Notes From a Curious Listener

I told a friend about Gabriela Montero, pianist extraordinaire, who constantly hears music in her head. The reaction was immediate, "Is she crazy? You know, like in the movie, The Soloist?"

I did not have the guts to ask Montero if she is crazy; but I did ask her if the music in her head drives her crazy. She said, "I'm now used to it, although I do notice it, and when I'm trying to fall asleep, it does annoy me. It's like having your life scored to a movie sound track."

I also asked Montero about politics because she played at President Obama's inauguration along with Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Anthony McGill. I learned that she is a Democrat but has never met President Obama. She is speaking out more and more about injustices happening in Venezuela where she was born, despite colleagues telling her to avoid politics. Artists, they say, represent "beauty and higher spiritual realms of life". Montero agrees but feels that puts artists in a position to raise awareness.

To learn more, read the entire interview. To find out about her upcoming concert on Wed. August 18th, click here.  

During SummerFest, there are many  free opportunities to peek into the lives of musicians. My favorite is the Master Class, where a professional musician who commands high salaries teaches one who doesn't. What could they be learning? Surely these twenty-somethings, who have chosen a career playing classical music, are already technically brilliant. The Master Class uncovers the difference between the experienced and inexperienced and also shows what every musician goes through during their career - many embarrassing classes with demanding teachers.  

For example, at one Master Class last year, Andreas Haefliger, pianist, was teaching a piano trio. He told the pianist that her playing was not strong enough. While many of the students are timid and too nervous to talk to their famous teacher, this one spoke up and said that she was afraid of drowning out the others. He snapped back, "Don't worry about that! Never worry about that!" 

Why had no one ever told her that the piano will not drown out a violin and cello, obvious to any audience member? Surely she had had lessons for most of her life, but perhaps the trio had never had a lesson together. The young pianist got the message and played much stronger thereafter, greatly enhancing the sound.