WEBVTT 00:00:16.060 --> 00:00:17.960 Hi there and welcome to Notes from the Stage, 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:20.059 a show from the musicians of the Calgary Philharmonic. 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:21.879 We're the people playing our hearts out every 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:24.579 week of the orchestra season. I'm Adam Zinatelli. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:26.640 Usually I play first trumpet in the CPO, but 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:28.739 today I'm your host and I'm here with Heather 00:00:28.739 --> 00:00:31.170 Wooten, fourth horn! of the Calgary Philharmonic. 00:00:31.190 --> 00:00:33.909 Hi, Heather. Hey, Adam. How are you? I'm pretty 00:00:33.909 --> 00:00:35.570 good. How are you? It's nice to sit down with 00:00:35.570 --> 00:00:37.409 you. We don't get to do it often. Yeah, I know. 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:39.530 We're so... The geography on the stage never 00:00:39.530 --> 00:00:41.969 really puts us that close together. I know. Which 00:00:41.969 --> 00:00:44.350 is too bad. It's a bit sad. You know what? Actually, 00:00:45.049 --> 00:00:47.890 one thing that did put us close together on stage 00:00:47.890 --> 00:00:51.189 was when we were playing, like, classical -era 00:00:51.189 --> 00:00:53.950 stuff with Minchuk. He would put the trumpets 00:00:53.950 --> 00:00:57.250 and timpani over stage right, and the horns were 00:00:57.250 --> 00:01:00.570 on the back. of the central risers yeah so forth 00:01:00.570 --> 00:01:02.549 horn was pointing right at us and what that meant 00:01:02.549 --> 00:01:05.829 no no no it was great because that meant that 00:01:05.829 --> 00:01:07.650 every time we played Beethoven 9 with minchuk 00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:10.909 which was a lot i had the best seat in the house 00:01:10.909 --> 00:01:14.030 ah yeah we did do that a lot didn't we we did 00:01:14.030 --> 00:01:15.569 i'm trying to think how many times i've played 00:01:15.569 --> 00:01:17.849 that it's a lot it's funny i talked about Beethoven 00:01:17.849 --> 00:01:19.989 9 a lot with Arthur yeah i heard that yeah yeah 00:01:19.989 --> 00:01:21.450 but i had a feeling that it would come up with 00:01:21.450 --> 00:01:23.750 you because like that's that's your moment to 00:01:23.750 --> 00:01:27.319 shine it is Yeah, it's one that I sort of dread 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:28.780 and look forward to at the same time. I know 00:01:28.780 --> 00:01:31.379 that feeling. Yeah. And we played it so often 00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:33.540 for so long. It seemed like it was a yearly thing 00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:35.540 and we'd all sort of whinge and complain. And 00:01:35.540 --> 00:01:36.900 then you were in the middle of it and it was 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:39.319 glorious. Yeah. Every time. I mean, it's just 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:42.700 such an epic work, you know? Yeah. And you play 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:44.840 that solo so beautifully. Oh, well, thank you. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.620 It's sad. It's sad to me to know that I won't 00:01:47.620 --> 00:01:49.260 hear you play that again, Heather, because you're 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:52.079 retiring at the end of this season. I am. Isn't 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:54.900 that weird? Congratulations. Well, thanks, I 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:58.920 think. I'm still kind of conflicted about it, 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:01.819 to be honest, you know? Yeah, yeah. Well, it's 00:02:01.819 --> 00:02:04.620 a hard thing to give up. Yeah. Boy, this time 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:06.519 of year I find is usually the trickiest time 00:02:06.519 --> 00:02:10.319 of year in terms of fatigue and stress management. 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:13.560 You know, the chunk of the season between the 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:15.819 new year and the Easter break, we get a week 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:18.919 off at Easter every year. It seems to me to... 00:02:18.750 --> 00:02:21.210 always feel like the most stressful, bedraggled 00:02:21.210 --> 00:02:23.229 time of year. Yeah, February seems like the longest 00:02:23.229 --> 00:02:25.830 month to me. Yeah, in which retirement always 00:02:25.830 --> 00:02:28.909 sounds really great. Yes, at this moment, I'm 00:02:28.909 --> 00:02:30.949 thinking, okay, just got to get through February. 00:02:31.469 --> 00:02:33.469 So let's not beat around the bush. We can get 00:02:33.469 --> 00:02:36.030 right to it. What are you going to miss? What 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:38.430 are some of your favorite things? Tell me about 00:02:38.430 --> 00:02:41.789 the complicated stew of feelings about retirement. 00:02:42.129 --> 00:02:45.169 That's a really good phrase, complicated stew. 00:02:45.990 --> 00:02:48.610 Obviously, I mean, the thing I will I will miss 00:02:48.610 --> 00:02:51.449 is my colleagues. I don't know how many people 00:02:51.449 --> 00:02:54.789 get to work in an environment that closely with 00:02:54.789 --> 00:02:56.770 people. And we're not necessarily close in that 00:02:56.770 --> 00:02:59.710 we talk all the time, but we connect daily. We 00:02:59.710 --> 00:03:02.189 connect all the time. And no matter whether I 00:03:02.189 --> 00:03:05.150 talk to some people all the time and I'm socializing 00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:07.370 with them or whether I'm just on stage with them 00:03:07.370 --> 00:03:10.110 and sharing those moments, I still feel completely 00:03:10.110 --> 00:03:12.870 connected to them. And it's been such an amazing 00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:16.129 blessing. And I wonder how many people are privileged 00:03:16.129 --> 00:03:18.080 to have that. You know, and I think it's that 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:20.199 I'm going to really, really miss that. I mean, 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:22.460 it's very much a community. It's very much a, 00:03:22.460 --> 00:03:25.659 a support system. It's. It's incredible group 00:03:25.659 --> 00:03:27.620 of people to work with. And no matter where I've 00:03:27.620 --> 00:03:29.539 been, I just think I've always been surrounded 00:03:29.539 --> 00:03:31.659 by these incredible souls that are so generous 00:03:31.659 --> 00:03:34.960 and so kind and so vulnerable. And, uh, it humbles 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.139 me every day to be around these people. So I'm 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:40.460 going to miss that a lot. And then just those 00:03:40.460 --> 00:03:44.169 moments, you know, of, of playing. amazing repertoire. 00:03:44.250 --> 00:03:45.770 And again, the privilege of being able to do 00:03:45.770 --> 00:03:49.610 that. I still, after 40 whatever years, I'm amazed 00:03:49.610 --> 00:03:52.430 that I get to do this as my job. And sometimes 00:03:52.430 --> 00:03:55.210 when we're sitting on the stage and we're middle 00:03:55.210 --> 00:03:57.930 of Mahler, middle of Bruckner, middle of Brahms, 00:03:58.389 --> 00:04:02.270 just being surrounded by that is pretty incredible. 00:04:02.569 --> 00:04:05.129 It's very special. Yeah. And just being awed 00:04:05.129 --> 00:04:07.949 by the capability of humans to create beauty, 00:04:09.449 --> 00:04:12.569 that still floors me every time. we have that 00:04:12.569 --> 00:04:15.050 ability you know those very special moments in 00:04:15.050 --> 00:04:17.970 a concert that you know are someone in the audience 00:04:17.970 --> 00:04:20.209 might go to a concert and have one of these moments 00:04:20.209 --> 00:04:23.350 you know i had i had a moment at a concert this 00:04:23.350 --> 00:04:26.730 past weekend i went to see luminous voices they 00:04:26.730 --> 00:04:29.790 they played zach wasworth's piece the far west 00:04:29.790 --> 00:04:32.569 which is deeply deeply moving piece i haven't 00:04:32.569 --> 00:04:35.819 heard it and oh it's Yeah, they made a recording. 00:04:36.019 --> 00:04:38.100 It's great. Plug for Luminous Voices recording 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:40.699 of The Far West by Zach Wadsworth. And, you know, 00:04:40.699 --> 00:04:42.199 I was in the audience, which is something I don't 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:45.240 get to do that much. And, you know, it brought 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:50.800 me to tears. And that kind of very special moment 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:54.379 that can happen from experiencing music. You 00:04:54.379 --> 00:04:57.540 know, you can't manufacture that. That has to 00:04:57.540 --> 00:05:00.740 happen organically in the moment. Exactly. Right. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.889 And people who go to concerts might... experience 00:05:03.889 --> 00:05:06.269 that occasionally. But the great thing, the thing 00:05:06.269 --> 00:05:09.189 that we're so lucky to be able to do is that 00:05:09.189 --> 00:05:13.149 we're in that every day at work, right? And we're 00:05:13.149 --> 00:05:15.370 trying to make those moments, and we're trying 00:05:15.370 --> 00:05:17.170 to make them for the audience as well. But the 00:05:17.170 --> 00:05:19.750 more you're in that music, the more those moments 00:05:19.750 --> 00:05:22.029 are going to happen, and you're going to be present 00:05:22.029 --> 00:05:24.230 and attentive for them. So that I think is one 00:05:24.230 --> 00:05:26.170 of the real privileges of our job. Yeah, exactly. 00:05:26.170 --> 00:05:28.290 And that's something that I will I will definitely 00:05:28.290 --> 00:05:30.629 miss. It's a different experience sitting in 00:05:30.629 --> 00:05:33.889 the audience because you you're not busy doing, 00:05:34.350 --> 00:05:37.529 right? You're just experiencing. So it'll be 00:05:37.529 --> 00:05:41.170 interesting to come to concerts and experience 00:05:41.170 --> 00:05:43.069 them in a different way. I mean, I have a few 00:05:43.069 --> 00:05:44.870 times, you know, when I wasn't playing and I've 00:05:44.870 --> 00:05:46.930 come to come to concerts that I wasn't involved 00:05:46.930 --> 00:05:48.949 in or I was off for some reason and again, and 00:05:48.949 --> 00:05:51.230 just always floored by how good this orchestra 00:05:51.230 --> 00:05:53.350 is. I mean, you're in the middle of it, you know, 00:05:53.350 --> 00:05:54.910 you're sort of in the weeds and you don't always 00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:58.290 realize and you sit out and just take a step 00:05:58.290 --> 00:06:01.230 back and see the whole and it's a... It's pretty 00:06:01.230 --> 00:06:03.449 astounding. Yeah, absolutely. And it gets better 00:06:03.449 --> 00:06:06.189 all the time. You know, we've got so many people 00:06:06.189 --> 00:06:08.649 coming in. They're so talented and so dedicated. 00:06:08.649 --> 00:06:10.829 And it's really heartening to see that. Cause 00:06:10.829 --> 00:06:13.430 you know, you get old and you think, oh, young 00:06:13.430 --> 00:06:15.610 kids these days aren't as interested in classical 00:06:15.610 --> 00:06:17.949 music, which is, and it's not true. I just listened 00:06:17.949 --> 00:06:21.029 to a recording of NYO from, from this past summer 00:06:21.029 --> 00:06:23.490 and it was jaw dropping, you know, and here they're 00:06:23.490 --> 00:06:25.509 all in their teens and early twenties and they're 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:28.269 just slaying it. So that's very heartening. Yeah, 00:06:28.269 --> 00:06:30.449 it's awesome. Yeah. I wanted to ask you about. 00:06:30.490 --> 00:06:33.009 this actually, because you've gotten to play 00:06:33.009 --> 00:06:36.269 with two great third horn players over the years. 00:06:36.490 --> 00:06:39.009 I know, how many years did you and Laurie Matiation 00:06:39.009 --> 00:06:43.189 play together? 27. 27. So a horn section is, 00:06:43.189 --> 00:06:45.350 you know, they largely travel in pairs, right? 00:06:45.529 --> 00:06:47.329 Travel in packs. They travel in packs, yeah. 00:06:47.389 --> 00:06:49.490 So first and second horn are sort of a pair, 00:06:49.610 --> 00:06:52.870 usually, and third and fourth. So the relationship 00:06:52.870 --> 00:06:55.189 between you, the fourth horn player, and the 00:06:55.189 --> 00:06:58.029 third horn player is a special one. It is. You 00:06:58.029 --> 00:07:01.600 were partners. We're work, work. I guess, no, 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:03.459 not really, but I've been incredibly lucky. When 00:07:03.459 --> 00:07:05.740 I was in Kitchener, my third horn player was 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:08.360 Joy Montgomery at the time. And we had met in 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:11.360 NYO and then ended up in the same section and 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:13.879 just immediately clicked. And it was so easy 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:15.240 to play with her. And I thought I would never 00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:17.480 have that again. And then I came and sat beside 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:20.740 Laurie and that was an incredible partnership. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:23.560 It was just, she refers to it as like a hand 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:25.540 and glove, you know, just fit, just fit. And 00:07:25.540 --> 00:07:27.060 we didn't have to talk. We just kind of had this 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:30.000 kind of weird. horn mind meld thing going on 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:31.959 and I knew what she was gonna do before she did 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:33.800 it kind of thing. Yeah, I have that same kind 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.259 of thing going on with Miranda. It's a real treat. 00:07:36.300 --> 00:07:38.160 It's really special. You don't find that very 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:40.100 often and you get spoiled by it too because when 00:07:40.100 --> 00:07:41.519 you don't have that you think, oh, wait a minute. 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:45.519 So then Lori retired a few years ago and I was 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:47.600 devastated that I was gonna lose her and then 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:53.920 along came Max. Bless his little head. No, he's 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:55.420 extraordinary. I mean, he's an extraordinary 00:07:55.420 --> 00:07:57.819 person. He makes me laugh every day, sometimes 00:07:57.819 --> 00:08:01.860 too much. And. Yeah, sometimes I wonder what's 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:05.240 happening back there in the corner. Yeah. Yeah. 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:07.720 But we do, we do have a lot of fun. Yeah. So, 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:09.699 yeah. And it was kind of a rocky road for the 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:11.680 horn section for a while because we, we lost 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:13.500 Lori and then we lost Rob and we lost, or we 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:16.519 lost Bill. Yeah. Three retirements and quick 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:18.699 succession. And then COVID, so we couldn't have 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:21.740 auditions. And then, so we were three out of 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:24.420 five for a long time when Max came. So. But now 00:08:24.420 --> 00:08:26.819 we have a complete section and it's such a joy. 00:08:26.860 --> 00:08:29.879 Yeah, that's right. And we've just got some crackerjack 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:32.480 people and players in the section now and we're 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:34.419 having a blast. So that's one of my big regrets 00:08:34.419 --> 00:08:37.980 too, is leaving the section in the form it is 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:40.779 now. We're finding our feet and starting to fly, 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:41.779 and I think it's gonna be great. Yeah, you guys 00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:43.840 are sounding great. That's for sure. But, you 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:45.740 know, time for some new blood. I guess I'm not 00:08:45.740 --> 00:08:48.720 sure I can keep up anymore. Well, have you talked 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:50.779 to Lori about retirement and what to expect? 00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:52.840 Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And all that. Any 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:55.360 insights to share, or is it all... Because it's 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.299 interesting, because a lot of people, some people 00:08:57.299 --> 00:09:00.080 continue to play a lot. Some people play a little 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:03.419 bit and then don't. Some people completely quit 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:05.500 and sell their instruments and they're done when 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:07.500 they retire. So I'm kind of, I'm still trying 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:11.159 to... See what that's gonna be. I can't see giving 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:14.019 it up, but I also I've been spoiled for the level 00:09:14.019 --> 00:09:17.620 that I've been privileged to play with So I don't 00:09:17.620 --> 00:09:19.480 know and it's you know, as much as I do that 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:22.299 It's hard to keep that level physically going 00:09:22.299 --> 00:09:24.679 so you can't just dabble in it. You either have 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:27.000 to commit or not I'll just see I'm gonna see 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:29.539 how it goes. Yeah, they still have to fill my 00:09:29.539 --> 00:09:31.919 position So maybe I'll come back next year. Maybe 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:34.659 if they haven't heard anybody if not And we'll 00:09:34.659 --> 00:09:36.039 see. I mean, physically it's getting harder, 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:38.419 so maintain that level. So that's part of my 00:09:38.419 --> 00:09:41.159 reason for bowing out before they take my horn 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:46.940 away from me. You never want to stay longer than 00:09:46.940 --> 00:09:50.539 your sell by date, but. Sure. You know, Lori, 00:09:50.820 --> 00:09:53.919 she's very wise. She's very philosophical. She 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:55.519 was a great mentor for me. She's just a couple 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:57.720 of years older than me, but. She seemed to have 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.919 infinitely more wisdom. Well, I just saw Lori 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:02.679 last night, actually did a little master class 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:05.919 at the Royal Academy. Yeah. Which she's in charge 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:08.600 of now. Yeah, she's artistic director of, uh, 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:11.480 of the advanced. Yes. If Lori's in charge, you 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:13.620 know, it's going to be good though. Yeah. And 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:15.720 she's just, I mean, I think, I think that's really 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:17.299 urgent since she's got there. I mean, there's 00:10:17.299 --> 00:10:18.919 way more kids. There's a lot of more stuff going 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:20.740 on. There's a lot more people coming in, I think. 00:10:20.980 --> 00:10:22.960 So I've had, I've talked to the conservatory. 00:10:23.059 --> 00:10:25.100 We've got some ideas, but she just sort of said, 00:10:25.259 --> 00:10:27.730 just, just see. Just be open and see. She says, 00:10:28.070 --> 00:10:29.350 I think there's lots of things that are going 00:10:29.350 --> 00:10:31.529 to come your way. You just have to kind of be 00:10:31.529 --> 00:10:34.529 open to see what happens. I've been talking to 00:10:34.529 --> 00:10:36.590 some people, there's a few things, maybe things 00:10:36.590 --> 00:10:38.909 in the works, but it's terrifying and exciting 00:10:38.909 --> 00:10:41.110 at the same time. Because you're giving up everything 00:10:41.110 --> 00:10:44.230 you know in a way. I mean, an orchestra job is... 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:47.399 Nicely secure. And you have your whole year ahead 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:49.559 of you planned out. It's a convenient little 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:51.139 book. Yeah, you don't have to think about your 00:10:51.139 --> 00:10:52.340 scheduling and how you're going to fill your 00:10:52.340 --> 00:10:54.320 time. But then there's a lot that you give up 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.940 too, right? With our schedule, being able to 00:10:56.940 --> 00:10:59.799 do, I call them normal people, things that normal 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:01.860 people do, but the normal schedule, you know, 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:04.580 nine to five, Monday to Friday, you know, there's 00:11:04.580 --> 00:11:06.259 things that we can't really do. There's things 00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:07.860 that I'd like to volunteer for that I haven't 00:11:07.860 --> 00:11:09.950 been able to do because I can't. I can't commit 00:11:09.950 --> 00:11:12.750 the time that they would require. So. I'm curious 00:11:12.750 --> 00:11:14.889 about that. What things do you have in mind? 00:11:15.490 --> 00:11:18.049 Anything to do with animals, basically. I know 00:11:18.049 --> 00:11:20.309 you're a dog lover. I am. I'm a foster failure. 00:11:21.269 --> 00:11:24.090 All my dogs are foster fails. There was one actually 00:11:24.090 --> 00:11:26.889 that I returned because he destroyed my house, 00:11:26.929 --> 00:11:29.730 but I still cried when he left. I'm sure I told 00:11:29.730 --> 00:11:32.049 you that story. And I talked to the foster coordinator 00:11:32.049 --> 00:11:35.070 about how do you do this? Cause it just like 00:11:35.070 --> 00:11:37.330 breaks my heart to get to know them and then 00:11:37.330 --> 00:11:39.169 to get them up, you know. And she says, well, 00:11:39.250 --> 00:11:42.590 I saw that problem by only fostering breeds that 00:11:42.590 --> 00:11:45.029 I didn't like. And my least favorite breed is 00:11:45.029 --> 00:11:48.169 Chihuahua. She now has five Chihuahuas. Oh, wow. 00:11:48.429 --> 00:11:50.330 Okay. All right. So I was like, oh, that was 00:11:50.330 --> 00:11:54.289 good. So that I've always loved horses. I used 00:11:54.289 --> 00:11:57.190 to ride a little bit. I'd love to get involved 00:11:57.190 --> 00:11:59.250 in either some horse rescues or there's I've 00:11:59.250 --> 00:12:01.809 been looking into some riding therapy programs. 00:12:01.809 --> 00:12:04.500 Oh, cool. As a volunteer. So you go and you help 00:12:04.500 --> 00:12:06.500 the kids and you help with the preparation and 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:08.460 you do leading and stuff. And that's great. So 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:10.399 I would love to do that. I'd love to do some 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:14.940 hospital volunteering, baby cuddling. Do you 00:12:14.940 --> 00:12:16.360 know you can be a professional hugger? You know, 00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:17.980 that's a thing. I didn't know that. I don't know 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:19.299 if I want to be a professional hugger though. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:21.559 That would sort of take the spontaneity out of 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:23.899 it. Yeah. Yeah. It'd be an enthusiastic amateur 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:27.000 idea. And then, um, habitat, maybe I'd love to 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:28.860 get in and involved in a build. I've always wanted 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:31.860 to build a house. I'd like to do stuff with my 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:34.279 hands and. Yeah, just things that you just kind 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:37.179 of let go when you're so busy. I used to draw 00:12:37.179 --> 00:12:38.600 a lot when I was a kid. I'm not a good artist 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.659 at all, but I used to enjoy making things and 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:44.059 drawing things and getting into ceramics. So 00:12:44.059 --> 00:12:45.740 yeah, just kind of exploring parts of me that 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:47.779 I think maybe have leaned dormant or I haven't 00:12:47.779 --> 00:12:51.279 paid attention to or, yeah. Oh, that's so exciting. 00:12:51.379 --> 00:12:52.539 Well, it doesn't sound like you're going to be 00:12:52.539 --> 00:12:54.600 short of ideas. No, I have ideas, just getting 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:57.600 them going and seeing where I can. do that and 00:12:57.600 --> 00:12:58.899 then sort of you know the balance of how much 00:12:58.899 --> 00:13:00.299 do i want to play how much do i want to work 00:13:00.299 --> 00:13:02.879 i'll keep teaching i love teaching that's been 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:04.659 a really important part of my life i think yeah 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:07.200 well just last year you won a big award for your 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:10.399 teaching who did heather you won the 2024 betty 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:13.360 webster award and that year it was specifically 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:16.100 focusing on contributions to musical education 00:13:16.100 --> 00:13:21.460 yeah go figure so you were quite an honor yeah 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:25.360 you were the lead teaching artist for The CPO's 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.639 fill kids program. Yeah. Yeah. So we started 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:33.559 that back in 2016 on a sort of very small basis. 00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:36.179 There were four of us involved teaching and, 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:39.240 um, just about 30 kids once a week started that. 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:42.419 That was amazing. Yeah. It just, and the, and 00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:44.539 the, and the focus of that was inspired by system. 00:13:44.659 --> 00:13:46.340 It wasn't a systemic program, but it's inspired 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:49.840 by the idea of music for social change. So the 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:52.220 idea that music isn't about just necessarily 00:13:52.220 --> 00:13:55.460 learning a skill. It's all the things you can 00:13:55.460 --> 00:13:57.399 learn while you learn an instrument. So we're 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:00.379 basically building kids and using music. And 00:14:00.379 --> 00:14:04.940 the focus of the program was in lower socioeconomic 00:14:04.940 --> 00:14:06.960 areas. So for kids that didn't have the opportunity, 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:09.559 parents that maybe couldn't afford to provide 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:12.460 extracurricular music lessons for them. And with 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:13.960 the state of music in the schools, especially 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:15.919 in elementary school, I think the junior highs 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:17.620 and high schools are doing okay with their music 00:14:17.620 --> 00:14:20.500 programs, but there's very little, I think, to 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:24.009 my knowledge. Dedicated music specialists in 00:14:24.009 --> 00:14:26.230 elementary school, so they're really not getting 00:14:26.230 --> 00:14:29.429 that opportunity. So I Think it's a really important 00:14:29.429 --> 00:14:32.149 hole that we have to figure out how to how to 00:14:32.149 --> 00:14:35.929 fix Whether it be in in areas where families 00:14:35.929 --> 00:14:37.250 are struggling or whether they're not because 00:14:37.250 --> 00:14:40.330 I just think it should be part of education End 00:14:40.330 --> 00:14:43.769 of story. Yeah, the arts and music and and you 00:14:43.769 --> 00:14:46.669 know, just learning to be human. Yeah, you know 00:14:46.669 --> 00:14:50.149 and I think so much of what music teaches us. 00:14:50.549 --> 00:14:53.889 Just the idea of, it teaches you to recognize 00:14:53.889 --> 00:14:56.649 beauty, it teaches you to connect, it teaches 00:14:56.649 --> 00:14:59.190 you empathy, it teaches you understanding, it 00:14:59.190 --> 00:15:02.870 teaches you resilience, it teaches you just collaboration, 00:15:03.470 --> 00:15:05.909 partnership, appreciation for other people, you 00:15:05.909 --> 00:15:08.009 know, and they're recognizing strengths in other 00:15:08.009 --> 00:15:09.950 people. And I think that's what's so good, I 00:15:09.950 --> 00:15:12.549 think, about our orchestra is I think we really 00:15:12.549 --> 00:15:14.309 champion each other and we enjoy each other and 00:15:14.309 --> 00:15:16.950 we build each other up. It's a very positive, 00:15:16.950 --> 00:15:19.870 I think. In my experience anyway environment 00:15:19.870 --> 00:15:22.269 that everybody's there very much in support of 00:15:22.269 --> 00:15:24.090 everybody else And even if you have a bad day, 00:15:24.429 --> 00:15:25.769 you know, sometimes you have a bad day. You may 00:15:25.769 --> 00:15:29.470 don't don't sound the way you want to or As a 00:15:29.470 --> 00:15:31.629 brass player you're cracking out. Sure. Nobody's 00:15:31.629 --> 00:15:33.970 gonna Nobody's gonna come after you for it. They 00:15:33.970 --> 00:15:37.110 just like you know how that feels. Yeah, it's 00:15:37.110 --> 00:15:38.990 perfect You know, it's been my experience too, 00:15:39.250 --> 00:15:40.450 especially in our brass section. I feel like 00:15:40.450 --> 00:15:44.269 we've got such a collaborative positive vibe 00:15:44.269 --> 00:15:46.470 going, where we're all rooting for each other 00:15:46.470 --> 00:15:48.590 to do well. And how can we make this better together? 00:15:48.690 --> 00:15:51.669 Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And I love listening to 00:15:51.669 --> 00:15:53.450 you play, Adam. You've been such an inspiration 00:15:53.450 --> 00:15:55.070 to me, honestly. Oh, thanks, Heather. When you 00:15:55.070 --> 00:15:59.769 came, I just was like, how does he do that? But 00:15:59.769 --> 00:16:03.730 yeah, you gave me a different view into how to 00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:05.850 be a brass player, I think. Oh, thanks. That's 00:16:05.850 --> 00:16:08.409 very kind. But yeah, you just have such a beautiful, 00:16:08.529 --> 00:16:12.610 effortless way of... communicating through your 00:16:12.610 --> 00:16:15.409 trumpet and it's not just trumpet playing it's 00:16:15.409 --> 00:16:17.610 not just trumpet playing so thank you that's 00:16:17.610 --> 00:16:20.110 very sweet well that's true and then you you 00:16:20.110 --> 00:16:24.090 inspire me thank you for that oh well my my pleasure 00:16:24.090 --> 00:16:27.850 you know it's yeah you know just doing my job 00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:30.129 just doing my job but just i spit and blow for 00:16:30.129 --> 00:16:32.309 a living that's what i tell people but you know 00:16:32.309 --> 00:16:34.730 i've seen with uh with new folks coming into 00:16:34.730 --> 00:16:37.899 the orchestra Even in my very early years here. 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:41.740 I saw new players coming in and revitalizing 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:44.279 the players around them Not even saying that 00:16:44.279 --> 00:16:46.639 those players had you know had been in a funk 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:48.759 in any way and they're playing but just new ideas 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:51.100 coming in and I think anything like that Yeah, 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:52.919 any new energy. I think just yeah. Yeah. Yeah 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:56.200 just elevates you again I think you know, we 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:58.840 go through that in a long career that you you 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:02.029 can't you know stay at that super keen level 00:17:02.029 --> 00:17:03.750 that you had when you were first starting and 00:17:03.750 --> 00:17:05.130 everything every piece is new and everything 00:17:05.130 --> 00:17:07.490 is you know yeah i mean life has its ups and 00:17:07.490 --> 00:17:10.410 downs and twists and turns and we are just people 00:17:10.410 --> 00:17:12.490 playing our instruments and all that stuff and 00:17:12.490 --> 00:17:15.490 life is going on and you're having kids and you're 00:17:15.490 --> 00:17:17.630 having struggles and you're you know having great 00:17:17.630 --> 00:17:20.869 times and having hard times and it is it is really 00:17:20.869 --> 00:17:24.069 neat to to hear and i and you've you've experienced 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:27.019 this too when When somebody just does something 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:30.400 really great, like just slays a solo or, or does 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.400 just something incredibly beautiful that just 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:36.000 the whole energy changes and everybody just kind 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:38.799 of hones in. And same thing, being on the stage 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:41.119 when, I mean, we've had conductors and we've 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:44.140 had other conductors and not so much lately, 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.440 but in my first years here, there were many times 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:49.640 when we, we collectively saved concerts that 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:53.500 were almost derailed by perhaps less than stellar 00:17:53.500 --> 00:17:56.920 baton waivers. That in itself was actually astounding. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:59.279 The way you kind of just all the focus changes 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:02.079 and the energy switches and it becomes cross 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:06.380 stage. It's very, very, very interesting. I think 00:18:06.380 --> 00:18:09.180 everyone on stage has the ability to derail a 00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:13.539 concert. This is sort of the other side of the 00:18:13.539 --> 00:18:15.440 coin, right? We all sort of have the opportunity 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:18.180 to contribute a lot. But we also have the opportunity 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:20.740 to do the opposite. And I struggled with that 00:18:20.740 --> 00:18:23.240 a lot with my early years, you know, before now 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:25.559 I feel like I have sort of an earned sense of 00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:27.640 confidence. Like I know what I'm doing. I've 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:30.440 been on the job for 16 years now. But in my early 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:33.359 days, especially with repertoire that I was less 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:37.160 comfortable with, I really was sort of up against 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:39.799 this mental game of feeling like every note I 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:43.339 play, I can I can screw the whole thing up. And 00:18:43.339 --> 00:18:46.450 that was a really bad place to be. mentally. 00:18:46.869 --> 00:18:50.009 And over the years, I've sort of, aside from 00:18:50.009 --> 00:18:52.369 building my confidence through, you know, just 00:18:52.369 --> 00:18:54.869 doing it all the time, I also was able to kind 00:18:54.869 --> 00:18:56.710 of turn that mental game around and think like, 00:18:56.809 --> 00:18:59.549 no, no, with every note, every entrance, even 00:18:59.549 --> 00:19:01.089 if I'm playing like a Mozart symphony or something, 00:19:01.490 --> 00:19:03.569 with every note, I can contribute. I can make 00:19:03.569 --> 00:19:05.990 this whole thing better. I can add something. 00:19:06.089 --> 00:19:10.500 I can make it colorful. I can Help with any aspect 00:19:10.500 --> 00:19:12.339 of the music right and by trying to think about 00:19:12.339 --> 00:19:14.740 how I can contribute to what we're doing Rather 00:19:14.740 --> 00:19:16.980 than oh, no, how am I gonna screw this whole 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:19.779 thing up? Like it's you know, it's that's been 00:19:19.779 --> 00:19:22.099 a really sort of revolutionary change for me. 00:19:22.359 --> 00:19:24.380 Yeah Yeah, I've been it I've been in the headspace 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:26.160 to you and as a horn player I mean, you know, 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.000 we're known for missing notes. That's the that's 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:31.480 how people like to talk about us But I think 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:32.759 if you listen to this section, we don't miss 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:35.619 and we don't miss too many notes You know what? 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:38.309 I feel like when I always think about good misses 00:19:38.309 --> 00:19:40.569 and bad misses, right? Like if I'm hedging my 00:19:40.569 --> 00:19:43.769 bets, I'm going to miss. But if I go for it, 00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:46.049 I'm less likely to miss. And it's also going 00:19:46.049 --> 00:19:48.609 to be better. And if I miss, then whoops. Yeah. 00:19:48.650 --> 00:19:51.569 Right. Like, you know, my teacher, Andrew McCandless, 00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:54.329 always said that if you're doing it right, when 00:19:54.329 --> 00:19:56.410 you miss a note, no one is going to be more surprised 00:19:56.410 --> 00:20:00.369 than you. You know, and I love that because, 00:20:00.529 --> 00:20:01.970 you know, you're going to miss notes. Of course, 00:20:02.029 --> 00:20:04.750 you're going to miss notes. But if you're committed 00:20:04.750 --> 00:20:06.549 and you're going for it and you're trying to 00:20:06.549 --> 00:20:09.849 make a big statement one way or another yeah 00:20:09.849 --> 00:20:12.490 if you miss a note fine yeah and i use that in 00:20:12.490 --> 00:20:13.849 my teaching too it's funny that you talk about 00:20:13.849 --> 00:20:17.970 that because uh again horn drives me nuts that 00:20:17.970 --> 00:20:21.230 horn is always introduced to students as a really 00:20:21.230 --> 00:20:24.309 hard instrument yeah yeah and that it just sets 00:20:24.309 --> 00:20:25.990 them up with the with the wrong mindset from 00:20:25.990 --> 00:20:27.950 the very beginning oh it's one of the most difficult 00:20:27.950 --> 00:20:30.170 oh it's going to be really hard oh expectations 00:20:30.170 --> 00:20:32.430 can really become reality yeah and it's like 00:20:32.430 --> 00:20:35.490 it's like We do the same thing, you and I, essentially, 00:20:35.609 --> 00:20:37.349 we have our different challenges because of where 00:20:37.349 --> 00:20:38.890 we play in the harmonic series. So our notes 00:20:38.890 --> 00:20:41.549 are closer together. So we're our, our percentages 00:20:41.549 --> 00:20:44.650 are. Right. Um, but I was talking to my students 00:20:44.650 --> 00:20:47.730 about, if you think about, okay, I did gymnastics 00:20:47.730 --> 00:20:50.170 when I was in high school, whatever. Didn't do 00:20:50.170 --> 00:20:51.309 the balance beam because I hated the balance 00:20:51.309 --> 00:20:53.210 beam because I always fell off, but I learned 00:20:53.210 --> 00:20:55.930 a lot. And if you, if you look at how they teach 00:20:55.930 --> 00:20:57.769 kids on the balance beam, they start with the 00:20:57.769 --> 00:21:00.109 tape on the floor and it's all about centering. 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:03.099 Right. So. they start them with the tape and 00:21:03.099 --> 00:21:04.619 they and they're doing all their cartwheels and 00:21:04.619 --> 00:21:06.759 whatever they put them on one little beam that's 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:08.900 on the floor it's not raised up yet with mats 00:21:08.900 --> 00:21:10.799 all around so if you fall sideways you're not 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:12.380 gonna hurt yourself and then they gradually raise 00:21:12.380 --> 00:21:14.500 that as you but it's all about learning to stay 00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:17.299 centered stay centered stay centered and if you 00:21:17.299 --> 00:21:18.599 if you watch them in the olympics i mean it's 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:20.059 ridiculous what they do in four inches right 00:21:20.059 --> 00:21:21.559 and they're flipping around and how they can 00:21:21.559 --> 00:21:23.839 possibly land but it's all about that idea of 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:25.900 centering and if you think about that as a brass 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:29.920 player right then then the sides don't matter 00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:32.000 Right? If you stay in the center of the sound. 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:34.319 So I try to get them to kind of think about that. 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:36.440 It's like, think about what to do, not what not 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:40.319 to do. Sure. So it's just trying to simplify. 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:42.920 And again, is it easy? No, but you can learn 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:46.599 to play with more ease by concentrating on what 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:49.200 it is you need to do. Does that make sense? Yeah, 00:21:49.259 --> 00:21:51.200 absolutely. I tell my students that playing a 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:54.559 brass instrument is not difficult. It's tricky. 00:21:54.819 --> 00:21:57.089 Yeah. Because it has its challenges. Yeah, it 00:21:57.089 --> 00:21:59.190 has its challenges. But the challenges are largely 00:21:59.190 --> 00:22:01.650 about like, understanding what you're trying 00:22:01.650 --> 00:22:04.950 to do. It's not that those things are physically 00:22:04.950 --> 00:22:07.710 difficult. Exactly. Because the better you're 00:22:07.710 --> 00:22:10.549 playing, the easier it is. Right? Yeah. So it's 00:22:10.549 --> 00:22:13.190 about figuring out what you're actually trying 00:22:13.190 --> 00:22:15.329 to do and how you're trying to do it. And what 00:22:15.329 --> 00:22:17.269 you're trying to hear. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's 00:22:17.269 --> 00:22:19.190 what's tricky about it. But it's like, the better 00:22:19.190 --> 00:22:21.589 you are, the easier it gets. Yeah. So and you 00:22:21.589 --> 00:22:22.990 know, when you have success with a student and 00:22:22.990 --> 00:22:26.259 you get them to sort of follow your your suggestions 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:29.880 of how to center and create the sound and things 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:31.099 that they're struggling with, all of a sudden 00:22:31.099 --> 00:22:33.740 they can do and it's wonderful. And you say, 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:37.720 was that hard? Well, no, that was easy. There 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:39.819 you go. Yeah. You know, if it's hard, then you're 00:22:39.819 --> 00:22:41.099 working against yourself. You're working against 00:22:41.099 --> 00:22:43.500 the instrument in a way. So I use the analogy 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:47.009 of like ball striking sports, baseball. tennis, 00:22:47.210 --> 00:22:49.529 golf, anything like that. When like when you 00:22:49.529 --> 00:22:51.390 hit the ball, when you strike the ball poorly, 00:22:51.769 --> 00:22:53.549 you feel it in your hands. It feels bad. But 00:22:53.549 --> 00:22:56.230 when you have a smooth, relaxed swing and you 00:22:56.230 --> 00:22:57.990 hit it right in the sweet spot, it feels like 00:22:57.990 --> 00:23:00.130 you've done no work and you get the best result. 00:23:00.430 --> 00:23:02.809 Yeah. Yeah. We actually we actually studied the 00:23:02.809 --> 00:23:04.890 intergame of tennis in my chamber music class 00:23:04.890 --> 00:23:08.630 in university. That's the book by Timothy Galway, 00:23:08.730 --> 00:23:11.690 Timothy Galway. And then it was sort of redone 00:23:11.690 --> 00:23:15.470 later as the intergame of music buddies by Some 00:23:15.470 --> 00:23:19.450 green, don't don't green, Dan green. Anyway, 00:23:19.529 --> 00:23:21.589 it doesn't matter. We can't remember. And I read 00:23:21.589 --> 00:23:23.349 both, but actually I think I got more out of 00:23:23.349 --> 00:23:25.609 the inner game of tennis because it allows you 00:23:25.609 --> 00:23:28.390 to draw your own analogies. Yes. Right. So you 00:23:28.390 --> 00:23:29.990 make your own, your own connections. So I'm not 00:23:29.990 --> 00:23:33.250 being told how to think about it. So, so I like 00:23:33.250 --> 00:23:34.970 to use analogies a lot in my teaching actually, 00:23:34.970 --> 00:23:38.250 cause I, I want kids to like all find out, are 00:23:38.250 --> 00:23:39.910 they an artist or do they have a sport that they 00:23:39.910 --> 00:23:42.710 like and try to sort of find something. that's 00:23:42.710 --> 00:23:44.309 already familiar to them, that they do, that 00:23:44.309 --> 00:23:46.529 they can relate and kind of make a connection 00:23:46.529 --> 00:23:48.450 there because I think that's really, really valuable. 00:23:49.049 --> 00:23:52.170 But even just getting people to listen. Sometimes 00:23:52.170 --> 00:23:54.410 I just get them to play something again and just 00:23:54.410 --> 00:23:56.190 listen to what you're doing or listen for something 00:23:56.190 --> 00:23:58.670 and all of a sudden it changes and say, well, 00:23:58.769 --> 00:24:01.250 what did you do differently? I don't know. You 00:24:01.250 --> 00:24:03.369 listened, right? It doesn't really matter what 00:24:03.369 --> 00:24:06.109 you did. the fact that your ears work and they're 00:24:06.109 --> 00:24:08.089 so powerful. And if you connect that to your 00:24:08.089 --> 00:24:09.869 musical thought, and if you connect that to your, 00:24:09.950 --> 00:24:12.349 well, in our case, our wind, I guess I use that. 00:24:12.750 --> 00:24:15.130 It does magical things like fairy dust. It really 00:24:15.130 --> 00:24:17.210 is. It really is. And yeah, I mean, the more 00:24:17.210 --> 00:24:20.170 I think about music and the more I teach, the 00:24:20.170 --> 00:24:25.109 more I realize that the big picture is the most 00:24:25.109 --> 00:24:27.410 important thing. I mean, it sounds obvious, right? 00:24:27.769 --> 00:24:30.990 But we get so stuck in the weeds of playing our 00:24:30.990 --> 00:24:34.759 instrument and learning specific music and all 00:24:34.759 --> 00:24:38.859 these things that it becomes easy to lose sight 00:24:38.859 --> 00:24:42.140 of sort of like the grand art of it all. Right. 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:46.339 The larger shapes and meanings that we're trying 00:24:46.339 --> 00:24:49.779 to sort of build and convey. It's so backwards 00:24:49.779 --> 00:24:51.940 to think that way, because when we have a clear 00:24:51.940 --> 00:24:54.160 understanding of that, we have a clearer picture 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:56.500 in our head of what the end goal is, what we're 00:24:56.500 --> 00:24:59.099 actually trying to do. All those other things 00:24:59.099 --> 00:25:02.440 fall into place much more easily. Yeah. Yeah. 00:25:02.599 --> 00:25:05.609 Our brains. Think are more able to connect the 00:25:05.609 --> 00:25:09.410 dots. Yeah, we have a clearer sense of what the 00:25:09.410 --> 00:25:11.890 whole picture is times when you're practicing 00:25:11.890 --> 00:25:15.309 something for for a concert and it's just a slog 00:25:15.309 --> 00:25:17.490 and you just can't quite and then you put it 00:25:17.490 --> 00:25:19.269 in context and you played in rehearsals like 00:25:19.269 --> 00:25:23.309 oh Now I now I understand how I need to do this 00:25:23.309 --> 00:25:24.809 to make this work or some maybe it's something 00:25:24.809 --> 00:25:26.910 collective energy that kind of carries you or 00:25:26.910 --> 00:25:30.089 It's it's a really interesting concept, but it's 00:25:30.089 --> 00:25:31.109 you know, and it's the same thing when we listen 00:25:31.109 --> 00:25:34.349 to auditions Right? You know, you can really 00:25:34.349 --> 00:25:38.630 tell if the person playing is playing with the 00:25:38.630 --> 00:25:41.289 music in their head, like they know what their 00:25:41.289 --> 00:25:43.589 role is in the certain excerpt that they're playing. 00:25:43.589 --> 00:25:47.210 Yeah. And the color and the style and all those 00:25:47.210 --> 00:25:49.369 kinds of, and you know that, and conversely, 00:25:49.450 --> 00:25:51.009 you can tell when somebody is just playing notes. 00:25:51.130 --> 00:25:52.589 Right. You know, they can play beautiful notes, 00:25:52.630 --> 00:25:54.750 they can play right notes, but they're not playing 00:25:54.750 --> 00:25:57.069 the music. They're not playing the music in context 00:25:57.069 --> 00:25:59.390 that are with an understanding of. what it needs 00:25:59.390 --> 00:26:01.650 to be. Yeah. And this is such a hard thing to 00:26:01.650 --> 00:26:04.869 convey to students. It's so hard. Well, I remember 00:26:04.869 --> 00:26:08.269 I did a summer program, the Kent Blossom Festival, 00:26:08.930 --> 00:26:10.730 working with members of the Cleveland Orchestra, 00:26:10.930 --> 00:26:16.869 talking about context and understanding how excerpts 00:26:16.869 --> 00:26:20.289 need to have context and we need to understand 00:26:20.289 --> 00:26:22.789 how we fit. And we were doing, it was wonderful. 00:26:22.869 --> 00:26:24.650 It was chamber music. There was only a few strains, 00:26:24.750 --> 00:26:26.630 35 people in the program. And it was all chamber 00:26:26.630 --> 00:26:28.819 music. There was just two horns. two of every 00:26:28.819 --> 00:26:31.480 wind and then strings. And going to everybody 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:33.920 else's masterclass was really cool. Like learning 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:39.640 how other instruments conceive and execute. And 00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:41.240 again, less like using the inner game of tennis, 00:26:42.180 --> 00:26:44.299 but the inner game of violin playing, the inner 00:26:44.299 --> 00:26:47.019 game of cello playing. Oh, okay. And I remember 00:26:47.019 --> 00:26:49.579 doing a masterclass with John Mack, the oboist, 00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:53.319 who was principal in Cleveland. fascinating guy 00:26:53.319 --> 00:26:56.000 and just an amazing musician. And I was doing 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:59.480 Brahms' second, second movement. And I played 00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:01.900 it and he's like, yeah, yeah, well, yeah, but 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:03.160 you got, you got to change color here. You got 00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:05.039 to, well, and I was like, kind of liked him like 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:07.640 blankly because I was still a very young musician 00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:09.839 at that point. And he said, well, do it again, 00:27:09.900 --> 00:27:11.680 do it again, play it again. So I started playing, 00:27:12.920 --> 00:27:15.220 and he started playing over my shoulder when 00:27:15.220 --> 00:27:17.980 the oboe comes in. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And 00:27:17.980 --> 00:27:20.019 I, I can, every, every time I think about that, 00:27:20.180 --> 00:27:22.180 the hair on the back of my neck still goes up 00:27:22.180 --> 00:27:24.700 because it was just like, he lifted me from, 00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:29.000 from where I was playing notes to, to, to collaborating 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:32.819 in this amazing music. Brahms is one of my heart 00:27:32.819 --> 00:27:35.140 composers, but I still remember that. It's so 00:27:35.140 --> 00:27:36.799 funny. There's these little seminal moments that 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:38.980 you remember sometimes that just changed how 00:27:38.980 --> 00:27:42.779 you viewed things. Yeah. He was, he was really 00:27:42.779 --> 00:27:45.730 quite inspiring. Cool. Yeah. Well, speaking of 00:27:45.730 --> 00:27:47.809 seminal moments, Heather, I wanted to ask you 00:27:47.809 --> 00:27:50.369 about some highlights from your time here at 00:27:50.369 --> 00:27:55.049 the CPO. What are the things that you will never 00:27:55.049 --> 00:27:56.930 forget? What are the moments like that that stick 00:27:56.930 --> 00:28:01.569 with you? My very first year I had to play with 00:28:01.569 --> 00:28:03.750 Mario Bernardi. It was his last year. My first 00:28:03.750 --> 00:28:06.529 year was his last year. First time I played Beethoven 00:28:06.529 --> 00:28:12.349 9 here. And Kurt Kellum, our sadly recently departed 00:28:12.349 --> 00:28:15.430 principal horn at the time. said, he's going 00:28:15.430 --> 00:28:18.609 to, you're new, he doesn't trust you, so he's 00:28:18.609 --> 00:28:20.950 going to ride you. And he certainly, he yelled 00:28:20.950 --> 00:28:23.430 at me in rehearsal and took me to task and whatever. 00:28:23.470 --> 00:28:26.089 And then I played it in the concert as he turned 00:28:26.089 --> 00:28:31.329 purple in the face, Mario, not Kurt. And he actually 00:28:31.329 --> 00:28:33.970 came up and came through the orchestra and gave 00:28:33.970 --> 00:28:36.150 me a bow and kissed my hand. Oh, lovely. So that 00:28:36.150 --> 00:28:41.210 was, that was pretty validating. Yeah. Just I 00:28:41.210 --> 00:28:43.430 think any concert I played with Hans Graf still 00:28:43.430 --> 00:28:46.170 is is one of the great joys of my life. I think 00:28:46.170 --> 00:28:50.029 he's just the conductor I felt the most connected 00:28:50.029 --> 00:28:53.430 to like viscerally connected to as far as musically 00:28:53.430 --> 00:28:56.529 and emotionally and somebody always asked me 00:28:56.529 --> 00:29:01.190 or people always asked me rather why we loved 00:29:01.190 --> 00:29:05.609 him so much because he he wasn't visually from 00:29:05.609 --> 00:29:07.769 the from the back he wasn't a very demonstrative 00:29:07.769 --> 00:29:11.119 conductor in that way he wasn't into gyrations 00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:13.619 and histrionics. But if you saw him from the 00:29:13.619 --> 00:29:15.759 front, if you watched his face, I mean, I just 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:19.960 said, you know, he gives you his heart and asks 00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:22.180 for yours in return. And you know that you can 00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:24.700 trust him with it. Yep. You know, and he will 00:29:24.700 --> 00:29:26.980 ask things that you, he always made me feel like 00:29:26.980 --> 00:29:30.299 I could play better than I thought I could. And 00:29:30.299 --> 00:29:33.140 somehow he knew that what he asked was possible. 00:29:33.259 --> 00:29:34.859 So he always made us feel like we were better 00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:37.339 than we were. And he's had a way of drawing that 00:29:37.339 --> 00:29:38.980 out of us. So any, anytime we played with him, 00:29:38.980 --> 00:29:42.630 I think is. is extraordinary, honestly. Oh, it's 00:29:42.630 --> 00:29:44.829 wonderful. I still remember being on tour and 00:29:44.829 --> 00:29:48.789 that when we played the music for Rhyme. I remember 00:29:48.789 --> 00:29:51.730 my first note just coming out on the stage for 00:29:51.730 --> 00:29:56.009 rehearsal for soundcheck, just going, wow, that 00:29:56.009 --> 00:29:59.089 was pretty cool. And then I remember two other 00:29:59.089 --> 00:30:01.410 things. I remember dumping my spit on the stage 00:30:01.410 --> 00:30:05.470 and thinking, man, think of all the other horn 00:30:05.470 --> 00:30:08.390 players. that I'm mingling spit with. Who else 00:30:08.390 --> 00:30:10.069 has dumped their spit on this stage? It was a 00:30:10.069 --> 00:30:11.549 really strange thought, but it was actually, 00:30:11.690 --> 00:30:14.609 it actually was a thought. And then just these 00:30:14.609 --> 00:30:16.470 beaten up old music, wooden music stands that 00:30:16.470 --> 00:30:18.549 they had, it looks like a beaver had gotten after 00:30:18.549 --> 00:30:20.289 them because they were all chipped and hacked 00:30:20.289 --> 00:30:22.210 at. And I thought that was very strange for such 00:30:22.210 --> 00:30:24.869 an illustrious concert hall to have these ready 00:30:24.869 --> 00:30:27.430 old music stands. But anyway, that has nothing 00:30:27.430 --> 00:30:29.230 to do with music, but it was just a, I just remembered 00:30:29.230 --> 00:30:33.410 that. Well, in your 32 years here at the CPO, 00:30:33.650 --> 00:30:36.210 usually I limit people to one. I try and limit 00:30:36.210 --> 00:30:39.009 people to one, but since you're retiring, I want 00:30:39.009 --> 00:30:40.849 to give you a chance to talk about the people 00:30:40.849 --> 00:30:44.250 on stage who inspired you. I know you talked 00:30:44.250 --> 00:30:47.809 a lot about Lori and she's, you know, like you 00:30:47.809 --> 00:30:49.869 said, hand in glove for you, but who are some 00:30:49.869 --> 00:30:52.210 of the other people? Jean Landa, our previous 00:30:52.210 --> 00:30:54.009 principal, Oboe, who was principal here for a 00:30:54.009 --> 00:30:55.849 long time, just one of the most glorious musicians 00:30:55.849 --> 00:30:59.930 I've ever heard play. Some of the O's in the 00:30:59.930 --> 00:31:02.430 repertoire I will always think of. of his performances, 00:31:02.569 --> 00:31:06.049 the pinnacle. And it was, again, it wasn't a 00:31:06.049 --> 00:31:08.009 technical thing. It was just a way he had of 00:31:08.009 --> 00:31:11.069 being so expressive and so pure in what he did. 00:31:11.970 --> 00:31:14.349 Kurt, the sound that Kurt could get out of a 00:31:14.349 --> 00:31:17.349 horn was just check five. I think for me, for 00:31:17.349 --> 00:31:20.430 him, was one of the pinnacle things that he did 00:31:20.430 --> 00:31:23.230 that just was sort of like a, it's pretty hard 00:31:23.230 --> 00:31:25.920 to surpass the way he played that. As far as 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:29.240 soloists go, the ones that I remember are those 00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:31.660 ones that I feel like we played with, not for. 00:31:31.859 --> 00:31:33.700 Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? So I think 00:31:33.700 --> 00:31:37.000 of people like John Kamara Parker, who's very 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:40.579 much a collaborative soloist. He looks at us 00:31:40.579 --> 00:31:42.859 and he reacts to what we're doing and he listens 00:31:42.859 --> 00:31:45.940 to what we're doing. It's very much chamber music 00:31:45.940 --> 00:31:47.539 -y when we play with him. We haven't played with 00:31:47.539 --> 00:31:49.500 him for a while, but he's a wonderfully generous 00:31:49.500 --> 00:31:52.450 musician, I think. And then just previously, 00:31:52.450 --> 00:31:54.670 uh, last week or so, was it last week? Two weeks 00:31:54.670 --> 00:31:58.049 ago. Two weeks ago, the Tchaikovsky concert with 00:31:58.049 --> 00:32:02.329 Julian Rhee was, I thought, one of the most memorable 00:32:02.329 --> 00:32:05.089 concerto performances we've done in a while. 00:32:05.089 --> 00:32:06.890 And again, it was very collaborative. He was, 00:32:06.930 --> 00:32:08.950 he, it was funny. I went out with, I had a friend 00:32:08.950 --> 00:32:11.509 come out from Ontario because she wanted to see 00:32:11.509 --> 00:32:13.089 a concert before I retired. And she brought a 00:32:13.089 --> 00:32:14.549 friend with her. We went out after and talked 00:32:14.549 --> 00:32:17.210 about it and, and they were just blown away. 00:32:17.210 --> 00:32:19.589 And they said, it was like, he just like, he 00:32:19.589 --> 00:32:22.289 was. there was no separation between him and 00:32:22.289 --> 00:32:25.089 his instrument. And it was just so organic and 00:32:25.089 --> 00:32:28.950 so much flow. And again, so much connection to 00:32:28.950 --> 00:32:31.789 what the orchestra was doing. And it was really 00:32:31.789 --> 00:32:34.190 extraordinary, I thought, in that way. Great. 00:32:35.049 --> 00:32:39.289 Well, I have enjoyed listening to you perform 00:32:39.289 --> 00:32:41.470 over all the years, Heather, and we're really 00:32:41.470 --> 00:32:44.250 going to miss you. I know that you're deeply 00:32:44.250 --> 00:32:49.009 respected by so many of your colleagues. Every 00:32:49.009 --> 00:32:52.470 day at work, your attitude always reflects a 00:32:52.470 --> 00:32:55.069 joy for what we're doing and such a care and 00:32:55.069 --> 00:32:57.890 for the stewardship of what we're doing as performers 00:32:57.890 --> 00:33:02.130 and educators in a way that I think keeps us 00:33:02.130 --> 00:33:07.130 all on track. Well, that's very kind, Adam. Oh, 00:33:07.430 --> 00:33:10.829 I think it's true. Well, I appreciate that. That's 00:33:10.829 --> 00:33:13.930 that's very humbling. Well, we'll miss you, Heather. 00:33:14.490 --> 00:33:16.730 Well, I will very much miss you guys. You're 00:33:16.730 --> 00:33:19.430 such a huge part of my life and... Well, you 00:33:19.430 --> 00:33:21.369 know where to find us, huh? Oh, I do. At the 00:33:21.369 --> 00:33:26.349 bar. I know where you go after concerts. Oh, 00:33:26.630 --> 00:33:29.289 boy. Well, thanks so much for chatting with me, 00:33:29.329 --> 00:33:30.769 Heather. I really appreciate it. I know. It just 00:33:30.769 --> 00:33:32.049 feels like we have way more to talk about, but 00:33:32.049 --> 00:33:33.930 there you go. I'll see you at work tomorrow, 00:33:34.289 --> 00:33:37.490 so we can continue this. We can. Thanks, Adam. 00:33:37.569 --> 00:33:40.890 It's great to talk to you. Notes from the stage 00:33:40.890 --> 00:33:43.230 is an independent production of the Calgary Philharmonic 00:33:43.230 --> 00:33:45.930 Players Association. The opinions expressed here 00:33:45.930 --> 00:33:48.109 are our own and do not reflect those of the Calgary 00:33:48.109 --> 00:33:50.789 Philharmonic Orchestra. Our thanks to Nathan 00:33:50.789 --> 00:33:53.930 Chandler for his technical expertise. The music 00:33:53.930 --> 00:33:55.630 you heard on this episode was from the Beethoven 00:33:55.630 --> 00:33:58.150 Sextet performed by Rosa Silvatica featuring 00:33:58.150 --> 00:34:00.910 Laurie Matiation and Heather Wooten. We've got 00:34:00.910 --> 00:34:02.450 something a little bit different planned for 00:34:02.450 --> 00:34:04.410 the next show in two weeks. Talk to you soon! 00:34:14.819 --> 00:34:16.219 you