays the violin is a virtuoso. If I tell him I am a violinist it may not be enough, he
may not understand who I am, but a violin virtuoso. This man talked to me. My luck was that
this man knew violin. He asked me with whom I have studied and what I have played. Within
two days he got a violin for me that was in his office. I was asked to come to his office. I came
to his office, picked up the violin and my fingers wouldn't move. I had not played in over a year
and a half, hard labor. I could see the expression on his face. I said “give me some time, I need
more time.” “Take all you want,” he said, “and play.” So after three hours, they started to move
a little bit. So occasionally I would be called by him so the Nazis would come to my barrack,
take me at night after hours- you couldn't be out on your own, you would be killed by the guards
above- would take me to his bungalow and I would play for him. He would have supper. I
would get something to eat.
“Some weeks later at 6:30 in the morning there was an inspection by the Nazis. We had to all
step out. And I realized that the Nazis are asking some people to the left and others to the right.
And after a while you realized going to left is not so good because you see young people, old
people, and sick people. They collected 105 people, including me. We were marched outside the
camp into the woods. There was a grave ready for us and a firing squad. We were asked to line
up, three in the front- we had to put clothing, if we had any, on the side. This prisoner of war,
79
the Jewish comandante, saw me, grabbed me and took me to the Obersturmf_rer, which was for
this camp the highest rank of the Nazis and said, “he is a violin virtuoso- this is exactly what I
told him when I met him- and we need him.” I was the only one that came out alive from 105
people who a few minutes later were shot to death or buried alive. Because of the violin.
“I cannot explain to you why I liked the violin at two and a half, why I picked up two sticks to
make believe I was playing the violin and la la la la, I have no idea. And this [violin saving my
life] happened another occasion. To me, my violin became my family. My violin became my
emotion, my heart, my being. When I grew up to become much older, if ever something would
happen in life that I wouldn't be pleased, I would pick up the violin, play, and it would soothe
me. The violin is the best thing that ever happened to me- it gave me life. In a documentary I
was part of, I was asked, “What is music?” I gave an explanation of what is music but I also said
'to me music is life' because I experienced life in music. 'Music is life. Music is hope. Music is
peace.' I cannot ask for more.
“Success is an inner strength and inner feeling. I was with friends the other day in the restaurant.
I said certain things. They said certain things. My friends wife turned to me and said, “Prove it
to me!” I looked at her, smiled and said, “It took me years to prove to myself. I don't have to
prove anything to anybody. I'm not asking you to accept my ideas. You don't have to agree with
me but I'm not going to prove to you because I proved to myself many years ago. This was the
greatest challenge. If each human can prove to himself, you have proven yourself to the world.
Many times an artist, no matter how great they are- the whole world loves them, the whole
world appreciates them, they're written up, pictures and posters everyday- are not happy
because they have never proven their worthiness to themselves.
“Even at the worst times, in some concentration camps, occasionally there was music. There
80
was a peaceful time because nobody got hurt while you were making music. Before they might
kill you and after they might kill you, but not during music. This is the power of music, the most
incredible power of humanity.”146
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What It Takes To Be A Successful Concert Artist: Conversations With World Renowned Musicians

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What it Takes to be a Successful Concert Artist: Conversations with World

In an attempt to quench my curiosity I conducted a series of personal, phone and email

I conducted a personal interview with Laura Albers on May 6, 2007.

I conducted a personal interview with David Arben on May 10, 2007.

I conducted a personal interview with Luis Biava on May 12, 2007.

I conducted a personal interview with Victor DeRenzi on May 14, 2007.

I conducted a personal interview with Cho-liang Lin on May 14, 2007.

I conducted an email interview with Sheldon Morgenstern on April 27, 2007.

I conducted a phone interview with Elmar Oliveira on May 27, 2007.

M r. Oliveira is a Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Lynn University Conservatory of

I conducted a personal interview with Suzy Perelman on May 14, 2007.

I conducted a phone interview with Arnold Steinhardt on May 4, 2007.

I conducted an email interview with Lisa Sutton on May 27, 2007.

I conducted a phone interview with Donald Weilerstein on June 3, 2007.

What is your definition of a successful concert artist?

Lisa Sutton: Someone who is earning a living in their desired profession.10

7 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

12 Mark Summer, Personal Interview, 1 May 2007.

14 Cho-liang Lin, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

17 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.

18 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.

21 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.

24 Cho-liang Lin, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

25 Laura Albers, Personal Interview, 6 May 2007.

“Talent.” Can one acquire it?

31 Donald Weilerstein, Phone Interview, 3 June 2007.

34 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.

37 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.

39 Lisa Sutton, Email Interview, 27 May 2007.

41 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

44 Suzy Perelman, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

45 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.

How much does music conservatory contribute to one's success?

48 Victor Derenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

49 Cho-liang Lin, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

51 Lisa Sutton, Email Interview, 27 May 2007.

54 Mark Summer, Personal Interview, 1 May 2007.

56 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

58 Arnold Steinhardt, Phone Interview, 4 May 2007.

60 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.

62 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

64 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.

66 Sheldon Morgenstern, Email Interview, 27 April 2007.

69 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.

71 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.

75 Mark Summer, Personal Interview, 1 May 2007.

76 Arnold Steinhardt, Phone Interview, 4 May 2007.

Cho-liang Lin: I mentioned a part of that in my intangibles. Networking is important in a sense

78 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

How has the journey to success changed for today's musician?

79 Cho-liang Lin, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

80 Arnold Steinhardt, Phone Interview, 4 May 2007.

83 Suzy Perelman, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

85 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.

What role does the competition serve in the artist's career?

87 Mark Summer, Personal Interview, 1 May 2007.

89 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.

92 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.

98 Elmar Oliveira, Phone Interview, 27 May 2007.

101 Victor DeRenzi, Personal Interview, 14 May 2007.

104 Luis Biava, Personal Interview, 12 May 2007.

108 David Arben, Personal Interview, 10 May 2007.