Stand Partners for Life

It isn't every day that you get to perform for 18,000 screaming fans... especially if you're a violinist. But a handful of times each summer, we get the rock star treatment at the Hollywood Bowl! OK, so those 18,000 folks probably aren't screaming just for the two of us... there might be some famous movie tunes thrown in, or some fireworks, or Katy Perry. But we take it all in stride as we navigate the summer home of the LA Philharmonic. Listen up for the inside scoop on one of the most amazing performing arts venues anywhere in the world!

Maybe it's the proverbial "seven minutes to midnight", or maybe you've still got a week or two. It never feels like enough time, trust us. So here's some advice for those last few days, hours, and minutes before your big day, inspired by the recent violin auditions at the LA Philharmonic.

First, some exciting news: we've got Stand Partners for Life T-shirts! Check them out here, and show your Stand Partner love! For this episode, Akiko and I just had a one-word outline: Mahler! And it turns out we had plenty to say about his symphonies. What's it like to learn them, refine them, rehearse them, take them on tour? What do committees look for when you play Mahler? Hear about the time Akiko was mortified to play Mahler 9 with David Hyde Pierce (Frasier's Niles Crane) in the front row! Or the time Nathan got a death stare from Daniel Barenboim during... well, also during Mahler 9! And as to Nathan's comment that Gustav Mahler was perhaps the New York Philharmonic's first music director? He was actually its ninth! Nathan was under the misapprehension that the NY Phil began around the same time as so many other American orchestras, in the early part of the 20th century... in fact, New York got its start in 1848, whereas Mahler wasn't born until 1860! Mahler spent the last two years of his life, 1909-1911, at the helm of the Philharmonic.

Here at Stand Partners for Life, we get a lot of questions about the future: what happens if I'm not playing concerto X by age Y? What will happen if I study with teacher Z, or go to school-- I ran out of letters! So even though we can't give definitive answers to these questions, they're still great questions! And one listener email in particular sparked a discussion about success at an early age, the importance (or non-importance) of conservatory for winning an orchestra audition, and lots more. Along the way, we also answer listener questions about sight reading in high positions, as well as "contextual intonation": changing your pitch based on what's going on around you, especially in the orchestra! And we start out by talking Twelve-Tone: Nathan's upcoming performance of Arnold Schoenberg's fourth String Quartet, and whether or not it's "real music". Daniel Barenboim considered him one of the most important composers in history. Does "most important" equal best?

If it seems like we've been silent the last couple of months, that's because Akiko's life has been pretty different since early March! One moment she was working out at the gym like she did five times a week, and the next she was flat on her back with paramedics on the way. Suffice it to say that she hasn't been playing with the LA Phil since then, but we can see the way back at least! Midway through her recovery, we talk about her time in the hospital and back at home. We also take the opportunity to answer some fantastic questions that you emailed during our time away, including what audition recordings are all about, whether we'd fake Prokofiev's Cinderella suite, and how we deal with audience distractions! Transcript Nathan Cole: Hi, and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. Nathan Cole: And this time, after a bit of a long break… we took a long break last summer. This one was a little different. Akiko, do you want to tell us why? Akiko Tarumoto: I have been recuperating from an unfortunate incident at the gym. I took a bad step, fell on my bottom, and spent the next eight weeks recovering. Nathan Cole: Eight weeks and counting. Akiko Tarumoto: Seven weeks and counting. Nathan Cole: Oh, okay. And not working, not playing in the Philharmonic. Akiko Tarumoto: Not playing. I'm playing but not playing at work. Nathan Cole: Take us back to the incident a little bit. Akiko Tarumoto: People keep kind of guessing what it was, and they'll be like, "Oh, were you…?" I don't know why it bothered me at the hospital. The doctors kept talking about how I was doing step aerobics, and I was like- Nathan Cole: That makes you sound like a- Akiko Tarumoto: I didn't take a time machine back to the '80s and don skintight, shiny spandex… Nathan Cole: "And one, and two…" Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah, no. So I was not doing step aerobics. It did involve a box, one of those foam boxes. They come in various heights, and this one was the lowest one. It was a 12-inch box, and I was just trying to do something to keep my heart rate up between weight lifting rounds. And yeah, just, it was one of those weird things that just, I guess I was kind of tired, and my foot didn't come cleanly down from the box. My other foot was already on the way up. So the box slid toward me, and I landed. I had nowhere to go but on my bottom. Nathan Cole: And I've had other people ask me, people who don't know you very well -- But just to make it clear, I mean, you were probably at the gym or were, at that time, five times a week, doing these kinds of classes. Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah, yeah. In fact, I was joking that I should probably spend as much time playing the violin as I did at the gym. Because at that point, just working out, and running… if you added up all the time I spent exercise-wise, it, yeah, dwarfed my actual time practicing on my instrument. So yeah, it was a little bit sobering. So now, finally, my practicing found a way to reverse that proportion. Nathan Cole: Against your will. And yeah, I think just the day before you had run 10 miles. Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah, that was disappointing, because it's been a while since I ran that far, as you know. And so it felt like a milestone to get back there, and it was. Won't be seen again for a while. Nathan Cole: Well, I'm looking forward to you getting back to it, because you will. I know they didn't like the look of the fall and all that. So they called some paramedics who… Akiko Tarumoto: They talked to me as if I were probably about 60 years old or older. Nathan Cole: Wait. Did they ask you who was president and expect you to say it was Ronald Reagan? Akiko Tarumoto: No. (I do remember that, by the way.) No, they asked me if I was on any medications, and when I said no, they looked really encouraging, and they said, "Ooh, very healthy.

OK, you guessed it: it's going to be impossible for us to narrow things down to one "best"! But Akiko and I give it our best shot, outlining the pluses and minuses for all the popular choices. In this episode we refer to an article I wrote a few years ago, "Which violin concerto has the toughest opening?"

Virtuoso Ray Chen hardly needs an introduction, but let's start with his Gold Medal at the Queen Elisabeth competition in 2009, at the age of 20! His career since then, by all appearances, has been an effortless climb. But as you're about to hear, that isn't the whole story. As I've gotten to know Ray (during his solo appearances with the LA Phil, including that one time he stole my bow for a Paganini encore!) I've been impressed with how open he is in person and on social media. Let's start here: if you don't follow Ray on Instagram and YouTube, you're missing out big time! Here are those links: Ray's Instagram Ray on YouTube For example, one of Ray's videos deals with the topic of insecurity. It's so rare for a world-class soloist to open up about this topic, and you certainly won't hear any insecurity in his playing! But as we discuss in this episode, it's a feeling every violinist deals with at some point, and it's a necessary step along the way to mature artistry. Ray Chen's biography Ray Chen is a violinist who redefines what it is to be a classical musician in the 21st Century. With a media presence that enhances and inspires the classical audience, reaching out to millions through his unprecedented online following, Ray Chen's remarkable musicianship transmits to a global audience that is reflected in his engagements with the foremost orchestras and concert halls around the world.Initially coming to attention via the Yehudi Menuhin (2008) and Queen Elizabeth (2009) Competitions, of which he was First Prize winner, he has built a profile in Europe, Asia, and the USA as well as his native Australia both live and on disc. Signed in 2017 to Decca Classics, the summer of 2017 has seen the recording of the first album of this partnership with the London Philharmonic as a succession to his previous three critically acclaimed albums on SONY, the first of which (“Virtuoso”) received an ECHO Klassik Award. Profiled as “one to watch” by the Strad and Gramophone magazines, his profile has grown to encompass his featuring in the Forbes list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, appearing in major online TV series “Mozart in the Jungle”, a multi-year partnership with Giorgio Armani (who designed the cover of his Mozart album with Christoph Eschenbach) and performing at major media events such as France’s Bastille Day (live to 800,000 people), the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm (telecast across Europe), and the BBC Proms. “It’s hard to say something new with these celebrated works; however, Ray Chen performs them with the kind of authority that puts him in the same category as Maxim Vengerov.” — CORRIERE DELLA SERA He has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Munich Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra Nazionale della Santa Cecilia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and upcoming debuts include the SWR Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. He works with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Jurowski, Sakari Oramo, Manfred Honeck, Daniele Gatti, Kirill Petrenko, Krystof Urbanski, Juraj Valcuha and many others. From 2012-2015 he was resident at the Dortmund Konzerthaus and in 17/18 will be an “Artist Focus” with the Berlin Radio Symphony. His presence on social media makes Ray Chen a pioneer in an artist’s interaction with their audience, utilising the new opportunities of modern technology. His appearances and interactions with music and musicians are instantly disseminated to a new public in a contemporary and relatable way. He is the first musician to be invited to write a lifestyle blog for the largest Italian publishing house, RCS Rizzoli (Corriere della Sera, Gazzetta dello Sport, Max). He has been featured in Vogue magazine and is currently releasing his own design of violin case for the industry manufacturer GEWA.

I met Joseph Bein almost as soon as I moved to Chicago to join the CSO in 2002. We've talked great instruments and bows ever since, over dinners, glasses of wine, and even Cubs games! Come to think of it, at Wrigley Field the talk is all baseball... Joe has been immersed in the world of fine string instruments his entire life, and when he visited LA I couldn't pass up the chance to talk with him about how his father, Robert Bein, and Robert's friend Geoffrey Fushi started Bein & Fushi in Chicago. We also delve into how (and why) fantastic instruments make their way into the hands of world-class players. And we eventually get to all those phone calls the shop receives about old violin cases in the attic! Here's more on Joseph from the Bein & Fushi site.

When it comes to getting all those notes, rhythms, dynamics, and articulations under your fingers, you've got to use every trick in the book. In this episode, we talk about how we get through our stacks of orchestra music. Of course, we need different strategies depending on whether we're trying to revive an old friend, or tame a world premiere. Fakery may just find its way in there somewhere...

A recent change of plans at the LA Phil leads us to reminisce on other times we've had conductors cancel. What happens when the audience is waiting and the show must go on? Transcript Nathan Cole: Hello, and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life with "The show must go on." That's the name of this episode, not just saying that about our show… But thanks, as always, for being here with me for, I think this will be, a great episode. It's about, well, the show must go on. We were kind of thinking that this past week. We played the entire Romeo and Juliet ballet with dancers, and video, and everything, and the concert stretched to three hours. Right before some of those performances, I was almost wondering, "Must I go on?" I love the music, and I know you do too. That's one of your favorite pieces. Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah. Nathan Cole: It's a big- Akiko Tarumoto: The music is so good that I've almost already forgotten how long it felt. It's like childbirth. Nathan Cole: Obviously, I wouldn't know, but I've heard. Yeah, today, this being the first day that we didn't play the Prokofiev. I've just had all the tunes running through my head all day, so I guess that's proof of how great the music is, although I do … I mean, I guess I get bad music stuck in my head, too, but this is undoubtedly great. Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah. Well, right now, I have Wheels on the Bus stuck in my head, so not a good person to ask. Nathan Cole: Okay. Well, I mean, that's an effective tune, also. Looking at this week coming up, we've got a bit of a conundrum. I mean, not that we have to solve it, but- Akiko Tarumoto: Oh, it's been- Nathan Cole: … our- Akiko Tarumoto: … solved. Nathan Cole: That's right. It just was solved today, but rehearsals start the day after tomorrow, and up until today, we had no conductor and no real program for the coming week. That's because the conductor canceled. Daniel Harding, who we've spoken about on this podcast before, actually, I hope you're doing well. I heard there was some sickness or … Sickness or injury? Akiko Tarumoto: Injury. Nathan Cole: Okay. Well, we definitely wish him the best, but yeah, it was a pretty short-notice change of plans for the orchestra. Usually, these things get solved instantaneously. It's like as soon as someone canceled, they've got 20 people lined up who can just drop everything and come, for an orchestra like LA anyway, but in this case, it took some doing. It seemed like everybody was engaged. I guess it's not like it's the summer, where plans are loosey-goosey. I think all the conductors had stuff going on in October, so … Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah. In fact, I think a few times, it's worked out great. I can't remember who it was who canceled, but Jaap van Zweden was able to come in … Was that in Chicago? Nathan Cole: That was in Chicago. He interrupted his honeymoon, as I recall. He came back from Hawaii early, and he was all bronzed and- Akiko Tarumoto: Right, and that was the first time we'd seen him, and we thought he was great. It was, it was really fun having him conduct. Nathan Cole: Yeah. You never know what you're going to get, and just for the curious, for this coming week, it's turned out that one of the so-called Dudamel Fellows, we have several that rotate throughout the season, Paolo … Akiko Tarumoto: I can't say it… Nathan Cole: I'm laughing at myself stumbling over his name, because when I ask him to say his own name, he says it so fast that I can't make enough sense of it, so I'll have to get him to record it, but it's spelled Bortolameolli, but it does not sound like five syllables when I hear him pronounce his own name- Akiko Tarumoto: Right. Nathan Cole: … so- Akiko Tarumoto: Got to practice. Nathan Cole: I know. I need some practice, but Paolo is going to take over next week,

Happy New Year and new season of Stand Partners for Life! In this episode, we take a look back at resolutions we've made about our playing... and not all of them stuck! From scale practice to solo Bach, counting rests to keeping a practice journal, each of us had critical moments in our violin past where we made fateful decisions. Which ones made a lasting impact? Transcript Nathan Cole: Hello and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I am Nathan Cole. Akiko Tarumoto: I am Akiko Tarumoto. Nathan Cole: Well, since this is the new year, happy new year and happy second season of Stand Partners for Life! We released our first 15 episodes last year and had a blast doing it, and kind of took a long summer break that extended into the holidays. Now we're ready to get going again, so this is the perfect day to get back into the spirit of podcasting. Akiko Tarumoto: Yes, get back into the swing of thinking about music. Nathan Cole: Tomorrow we actually go back to work after our holiday break, that being the LA Philharmonic. Actually if you were with us last season, you'll know that we spend our days and many of our nights with the LA Phil at Disney Hall here in Los Angeles. If you're joining us, this is what we call "The secrets of the symphony from two violinists who live together, play together and work together", because we are married with three young kids here in the house, who should all be sleeping. Although, I sort of hear that they're not. Akiko Tarumoto: It might be our neighbors. Nathan Cole: Are they out reveling? Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah, I think it makes more sense that kids would be up acting rowdy because they're not even four. In the case of the neighbors, they don't have that excuse, because I think that guy's in his 20s. Nathan Cole: They do have a hot tub. Akiko Tarumoto: They do, well yeah or something, a trampoline. Nathan Cole: We give you an inside look at the symphony and the life of, well, the life with the violin. In that spirit we're not going to give you a whole bunch of new year's resolutions exactly. My idea anyway was that we'd talk today about some playing resolutions, practicing resolutions that we'd made over the course of our lives and see what stuck and what didn't. I did want to … Akiko Tarumoto: What stuck and what stunk. Nathan Cole: Okay, that's good, that's better. I wanted to thank each and every one of you for listening and especially those of you who have gone and left us a rating or a review on iTunes. It's the best way for us to get found and hopefully enjoyed by other listeners like you. If you have a moment and can go to standpartnersforlife.com, you'll see how you can visit iTunes and just take those 60 seconds to leave us a review. I read all of them. I don't think you read any of them, right? Akiko Tarumoto: No, I can't handle the truth. Nathan Cole: Well what I was going to say is that so many of the reviews, I've told you this a couple times, but they really feel like people go out of their way to mention that really enjoy the commentary. Especially Akiko's! What they'll say is, "I especially like hearing what Akiko has to say." I try not to take that personally. Akiko Tarumoto: Well I get to be the person who sort of riffs off of you, I think you're the straight man, so it's not entirely fair probably. Nathan Cole: I think people trust you, they know you speak the truth. Akiko Tarumoto: Well thank you, I appreciate it. Nathan Cole: We read them all. Well anyway, I read all of them and I pass them along to Akiko. Akiko Tarumoto: He doesn't pass on the bad stuff. Nathan Cole: Here we are, we've got our resolutions. I just remembered -- I said I wasn't going to do this, but I think one of my only resolutions I thought of for the new year as far as music is to play our kids more concerts.

We were pretty good back in the day, but even so we weren’t winning auditions on our own. Here are those moments when we got a helping hand!

As soon as we see a job listing online or in the International Musician, our wheels start turning. Which way do they turn? What are the first steps we take to get started preparing? In this episode, we look at the upcoming New York Philharmonic violin openings (September 2018) as an example of how to approach a big audition. We take apart the application piece by piece to make sure you don’t miss any hidden clues. And we reveal Nathan’s project to help those violinists who might be interested in taking this audition! To see what he has in store, visit this link: SP4L.com/newyork2018 and to look at the New York Philharmonic audition packet that we’re discussing, visit their site here: https://nyphil.org/about-us/general-information/auditions

As Kramer says in Seinfeld’s “The Wig Master” episode, “I don’t argue with the body, Jerry. It’s an argument you can’t win.” Sooner or later, we all learn the truth of that statement, especially those of us who are forced to rely on little tiny muscles to do things like play the violin! In the picture above, you can see Nathan celebrating his twelfth birthday with two fingers taped together. His daily neighborhood basketball game was the culprit. Nowadays, we’d think twice before playing that much basketball. Or a number of other activities. But we do hit the gym quite a lot. What makes an activity OK for violin playing, and what puts it out of bounds? More than that, what can you do to prepare for your daily practicing and performing? Are there ways to play so that you stay injury-free? And what kind of music is the worst for the body? We talk violin fitness here in episode 13, so join us for the discussion and leave your thoughts below! Transcript Nathan Cole: Hi, and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I’m Nathan. Akiko Tarumoto: I’m Akiko. Nathan Cole: And today’s episode is going to be all about injury, well more fitness, violin fitness, staying healthy, hopefully avoiding injury! But then also what to do when you’re hurt, how to work around it, and just to talk about the reality that everybody has aches and pains and sometimes worse. So, I know at this point in the LA Phil season, basically the last few weeks, we’re sort of like a hospital ward. At this point, I feel like everybody’s one step away from falling to pieces. Do you see that in our sections? Akiko Tarumoto: I don’t know. I haven’t talked to too many people. We’ve lost one. Nathan Cole: Right. Akiko Tarumoto: But, yeah, and I’m kind of hobbling along here. My- Nathan Cole: Oh, yeah. What do you- Akiko Tarumoto: My wrist, and you got your shoulder … Okay, so that’s three of us that we know of, so maybe you’re right. Nathan Cole: Well, and that’s understandable. I mean we always — jokingly a lot of the time, but we compare ourselves to sports teams, especially NBA. I watch a lot of basketball, so coming into the playoffs just about everybody is beat up. In basketball it’s literally one step away from some season-ending injury. We’re not quite as bad as that, but- Akiko Tarumoto: But our season doesn’t really end, so we can’t really afford to … We don’t have four months off to … Nathan Cole: No, but we do — We’ve got four weeks off from the orchestra coming up, which is something. Akiko Tarumoto: Goes fast. Nathan Cole: It does go fast but it is a chance to rest things, which in pretty much all endeavors, rest and recovery are the real keys if you’ve got an issue going on. And as the weeks go by during the season, yeah, I mean it’s hard to find even a 48-hour period when you’re not playing, and we like to play every day to stay in shape. Those are the issues we’ll be talking about. What do you have going on right now? Akiko Tarumoto: Well, I mentioned my wrist, so, yeah, that’s hurting me. Nathan Cole: And my right shoulder just a few days ago started up on me. Akiko Tarumoto: Not coincidentally, probably, we’ve been going to the gym a lot, so we’ll see how that ties in… Nathan Cole: Yeah. Well, we’re going to talk about that because I don’t intend to stop going to the gym and I’m sure you don’t either, but we’re going to talk about how to do it smart, smartly. Before we launch into it, I wanted to thank those of you who’ve gone to iTunes and given us a nice rating, and even better, a review, just a short little written review. What that does is it helps other people find the show, and we just really appreciate it so much. Nathan Cole: As you probably heard in some other episodes, we read those and take them to heart and try to improve Stand Partners based on your feedback. So, if you can take a moment to go to iTunes and leave that rating and/or review, it’s amazing. I don’t do it enough to the shows I listen to. I always think, “Oh,

Some people were just born to do what they do, and Hugh Fink was born to be funny. Or was he born to play the violin? Because even though comedy has set the course of Hugh’s life, he has performed violin solos to a packed Carnegie Hall, something I can’t boast about! Hugh is one of a very few comics who has been able to fuse his musical life with his stage persona, much like the late great Jack Benny, whose violin I’m fortunate to play. Ever since he was a child, Hugh loved getting up in front of people and performing, no matter what form it took. Eventually, he discovered that not only could he create material for himself, but he had a talent for writing material that would suit any number of other talented performers! And that was the key that unlocked doors throughout show business, most notably at Saturday Night Live, where Hugh enjoyed a seven-year tenure and wrote more opening monologues than any other SNL writer. Hugh and I talk about growing up alongside Joshua Bell (and later using him in a wicked stage act with Tracy Morgan), how stand-up relates to musical performance, and how TV shows get made. Of course I also sit back and listen to behind-the-scenes tales from SNL! Transcript Nathan Cole: Hi and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. This is Nathan Cole and today with me, really excited to have as my guest, Hugh Fink, comic, writer, violinist. He’s been gracious enough to join me here at Disney Hall for a change.  Welcome to Stand Partners For Life, Hugh. Hugh Fink: Thank you. It’s great to be here, Nathan, instead of taping a podcast at a smoke filled comedy club, to be in a classy concert hall. I like it. Nathan Cole: We try to keep it classy here at Disney most of the time. Well, we can just jump right into that. I mean, you’ve spent so much of your life in those clubs performing, writing, but what’s not usual for a comic is that you have a serious history as a violinist. We were talking about that just a bit ago, you and I, but give us the quick version of your violin life, because that was either came before or maybe concurrently with your life in comedy. Hugh Fink: Sure. My parents were classical music lovers. My dad was the Attorney for the Indianapolis Symphony, the Musicians Union. As a very young kid I would be taken to these concerts at the orchestra and I loved it. I guess I told my parents at age four or five that I wanted to study violin. They were not so sure about that because they knew it was a tough instrument. They already owned a piano, but they were friends with the concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony at the time, Eric Rosenblith. He had known a little about this new Suzuki method, although he was not a proponent of it at all because he was like a pupil of Carl Flesch or some of these old- Nathan Cole: Old school. Hugh Fink: He was super old school, but he wasn’t sure how to tell my parents to start off a five year old with lessons. He wasn’t going to do it. There was a Suzuki teacher, one in Indianapolis, and that’s who I studied with. Nathan Cole: This would have been not so long I bet, after the method really took hold in the U.S. because I started Suzuki and that was early 80’s. Hugh Fink: You are right. I started in the late ’60s. I ended up studying Suzuki for eight years, and going to the Suzuki Summer Institute at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Nathan Cole: Stevens Point. Okay. Hugh Fink: Right. Shinichi came. Nathan Cole: Wow. Hugh Fink: Yes. I actually was part of the generation where I got to see him live. Nathan Cole: Well, that’s extraordinary. Hugh Fink: It was extraordinary. I didn’t have much interaction with him, but I remember, I think he was chain smoking and he looked like a ripe old age and very Buddha-esque just this is why He didn’t speak much English either, but that was a great experience. I think what it taught me, Nathan, was beyond the violin part, to meet other young violinists who are just normal kids. It was a camp,

In this day and age, when an orchestra can broadcast its performances worldwide (as the Berlin Philharmonic does with its Digital Concert Hall), why would a group like the LA Phil pack up and lumber around the world? That question was on our minds since we just returned from a two-week international tour. Remember, when an orchestra travels, it’s not just the 100-odd musicians and perhaps their spouses (and even children)! It’s all their instruments as well, the music, luggage, and all kinds of other orchestral detritus. Then you’ve got the librarians, administrative staff, stage crew, and everyone else who makes the tour go ’round. So in this episode, we talk about the whys, and then the hows. How do you get ready for tour, how do you deal with the strange meal times, how do you adjust for the different halls? We also discuss how tour performances are different from “home base” shows, and what touring does for the orchestra musically. Don’t forget, if you haven’t yet picked up our free guide to evaluating violin sound, make sure you click here to get it! Transcript Nathan Cole: Hello, and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I am Nathan Cole. Akiko Tarumoto: I’m Akiko Tarumoto. Nathan Cole: And good to have you back. Back in the home studio here in Pasadena. We are recovering from tour. Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah, that’s me being jet lagged. Sorry. Nathan Cole: You mean the long pause? Akiko Tarumoto: The long pause and glazed silence. Nathan Cole: Yeah, that’s going to be the topic of this episode, all about touring. Just before we dive into it, I did want to remind all of our listeners that if you haven’t got our free guide to choosing instruments or upgrading instruments, do make sure you pick that up. That’s at standpartnersforlife.com/guide. I’m actually helping someone right now find a new instrument, and it’s taken a lot of years and a lot of searches to come up with just how to listen to new instrument sound, unfamiliar instrument sound. You had a hand in putting that together, you’ve done your own searches. Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah, a few. For the most part I- Nathan Cole: We’re not dealers. We’re not buying and selling these things all the time. Akiko Tarumoto: Yeah, we don’t have the disposable income to be high-end instrument shopping on a regular basis. Nathan Cole: But it was a really fun guide to put together and it’ll give you a system, our system, for listening and evaluating. Whether you’re looking for an instrument right now or not, it’s just great to have a way to organize your thoughts on that. Go ahead and pick that up. Standpartnersforlife.com/guide. It’s free and tons of fun, if I do say so myself. We’re going to talk about tour today. Just to maybe color our conversation a little bit, I wanted to read a little something that someone wrote to us on iTunes, a review, which I’d love to read. This listener shares a lot of good thoughts. All this is in a constructive vain, but they do mention, “My only comment.” Well, this comes halfway through the comments, so it’s not really their only comment. Nathan Cole: But, I think they mean the only criticism would be, “That sometimes the problems you describe regarding your playing and work-life can be seen as a little as ‘first world problems.’ I believe that if you’ve made it to LA Phil and have this amazing job, which is rare in our profession, I would think that anyone would feel accomplished. I feel a lot of negativity coming from the outcome, almost as though all this practice brought you to a place where all the insecurities and frustrations are still the same. I’m sure that you both love what you do. Don’t want to come off as though you’re better than anyone else, but I hear a lot of complaining.” I think that’s fair enough. I think, for me, the phrase in there that sticks out is, “Almost as though all this practice brought you to a place where all the insecurities and frustrations are still the same.” In a way, I think that’s true.

If you’re a musician and you have a young child, do you start him on an instrument? If so, is it the same instrument you play? If so, do you teach him? Or do you make sure your kids steer clear of the musician’s life? These are questions we ask ourselves all the time regarding our three kids! But a generation ago, Nathan’s parents were asking them. And Nathan’s father’s father asked the same questions a generation before that. So in this special episode, Nathan takes advantage of a parental visit to chat with his parents about all this and more, including the path they chose for him through the Suzuki landscape of the early 1980s. Transcript Nathan Cole: Hi, and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. Nathan Cole: This is a very special episode because today I have none other than my two parents here with me. Usually I’m saying “hi” to Akiko and thanking her for being here, thanking a guest for being here, but in this case I might as well say, “Thank you for bringing me into the world.” Nathan Cole: But why don’t you guys say hello? Gordon Cole: Hello. Khristine Cole: Hello. Nathan Cole: They’re visiting from Kentucky, where I grew up. Yeah, it’s a treat to talk to you guys because you’re really the only two that know most of the real story about how I got started on the violin. As Akiko and I have mentioned in some previous episodes, both of you guys are musicians, professional musicians, and that, of course, had a certain bearing on my growing up. But talk a little bit if you would, each of you, about just a quick overview about how you grew up and got started in music. Nathan Cole: Who wants to start? Gordon Cole: Well, I’ll start. My father was a flutist in the Philadelphia orchestra. The school that I was attending, grade school outside of Philadelphia, gave students an aptitude test at the end of third grade, and we were assigned instruments, and we were supposed to come back then for the beginning of fourth grad and play in band. My father had in mind that I should be a horn player, and he had arranged for Mason Jones to give me lessons. But the school sent me home as a flute player. Nathan Cole: So Mason Jones was at that time- Gordon Cole: Principal horn in the Philadelphia orchestra. Nathan Cole: Okay. Gordon Cole: But the school decided I would be a flute player since they knew that my father was a flute player. So my brother became the horn player, and I became a flute player. Nice. Nathan Cole: Now you didn’t study with your dad right away. Gordon Cole: Yes. Nathan Cole: Okay, in the beginning you did. Gordon Cole: Yes, I have no memory of what lessons may or may not have been like. He had me play on a Moennig flute that he had purchased in Europe on one of their trips. It was wooden with plated keys and a plated head joint, metal head joint. I can’t imagine what the band sounded like ’cause there were at least three metal clarinets- Nathan Cole: Metal clarinets. Gordon Cole: … in this grade school band. They were pretty common after the second world war, but I can’t imagine what the band sounded like and, thankfully, I have no memory of it. Nathan Cole: So how was it studying with your own father? Gordon Cole: Well, I really don’t remember much of anything until we moved from Philadelphia to Wisconsin, where my father taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. During my teenage years, evidently I was not very receptive to any sort of suggestions that he might have on how I should play something, so he farmed me out to a very good teacher in Madison for my sophomore and junior years, maybe ninth grade, I don’t remember. Nathan Cole: Can’t imagine not being receptive as a teenager to your parents. To jump to your part of the story too, Mom, but you studied with your dad then in college. Gordon Cole: Yes, and senior year in high school, I decided that I was mature enough then to take his suggestions as that and not as criticisms, personal criticisms. So I switched back to studying with my father my senior...