Stand Partners for Life

Shostakovich had never had it worse: his latest opera, Lady Macbeth, had been panned. And not just by an ordinary critic: Joseph Stalin himself had paid a visit to the opera house. The official Soviet opinion of the work? "Muddle instead of music." Shostakovich therefore pulled his Symphony No. 4 out of rehearsals and regrouped. He determined to write "a Soviet artist's response to justified criticism," a work that would become his Symphony No. 5. Join me and Akiko as we talk Shostakovich, Saint-Saens, and Francisco Coll, along with guest artists Gustavo Gimeno, conductor, and Javier Perianes, piano!

Have you ever "discovered" a major piece, live, in the concert hall? Nathan remembers sitting right next to a big star performing Prokofiev's second Piano Concerto, with its massive and breathtaking first-movement cadenza. Then he and Akiko talk about sitting right next to another big star this week for the same piece. They also reminisce about those stacks of records, cassette tapes, and ultimately CDs from which they learned all the repertoire. Finally, they debate the categories for this week's rep: Qigang Chen's l'eloignement, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 in g minor, and Smetana's Ma Vlast, with Bezhod Abduraimov as piano soloist and Xian Zhang conducting.

This week's landmark episode marks the return of Akiko, plus a pair of fellow stand partners for life: violists Kate Reddish and Eric Lea! We discuss the slings and arrows of a career in music, what you can and can't get from music school, what it's like to be part of a string-playing pair, and much more. Kate Reddish is a Los Angeles-based freelance violist. She enjoys a busy and varied career subbing with nearly every major orchestra in the Southern California area, performing as a chamber musician, and teaching and coaching individuals and groups. Kate can be heard on hundreds of film scores, albums, and TV shows, and has appeared on television and on film. Kate comes from a “numbers” family: her father was a tax attorney and CPA and her mother a bookkeeper; her sister followed that path to work as a bookkeeper and financial analyst. Meanwhile, Kate, who started playing the viola through the public school system in Riverside, was certain that a life in music was the only life she wanted. Kate earned her BA and MM from UCLA (go Bruins!), studying with former Los Angeles Philharmonic principal violist Evan Wilson. Feeling nothing like a Master, she then trotted across town to USC (go Trojans!) to complete an artist’s diploma with eminent pedagogue Donald McInnes. Since finishing her formal schooling, Kate has also participated in intensive courses with Burton Kaplan, Rob Knopper, Noa Kageyama, and Nathan Cole. In June of 2021, Kate started her own business, KMR Creative, consulting for online educators and coaches. She currently works closely with Nathan Cole to design and implement his many online offerings and to build the communities that rise up around those courses. Kate enjoys yoga and dance, good food and wine, card games and crossword puzzles, and creating order out of chaos. She currently lives in South Pasadena with her husband, violist and composer Eric Lea, and their sweet kitty, Misha. Eric Lea is a reasonably tall violist. He has a BM from the University of Arizona and an MM from USC (see above re: Trojans), both in viola performance. He has subbed with many symphonies and played and recorded with many bands. As the violist for the band Get Set Go, his playing could be barely discerned by millions under snappy dialogue in several episodes of Grey's Anatomy, and he has toured Japan with songwriter/producer Mike Viola (coincidence?), with whom he and Kate recorded an album called Acousto de Perfecto. He fancies himself as something of a composer now, and his song cycles can be heard at ericlea.bandcamp.com.

I'm joined in the backyard this week by Violympian and VMC participant Travis Maril, as well as his fellow USC alum and my Director of Operations, Kate Reddish. Our wide-ranging conversation includes no small measure of pedagogical geekery, as well as such diverse topics as Tae Kwon Do bribery and Michael Jordan's private Space Jam gym. Violist Travis Maril is String Coordinator and Viola Faculty at San Diego State University (SDSU), where he has taught since 2007. At SDSU he also serves as Co-Director of the Community Music School’s String Academy, a pre-college program for young musicians, which he co-founded in 2012.  As violist with the Hyperion Quartet, Travis was a prizewinner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Over the years he has collaborated in chamber music projects with principal players of the LA Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Miró Quartet, and Brooklyn Rider, among others.  Locally he performs frequently with Camarada, Art of Elan, and with the San Diego Symphony. Inspired by the Violympics in 2021, Travis started String Gym, his own online program for violinists and violists. Through String Gym, Travis works with players across the US, Australia, Germany and Taiwan.  From time to time he also writes about music-related topics on his blog, String Theory. You can also follow Travis on Instagram. If you’re interested in joining us for the fifth iteration of VMC, starting in 2023, you can find out more information here, and apply here.

Nathan, Kerstin and Kate (and Kate's SPFL Eric) in Pasadena Today I'm talking with Kerstin Tenney, VMC violinist par excellence, as well as my Director of Operations, violist (and VMC alumna par equally excellence) Kate Reddish. We talk about Kerstin's musical education, her experience in the Virtuoso Master Course, and the new album she's recorded with Simon Kiln and the English Symphony Orchestra! Violinist Kerstin Tenney finished recording her first solo violin album in England earlier this year, and is now preparing for its release in the early months of 2023. Her 16-track album, Light, features four newly commissioned pieces, and 8 new arrangements written specifically for this project. Following a lifelong desire to learn, Kerstin has worked with Nathan Cole in every iteration of his Virtuoso Master Course. She plays with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, does freelance work, and has a private violin studio, teaching in person and online. In her teaching, along with focusing on the musical and technical aspects involved with playing, Kerstin incorporates the mental in addressing thoughts and fears that inhibit progression, the physiological and anatomical components of playing in understanding the structure of the body and how this affects one's playing, and looks at the role the neurological system has in playing the violin.  Kerstin can be found on her website at http://www.kerstintenney.com, her newsletter at https://bit.ly/KerstinsNewsletter, and on Instagram at @kerstintenney. If you're interested in joining us for the fifth iteration of VMC, starting in 2023, you can find out more information here, and apply here.

It's tour time! While you're listening, we'll be flying, driving, and playing our way through Boston, New York, Mexico City, and Guanajuato. So to kick off the trip, let's talk tour repertoire and hand out some awards. Tour rep includes Copland's Third Symphony and Mahler 1 as the "big pieces", plus violin concertos from Arturo Marquez and Gabriela Ortiz. Which composers would we love to have dinner with? What are the scariest moments in these concerts? And what was the most memorable on-stage exchange during tour prep?

Akiko and I are back for the 2022-2023 season! In this first episode we share with you a fun new format: awards in all kinds of different categories. Next week we'll focus on the season-opening tour prep weeks at the LA Phil, but for today we're handing out some All-Time awards. Discover which composers we'd love to have dinner with, which excerpts terrify us in auditions, and which conductor gestures stand the test of time. And don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, just by clicking the link below the podcast player. Welcome back to SPFL!

We took quite a long break from recording the show with everything going on at the moment, but we are so glad to be back. To kick things off again we thought we would use this episode to go through a bit of what we have been up to, staying home with the LA Phil out of action, some of the work and practicing we have been doing and then to field a bunch of listener questions. We look back at the last few days of regular work before quarantine began and then talk a bit about how we adjusted our schedules after things completely stopped. Nathan talks about his Violympics group, Akiko shares some of her dreams of home fitness and we explain the home recording process we have been working on. This unusual period presents a somewhat useful possibility to musicians; we all have areas of our playing that we wish we could improve and spend more time developing — and this could be the time to do it. After the complete rundown of our work-from-home life, we get into answering questions on quieting inner critics and protecting the joy of playing, practical concerns of changing strings and re-hairing bows! Key Points From This Episode:  The last days of work and the changes in our schedules since the pandemic began.  Shifting plans and changing the focus of our practice for time at home.   The video recording we did and the insecurities that arise in watching yourself.  Unusual repertoires and more practice time in the work from home world. The 'Violympics' and the questions that came from the group. Staying motivated and practicing during this time with the LA Phil on hiatus.  Considering the plight of young musicians finishing music school right now.  Investing in different skills and upping your game during this downtime.  Personal qualities that lend themselves to a successful career in an orchestra.  Tips for quieting the inner critic when performing or recording.  Separating and protecting the joy of playing from the need to do it for a living.    The importance of friendships and connection within a job in an orchestra.   Changing strings, re-hairing bows, off the string strokes and more.Divisions for practicing a new piece and ways to focus on tricky passages.  Tweetables:  “I think it is scary to think of coming back together. I think we’ve all changed. I think it’s going to be such a substantial amount of time that we all would have changed in a lot of ways.” — Akiko Tarumoto [0:24:20]  “Our whole lives I think so much of our self-worth is wrapped up in how we play. I don’t know that that’s healthy or right, but it’s inescapable.” — Nathan Cole [0:25:10] “It is reassuring to know that orchestra or no orchestra, we’re still musicians.” — Akiko Tarumoto [0:25:25]  Transcript EPISODE 39  [INTRO]  [00:00:00] NC: Hi and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I’m Nathan Cole.   [00:00:05] AT: I’m Akiko Tarumoto.  [EPISODE]  [00:00:19] NC: And last time we came at you, the world was a very different place. Needless to say, we’ve taken quite a long break, but we’re happy to be back talking with each other and talking to you. Yeah, even though things have changed quite a bit. We were just trying to come up with what our last episode had been and we were talking conductors. How important is a conductor? Do we really need a conductor?   [00:00:43] AT: Who knew we wouldn’t need a conductor for months?  [00:00:46] NC: Yeah. We got our wish. Didn’t see any conductors for months. Yeah, it’s like the monkey’s paw. Got more than we bargained for.   [00:00:56] AT: The corpse showed up at the front door.   [00:00:58] NC: Yeah. I mean, we certainly won’t be the first people sharing our thoughts about the changed state of the world on classical music since the pandemic began. Maybe our thoughts don’t have to run too deep. But what do you think about our musical and our artistic lives since this all took route? When was the last time we were at work?   [00:01:26] AT: It was what?

Here at Stand Partner HQ, we get this question a lot! And that should tell you something without even knowing the answer. Nobody asks what a pilot does, or if we really need one for our airplanes. But the conductor's role isn't nearly so obvious, to our audiences and even, at times, to us! Do we really need someone up front "driving the train"? Do a conductor's responsibilities begin and end with a downbeat and a final cutoff? Key points Akiko's forthcoming appearance on the Every Little Thing podcastAudience fixation on the conductor as the focal point of an orchestraThe job of the conductor during rehearsal and performanceGiving instruction vs. providing a "guiding current"Examples of time wasting, directionless rehearsalExamples of showing appreciation for the work of the players; giving credit where it's duePetty retaliation: talking in rehearsals and other signs of discontentSetting aside grudges for the concert and putting the music ahead of everything elseDo musicians always agree who's a great conductor?How to balance exerting control and letting go of itThe "dreaded hand": play quieter!Components of a perfect conductor; designing the Robo-conductor! Links Every Little Thing Podcast Gimlet Media  Jeopardy Sean Connery Full Metal Jacket Andrew Manze Robocop Kurtwood Smith Transcript EPISODE 38 [EPISODE] [00:00:01] NC: Hi and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I’m Nathan Cole. [00:00:04] AT: I am Akiko Tarumoto. [00:00:18] NC: And today we are talking about conductors and not just because we see a conductor all the time at work, see many conductors. There’s actually a special reason, that’s because you are going to be a featured guest on another podcast. [00:00:33] AT: Yeah. [00:00:33] NC: I couldn’t be more proud. It’s like a spinoff of Stand Partners. It’s great. We got a call from the show Every Little Thing, which is a Gimlet Media show. They answer or try to answer questions that you can’t find out just by Googling. Their recent example was how to police sketch artists really. Can they really come up with a picture that’s so close to the person you’re thinking of and they went through it. It was really fascinating, and all the episodes come from listener questions. It’s actually a great idea for this show. [00:01:13] AT: It’s true. Should steal that. [00:01:16] NC: I know. I think I might. They actually play the call – If someone calls in and leaves a message, it’s very 90s. You have to leave a message on the machine. In this case, someone was calling up to say if, "I were ever the victim of a crime, I would be the worst witness. There was no way the police could ever pick up the person because I wouldn’t be able to describe to a sketch artist anybody’s face. I’m the worst and I really don’t believe the sketch artist could help me. Do they really work?" They actually found a sketch artist. So that was the expert on the call and they had this person describe his best friend, I believe it was. [00:01:58] AT: Aha. And it worked? [00:01:59] NC: And it worked. [00:02:00] AT: That’s just too much pressure. I can't produce on this level tomorrow. [00:02:04] NC: In this episode, they have someone asking about conductors and about all kinds of things that go on in orchestra rehearsals and concerts. So that is going to be you. Now, you do have to share the episode with a conductor in addition to the caller. [00:02:23] AT: Yes. Not in real-time, but yeah. [00:02:24] NC: Right. Since you might – I don’t know. You might feel like you couldn’t say everything you wanted to about a conductor. Who knows? We thought this might be – They might not give you all the airtime. You might – [00:02:37] AT: Did you say this conductor? Right. I mean, I hope that I won’t be carrying the entire episode. It would be funny if I described my ideal conductor and just synthesize this person to see if they’re really an effective leader.

Twelve-step programs have helped millions of people, including some of our colleagues. But their constant references to a "higher power" rub some people the wrong way. As orchestral musicians, we only know one "higher power": the conductor, who rules every aspect of our musical lives! Here are some slightly rewritten twelve steps toward embracing musical anonymity in the orchestra of your choice. The Twelve Orchestral Steps Admit you are powerless over your musical decisions and life has become unmanageable.Surrender those decisions to a higher power to reclaim musical sanity.Turn your musical life over to that higher power (the conductor).Make a searching and fearless inventory of your audition self.Admit the nature of your wrongs to yourself and a practice buddy.Be ready to have the conductor remove your defects of character.Actually ask the conductor to humbly remove those defects.Make a list of colleagues you have musically harmed, and seek to make amends.Make direct amends to these colleagues, especially if you must sit near them.Continue taking inventory and promptly admit wrong accidentals.Through meditation and score study, improve conscious contact with the conductor.After your musical awakening, carry this message to other musicians in the orchestra. Quotes “If you join an orchestra, you’re just a shareholder, but you’re still receiving dividends.” — Akiko Tarumoto [0:08:47] “Getting a job is truth time.” — Akiko Tarumoto [0:11:12] “There is that hope that joining this group, it’s like there’s a power greater than yourself. There’s power in experience.” — @natesviolin [0:17:57] “It’s okay to be wrong a lot as long you admit it.” — @natesviolin [0:24:20] “You could follow these steps and actually be a great orchestral player.” — @natesviolin [0:27:46] “There’s just no way around the anonymity being an orchestral player, but there are positive things about being in an orchestra nevertheless.” — Akiko Tarumoto [0:27:52] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: ColburnSir Laurence OlivierLA PhilChris Still Transcript EPISODE 37 [INTRODUCTION] [00:00:00] NC: Hello and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. This is Orchestra Players Anonymous. I’m Nathan Cole. [00:00:08] AT: We’re supposed to be anonymous. [00:00:10] NC: Oh! I already broke the rule. All right. [INTERVIEW] [00:00:27] NC: Well, I have to figure you already know who we are. That’s Akiko Tarumoto over there. Welcome back. If you haven’t seen the website in a little while, head on over to standpartnersforlife.com. We got a bit of a new look and as it befits the new year, 2020 episodes of Stand Partners for Life. There you can make sure you’re subscribed on iTunes, on Google Podcasts, however you get your podcasts. Today we are talking about the anonymous nature of orchestra playing, and this actually came up recently. I teach the violin orchestral rep class at Colburn now, and I got a really good question just today actually. [00:01:10] AT: What was that question? [00:01:13] NC: That’s for that prompt. They asked, they said, “Well, we have a friend,” who that’s always kind of a tipoff, but they said, “We have a friend who says that he would never play in orchestra because you would lose your artistic identity. You’d become anonymous.” First of all, I love how you can’t really talk about orchestra. It’s kind of like how kids learn about the birds and the bees on the playground. It’s like playground wisdom. [00:01:43] AT: You can’t talk about – [00:01:44] NC: Well, I just feel like there’s not a constant dialogue about orchestra playing. You have to kind of ask in secret like, “I have a friend who says this is how it works.” [00:01:53] AT: Right. Well, sure. I mean, we all know why that is. It’s like the vast majority of working musicians, working – Not pianists obviously, but that were out there and orchestra is not being soloists or chamber musicians necessarily,

Violinist Johnny Lee is Akiko's mirror image on stage at Disney Hall: he sits fourth chair second violin, while she's fourth chair first violin. But they have something else in common too. Both went to Harvard, where there is no music performance major. Akiko thought she'd be a lawyer, Johnny a doctor (or was he just pretending?), but they both found their way back to the violin by the time they graduated. The Stand Partners have logged thousands of hours of "unofficial" conversation with Johnny, so we're excited to present him on the podcast. Here's Johnny's path to the LA Phil and beyond! Transcript [00:00:00] NC: Hi and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I’m Nathan Cole.  [00:00:04] AT: I’m Akiko Tarumoto.  [00:00:18] NC: And we are thrilled to be here with our great friend on we’ve been trying to get on this podcast actually ever since we started this show. Good friend Johnny Lee, violinist with us in the LA Phil. Frequent hanger outer here at the Cole-Tarumoto residence. You’ve got a heavy dose of the kids tonight. You got to experience dinner, TV watching time, bedtime.   [00:00:43] AT: You missed violin practice time though. Lucky you.   [00:00:47] JL: I have my wine. So it’s fine.  [00:00:49] AT: That’s actually how we got you here. We bribed you with food and drink.  [00:00:51] NC: That’s true. Johnny showed up wearing his Stand Partners for Life t-shirt, which made all of us happy, especially Hannah noticed it right away. If you too would like a snazzy Stand Partners for Life t-shift, go to standpartnersforlife.com/shirts. That’s shirt, plural, and guys and gals designs. But thank you so much for being here, Johnny.  [00:01:12] AT: Yay!  [00:01:13] NC: Yay! There are a few reasons to get you here. One, we talk about the orchestra all the time, and LA Phil life all the time. But in addition to that, you and Akiko have some real similarities, I guess besides the fact that Akiko is 4th chair first violin. Johnny, 4th chair second violin. [00:01:34] AT: He’s my mirror.  [00:01:34] NC: That’s right. We do since first and second, mostly sit across the stage from each other. Here in L.A. Not Akiko’s favorite setup at the moment. [00:01:44] AT: I think everybody is tired hearing my opinion on where the violin should sit.   [00:01:49] NC: But you do get to mirror each other across the stage quite often. The bigger similarity is that you both went to the same school for undergrad and you actually overlapped. [00:01:58] AT: We went to school in Boston.  [00:02:00] JL: Cambridge.  [00:02:02] NC: They went to Harvard. I get to hear about it a lot. No! You guys are good about it. Actually, tonight I really do want to hear about it in quite some detail. But, yeah, neither of you went to conservatory for undergrad. So that’s something that I know a lot of. You guys out there have asked about just the difference between going to conservatory, not going to conservatory, at least for undergrad. Yeah, the different paths that people take to get to the LA Phil. Johnny, if you would back us up from Harvard, from Cambridge, and tell us a little bit about where you’re from, how you got started on the instrument and all that, and then we’ll get to  get to school days.  [00:02:41] JL: Yeah. I mean, I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. So I was at the Cleveland Institute of Music for prepschool – Not prepschool. Preparatory program, age 7 I would say. So I started when I was 5, but started at CIM at 7. But that was of course because my parents were Korean immigrants and they just wanted us to play violin. Us being me and my two older brothers just to put on our college application. [00:03:10] AT: So were you all at –  [00:03:11] JL: Yeah. So would have lessons on Friday after school. My mom would drive us all there. She’d take notes during lessons. Then on the way home we’d get KFC as a reward.  [00:03:24] NC: I thought you were going to say on the way home you’d get yel...

How many times have you been jealous of the box scores for baseball and basketball, or the advanced statistics for football? Don't you wish that you too could be measured by notes attempted, notes played in tune, entrances successfully counted? If we got our wish, orchestra concerts would have their own advanced metrics! Here are the stats (and penalties) we'd like to see.

This week, we're talking scales and etudes. Are they the foundational blocks on which your entire technique is built? Or more like raw vegetables that you have to choke down if you want to stay healthy? Akiko actually had a scale class as a kid, while I got a crash course in scales from my Curtis teacher Felix Galimir (who had studied with Carl Flesch himself). Etudes were a different story. Both of us went through a progression of Sevcik, Schradieck, Kretuzer, Dont, and all the rest. But back then, we just played without knowing why. These days, we like to know the point of an etude before we dive in: the key that unlocks each etude's benefit. Developing my Virtuoso Master Course has given me a chance to reevaluate my relationship with the classics, but I wanted Akiko's take on the topic as well. Enjoy a roll in the hay of fundamental violin techniques! Key points Akiko recounts her distaste for practicing scales at JuilliardScales: more like meditation or workout?Akiko's time at Juilliard pre-college with Ševčík, Schradieck, Kreutzer, Paganini and YostWhy Akiko stopped practicing scales after a Paganini concerto got her downScales and etudes as prep for challenging piecesNathan's first scale, at the end of Suzuki studiesHow Ivan Galamian adjusted a three-octave scale to give it 24 notesAkiko's scale classNathan and Akiko's take on Simon Fischer’s Warming UpThe times in life to discover etudes (i.e. bachelor freedom)Thirds for 20 minutes a day, thanks to Ruggiero RicciNathan's first lesson with Felix Galimir, and the four-hour-a-day scale workoutEvery etude has a key to unlock its benefitHow to practice scales so they lead to confident performanceAkiko’s feeling of impending violinistic disaster, as inThe Godfather. Quotes “I feel like the goal for the Delay students was to get to Paganini ASAP.” — @Akiko Tarumoto  [0:10:31] “I think that’s the real argument for learning skills in scales and etudes, so that when you get to them in in the repertoire, you feel like you can say, ‘I’ve got this.’” — @natesviolin  [0:14:43] “Opening up an etude book, trying to play one and just – whether your reaction is just stopping and closing it or breaking down crying, it is actually a pretty common thing.” — @natesviolin  [0:26:56] “Great strides are made when there is not a lot else going on.” — @Akiko Tarumoto  [0:29:17]  “it wasn’t like I was sitting here watching TV and you came up to me and you said, ‘You need to work on your arpeggios.’” — @Akiko Tarumoto  [0:47:04] Links from the episode Juilliard Pre-CollegeAspen FestivalThe Virtuoso Master CourseKreutzer SonataHenry SchradieckOtakar ŠevčíkNicolò PaganiniFranz WohlfahrtJacques Féréol MazasGaylord YostCurtis Institute of MusicSuzuki Violin BooksMozart Fifth Concerto in A MajorMozart’s Fourth Concerto in D majorJohannes BrahmsJoachim CadenzaDan MasonVienna Philharmonic OrchestraCarl FleschIvan GalamianPierre Gaviniès Simon FischerMoritz MoszkowskiSaint Paul Chamber OrchestraAnimal FarmRuggiero RicciSergei ProkofievJack Benny William PreucilThe Godfather Transcript [0:00:00.7] NC: Hello and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I am Nathan Cole. [0:00:04.7] AT: I am Akiko Tarumoto. [0:00:18.7] NC: That’s it, it’s just the two of us this time. We’ve had a couple of episodes lately with some very special guests, especially cellists. [0:00:26.6] AT: Yeah, I guess it goes along with my theory that violinists aren’t really friends with other violinists. [0:00:32.9] NC: Well, we’re married to other violinists but just not friends. [0:00:36.3] AT: I said friends. [0:00:37.8] NC: That’s true, it took us a while to become friends. [0:00:39.8] AT: Yeah, right? [0:00:41.7] NC: Because of that, I thought that maybe this episode could be a little bit more violin centric, you know, we talk a lot about the orchestra life, playing in orchestra, obviously Stand Partners refers to the orchestra life but sometime we can nerd out a ...

Chicago Symphony cellist Brant Taylor may have been our very first special guest here at the Stand Partners, but so far we've been missing the perspective of his partner Roderick Branch. Roderick is a musician, though his day job (and sometimes into the night job) is as a partner at a giant law firm. Roderick is what you'd call an extremely savvy listener, otherwise known as a superfan. So today Akiko, Brant, and I talk with Roderick, to remember just who it is we're playing for. Roderick elaborates on the dynamics between orchestra and audience in the context of different halls around the world. We speak about the room for error in a magical rendition, the performer as an audience member, and how the level of familiarity with an orchestra affects our experience of it. We also get into the pros and cons of designs, histories, and acoustics of different halls. Next, we share many stories about what made a particular concert life-changing, and then weigh up the various traits of our favorite conductors. Finally, our pet peeves about off-putting audience or performer behavior take center stage. Key Points From This Episode Performers and audience members might feel differently about the quality of a symphony. The distance of a performer or observer from the orchestra changes how it sounds. Minor mistakes are less meaningful when there is great spirit in a performance. The mood of an audience member might change their experience of a performance. Live symphonies sound different to recorded and mastered ones. The way a musician reacts to something unexpected is an indicator of how prepared they are. Experiencing different hall acoustics is neither good or bad but special. Sometimes one has to try to be less critical to have a good time. Knowing the orchestra might change the experience of watching them for better or worse. Knowing who is playing could change whether Roderick goes to a concert or not. Disney Hall’s modernity compared to the sense of history of Symphony Center. The acoustics of Disney hall are like a soft focus lens, while Chicago Hall is less forgiving. Less forgiving acoustics can be liberating because it allows for powerful playing. Hearing the same orchestra playing in different halls is a good way of seeing their difference. Great conductors bring out aspects in a symphony not heard before. The respect the orchestra has for a good conductor is palpable in their body language. It is difficult to be fully present as a musician in every performance. Several stories of the most life-changing performances the group have ever seen. Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink and Muti compared by Roderick. Off-putting performer behavior: not looking engaged and talking during the applause. Off-putting audience behavior: humming, cellphones, leaving too early, coughing. Links Brant TaylorRoderick BranchChicago Symphony OrchestraBartok Concerto For OrchestraLA PhilharmonicDisney Concert HallSymphony CenterOrchestra HallDaniel Burnham The Burnham Plan of ChicagoBarbara WalterMilli-VanilliMusikvereinCarnegie HallConcertgebouwSeverance HallRiccardo MutiKrassimira StoyanovaPierre Boulez Ben MolarDaniel BarenboimMa VlastThe MoldauBernard HaitinkShakespeareBeethoven 9Verdi: RequiemThe Hollywood BowlJumbotronAnne-Sophie Mutter “If you’re performing a string quartet or a solo piece, the way you react to things that don’t go totally as planned is the biggest indicator of how well prepared something is.” — @ Akiko Tarumoto [0:12:07] “If you listen to the concert with your music critic hat on, that detracts from the enjoyment of the experience.” — @ Roderick Branch [0:18:10] “It’s actually an interesting hobby to hear an orchestra you know well, play in different halls. It’s the best way to figure out exactly how much difference the hall can make for, better or worse, in the way that something sounds.” — @ Brant Taylor [0:24:54] “I think I was probably looking down at the stage just taking in and basking in the g...

Today we're joined by our good friend and LA Phil principal cello, Robert deMaine. Bob tells us about his childhood, his musical family and an early teacher who gave him a complete musical education, including piano and composition. He also unpacks how he fell out of love with the cello during his teen years and took an extended break from playing. Eventually he found his way back and went on a tear, pursuing a solo career and at the same time winning principal jobs in Hartford, Detroit, and finally Los Angeles. Bob doesn't hold back as he discusses anxiety, negative self-talk, and the long road toward mastery of an instrument. Key Points From This Episode: Different orchestral seating arrangementsBob's upbringing, important places and inspiration from his familyHaving and then losing the best music teacher in the worldThe difference between relative pitch and perfect pitchDisasters in ice cream shops and disasters on stageBob's early jobs in music and testing boundaries with senior musiciansThe Detroit Symphony and the strike that ended with Robert moving to LABob's audition for the LA Phil and the hand problem he had leading up to it The steps toward improvement and how they widen as you grow as a musician Differences between teaching and coaching; bringing out the best in students Recreating sounds, learning accents and the power of cultivating the ear The event that precipitated Bob's performance anxiety, and the way through it Upcoming projects for Bob, including his Tweetables: “I grew up playing on my mother's cello, and my sister played the cello that my mother played when she was a child, and it was a real beater.” — @robertdemaine [0:06:35] “I don’t think I would have played as well as I did had it not been exactly that way. So much of it has to do with just timing.” — @robertdemaine [0:39:15] “I’ve never really separated how one prepares for a symphony concert versus how one prepares for a concerto.” — @robertdemaine [0:39:51] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Robert deMaine on TwitterRobert deMaineStrings MagazineMariano RiveraLeonard RoseJanos StarkerEastern Music FestivalJuilliardCurtisCentral State UniversityEastmanGood Will HuntingDexterDays of Wine and RosesIrving Klein CompetitionPaul ParayGeorge SzellNeeme JarviJoseph SilversteinSliding DoorsThe MatrixGoofus and GallantFear and Loathing in Las VegasGuido LamellAnthony BourdainNow Hear ThisHandelJoe Rogan MashTaxi Transcript EPISODE 32 [INTRO] [00:00:00] NC: Hi and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I am thrilled to be here not only with Akiko. [00:00:07] AT: Hello. [00:00:07] NC: But our good friend and close colleague, Bob deMaine, principal cello here at the L.A. Phil, and actually we’re right here in Disney Hall, the bowels of the hall. [00:00:16] BD: Our home away from home. [00:00:18] NC: Yeah. [INTERVIEW] [00:00:32] BD: Thanks for having me on. I feel like I’m sort of your honorary stand partner, because I sit next to you in the orchestra. [00:00:37] NC: Yeah. Actually – I mean, yeah, the usual. If everybody's there, we've got Martin, and then I'm sitting second right next to him, and then on my other side is you. When I first came to the orchestra, they had the violas where you are instead. So principal viola was on my other side. [00:00:53] BD: The viola was there? [00:00:55] NC: They did. [00:00:55] BD: That’s something I’ve never seen before. [00:00:58] AT: Wrong seating number two. [00:00:59] BD: That’s right. Isn’t that David Sanders, like his lingo from Chicago or something? [00:01:04] AT: I think we’re currently in wrong seating number four. [00:01:06] BD: I like right seating number one. I mean, cello is on the left. [00:01:10] NC: The outside. [00:01:10] BD: Yeah, the outside. [00:01:12] AT: Everybody wants the outside. [00:01:13] BD: So much more room over there. I don’t care how it sounds.

Today we're talking concertmaster, and what it means to sit in the hot seat. What are the duties and expectations, and what makes "first chair violin" attractive or unattractive to different players? Is playing concertmaster more like being the point guard in basketball, or the quarterback in football? Remember: besides playing all those juicy solos, you have to deal with walk-outs, bowings, section concerns and principal relationships. Just know that even though the concertmaster position puts you in the spotlight, there's a price to pay for all that attention. How happy you are depends not just on the rest of orchestra but your own temperament. As Akiko says, "Let's just say it plainly. I don't like being concertmaster." But should we take her seriously? Key Points From This Episode: The position and duties associated with the title of ConcertmasterWalk-outs, hitting the right piano octave and making sure not to fall overComparing the role of the concertmaster with positions in team sportsHow the concertmaster relates to the other members of the orchestraThe issues that arise when a conductor is ahead or behindCommunicating with the conductor; bringing issues up at the right timeThe importance of solos in getting hired as concertmasterBowing decisions, and shutting out some of the noise and chatterLeadership principles and focusing on what is most importantOur best and worst experiences as a concertmaster Quotes “If you had to pick one leader of the orchestra that isn't the conductor, but a player, it's the concertmaster. They're visible, they're up front.” — Nathan Cole [0:07:29] “No one even really knows I'm technically a concertmaster, so I have to give myself the title of emergency concertmaster!” — Akiko Tarumoto [0:10:15] “It's a fun job. It's fraught with danger, but fun and rewarding and you get those juicy solos too.” — Nathan Cole  [0:51:48] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Stand Partners for LifeCarnival of the AnimalsHolly Mulcahy: More than wearing pretty shoesThe Suzuki MethodSeinfeldDavid KimWest Side StoryPines of RomeThe 14 Leadership Principles that Drive AmazonJeff Bezos Transcript [INTRO] [0:00:00.6] NC: Hello and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I am Nathan. [0:00:03.5] AT: I’m Akiko. [EPISODE] [0:00:17.5] NC: Today, we thought we’d talk about the concertmaster, the duties of a concertmaster and what it’s all about. I mean, should we at least define the concertmaster, the first chair of violinists? [0:00:28.7] AT: Sure. I assumed people know that, but there are times, a lot of times people don’t necessarily get what that means. [0:00:36.3] NC: We don’t even say that. We don’t say concert mistress, right? [0:00:39.4] AT: Not that I know of. [0:00:40.3] NC: Because I hear people say that sometimes. [0:00:42.2] AT: Yes. I think some people still say it. [0:00:44.9] NC: It’s like president, right? [0:00:46.0] AT: Well, it's like stewardess. We don’t say it anymore. [0:00:49.3] NC: Right. I'm not sure if people ever did say concert mistress, if that was ever really appropriate. [0:00:53.4] AT: Sure, they did. I don’t remember. [0:00:56.6] NC: Yeah. Concertmaster, it's the first chair violinist. Both of us get to do that duty sometimes and we both have concertmaster somewhere in our titles, First Associate Concertmaster and your assistant. That's largely the reason we came out to LA from the Chicago Symphony was the chance to do be concertmaster sometimes.  Why is this a special position and why? What does the concertmaster do? [0:01:24.8] AT: So are we – start enumerating the duties? [0:01:27.5] NC: Yes. We're going to tell what the concertmaster does. [0:01:30.8] AT: Well, so my first disclaimer is that I don't play concertmaster very often, as you know. I'm drawing on a very small amount of experience. I just want to get that out of the way. [0:01:43.5] NC: I mean, you did it before college.

Nathan says: "My top three movies of all time would be The Godfather, Rocky, and Amadeus in some order." Akiko's not into those "top whatever" lists. But both of us love Amadeus so much that we would drop whatever we're doing and watch it again right now. Here's why...

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.