["Pomp and Circumstance"] Hi there, and welcome
to Notes from the Stage, a show from the musicians
of the Calgary Philharmonic. We're the people
playing our hearts out every week of the orchestra
season. I'm Adams Innatelli. Usually I play first
trumpet in the Calgary Phil, but today I'm your
host, and I'm here with John Yeoh, brand new
assistant principal double bass of the CPO. Hi,
John! Hello, hello! How are you doing? Good,
very good. How about you? very well thanks so
i say you're the new assistant principal double
base which is true but you're not new to the
cpo that's correct yes i was a section base before
and there many uh trials and tribulations, I've
eventually gotten a promotion, I guess. That's
right. But not not like in most businesses, when
you get a promotion through good, you know, doing
a good job, presumably, or the Peter principle,
depending on your job, you have to go basically
from scratch. Yeah, pretty much. So that was
a lot of fun. So, yeah, just for people who don't
know the business, what does that mean? Like
when you're already in an orchestra and you want
to move to a different position within that orchestra.
When that happens essentially you have to you
compete with the exact same applicant pool from
whoever else outside would be Applying for the
job. So So an open audition open to anyone just
like just like any other job in the orchestra.
Mm -hmm I do get to Bypass the first round but
aside from that my audition the screen stayed
up the entire time so people listening did not
know who I was and Thankfully, they ended up
picking me. Yeah, that's great. You know, I think
the screen staying up is great for a lot of reasons.
You know, you want to have the fairest possible
audition, but also when you win an audition with
the screen up, you know that you've won it with
your playing. Yeah, absolutely. And like I wouldn't
have it any other way. Obviously, like it's also
like a really good feeling to be like, yeah,
I was the one that played really well that day
and was the one that was chosen. Like it's a
very gratifying. Sensation. Yeah, and when you're
in the job, you know It gives you a different
sense of confidence because you know that yeah,
they picked you based on your playing They picked
you based on the decisions that you made for
that audition So you have more confidence in
your choices? Mm -hmm So I think the other interesting
part of auditioning for a job within your own
orchestra Is that you're letting go of any influence
that you might have in the process, right? Yeah,
normally like, you know musicians love to be
a critical and they love to be on the panel oftentimes
and they love to give their own opinions. And
yeah, when you're actually auditioning for it,
you're the one who's being opined on. Yeah, that's
right. And, you know, if you hadn't won the audition,
you're going to be working next to someone who
you had no input in choosing. Right. And if you
had if you hadn't taken the audition, you probably
would have been on that panel. Yeah. So you would
have had some input into the higher. Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, this was like the third time that I auditioned
for that same spot. I auditioned three trumpet
auditions. Really? Yeah. Yeah. So you know how
fun it is to bash your head on the same. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. And like live with like a small amount
of music for the better part of I don't know.
Like for me, I think it was like one and a half
years. It felt really long. Mm hmm. Really took
up a lot of all my free time, really, because
you got to practice. But I feel through all that,
like it started to each audition kind of really
felt like a marked like signpost of progress
for me. Yeah, it was. I haven't really experienced
that that much in music. We're like, oh, I am
actually getting better. That's weird and kind
of cool. That's so funny. You know, how long
have you been in the job now in in the CPL? Yeah,
I joined in 2020, actually. Oh, right before
the shutdown. Yes. So I got. really lucky with
the audition timing because the audition i think
was november 2019 and then yeah a couple months
later stuff was kind of crazy yeah but boy you
know you talk about uh trying to have that experience
of like oh i'm better now it will come that started
for me a whole you know around like 11 12 years
on the job things started coming around and i
was like i remember this being hard or i remember
this passage being a challenge and like you know
then i'm preparing it again and it's like oh
This isn't like a nightmare challenge anymore.
This is an opportunity for me to do something
beautiful. So I think give it a little more time
and I think you'll see those parts coming back
on your stand and have some different feelings
about them. I mean, I think I'm already starting
to notice that as well, like possibly because
I was in audition shape. Like, I definitely started
to notice that, like the contributions that I
was making, it was starting to. like little micro
influences within the section and you know how
that kind of blossoms out in the orchestra the
whole microcosm of what we do you know but it
was like oh that's kind of cool and i don't know
especially for bass it's such like a rhythmically
driven instrument and i started really noticing
especially when i was sitting front stand which
i'm now always sitting all the time um just like
the little tiny like especially with bass it's
such a slow moving instrument and like you know
bases are always late so if we just a little
tiny fraction play more ahead of the beat i'm
noticing a huge difference already and just like
keeping things moving because large masses like
an orchestra often like to slow down and drag
yeah yeah i i think to the lay person it might
not be clear how much the bass section is driving
the bus yeah it's it's terrifying especially
now that i'm sitting front desk yeah yeah yeah
boy oh boy yeah but yeah the the bass instruments
across the orchestra i'm thinking of tuba as
well and tom caslin is so good at this of like
really having this propulsive sense of rhythm
That like unifies and drives the whole ensemble.
Yeah, totally like for me before when I was sitting
section a lot of times I mean, okay, this might
sound bad, but sometimes you feel like you can
coast, you know, like you you don't have to a
lot of times Yeah, you're like committing musically,
but you don't have to make the decisions and
put in as much charge I feel ever even though
everyone every section player always has their
level of decision -making as well but but it's
also a section players job to Contribute to the
unity of the sex exactly exactly and now that
I'm leading a lot more. It's Sometimes you'll
feel like when I'm coming in on an entrance.
It almost feels like like you're naked, you know,
like I know that I'm sure you know Yeah, I mean
you got all these big solos all the time and
whatnot and having a place all the things it's
just Just like coming in and making sure you're
on time or like you're driving driving things
along for me is what I really find it's like
Especially again, like what I was saying with
bass, oftentimes we're late. Oftentimes we play
later than what I'd like in general, I guess.
When you have to lead and you have to start before
anyone else, like by three milliseconds, it's
still really terrifying because you're like,
oh god, it's only me for that. My new show of
a second yeah the tip of the spear yeah exactly
exactly yeah and like that's not something to
say that like the section principle comes in
early and then everyone comes in after them it's
like such a micro micro scale yeah you're just.
Dictating in such a way that everyone else can
fly in formation with you exactly yeah and now
i have to be like really aware of how i move
as well and like. I'm really high. I hate counting
rest. I'm not good at counting rest. I'm the
sort of person that I'm terrible at counting
right to use. And yeah, I written a ton of cues
as well. Yeah. And and yeah, when it comes to
that now, it's like, I'm so conscious of when
I get ready, because it's like, if I screw up,
everyone's going to like, look at me. Yeah. Yeah.
If I screw up, they might come in at the wrong
place, too. It was just a just be a bad time.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm really trying to. not
be as much of a space cadet. Here's a good opportunity
for me to say thank you to my colleagues who
sit near me, who saved my butt on rest counting
frequently. Yes, me too, honestly. Thanks. The
problem is sometimes you're listening. It's like
someone's doing something really beautiful. You're
like, oh, yeah, that. Yeah. It's like, oh, no.
Yeah, yeah. That's something else that gets easier
when you've been on the job longer and you know
the tunes better. Yes. Yeah. The worst, the worst
rest to count are the first movement of Beethoven
five. Terrible rests to count. Yeah, it is this
in one it's fast. It's lots of stuff stops Is
there a beat of prep or is that a downbeat of
a silent bar after a fermata? Yeah, especially
like the pending like every conductor does it
differently. Yeah. Yeah that one I know well
enough that I don't have to count the rest. Yeah,
that's good Yeah, I think I'm getting there Which
is good because we're playing that soon while
you're looking forward to Beethoven five this
week. Yes like Beethoven five is one of those
I mean, I know a lot of instruments have like
big excerpts with Beethoven five For bass the
third movement in particular is like the excerpt
Like if you see a list or an audition that doesn't
have that on the list. It's like what? Like that's
it's like it's like a really hipster thing to
do You know, so like every bass player knows
it and For good reason. It's really hard. It's
also really fun. It's just a great piece of music
And on that program is also Mozart 40, which
is another beefy bass thing. Yeah. Nice, nice
light week for you. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. On the
plus side, those are both on the audition. So
I'm still relatively fresh, relatively prepared.
Yeah, that's great. You know, my favorite part
of Mozart 40, there's no trumpets in Mozart 40,
but I always love going out in the hall, especially
in a concert and listening to it, because in
the fourth movement, I think is right at the
beginning of the development. There's this wild
and crazy few bars. There's a 12 -tone row that
Mozart writes in there, and it is shocking in
this very virtuosically tonal language of Mozart.
All of a sudden, there's this totally abstract
setting of the rhythm of the... It's shocking.
Yeah, it's a shocking moment. I always love to
see how an audience react, you know, because
some people are like deeply stunned by this because
it's wild music and some people I feel. Don't
even I think they think that they heard something
wrong and they're like, was that a mistake? What
just happened? But you know, like that's the
technique that in the. First half of the 20th
century would drive much of music and first half
and beyond of 20th century. So What could Mozart
have done if he had more years? Yeah, seriously.
Yeah Yeah, the part that you're speaking in particular
like I guess I don't I never really realized
how weird and off the cuff it is Yeah, you know,
it's like, oh, this is pretty discordant and
I mean that that whole movement is super metal.
Yeah But especially that part that you're talking
about. Yeah. Yeah What a great program really
looking forward to it. Yeah Absolutely So John
you are a real rarity in that you are from Calgary.
Yes, and you live and work in Calgary Yeah, I'm
super lucky and I feel like a lot of I don't
know. I guess like cuz I've grown up here I've
known so many people who have gone away and come
back not just in music but just in general Yeah,
it's a pretty place. It's really nice has a lot
like good balance of Of chill, but also is like
a proper city. Yeah. Yeah. So. So where did you
go when you left town? I did my undergrad at
University of Calgary. So I first started off
playing bass with Sheila Garrett, one of our
our beloved subs now. She used to be the assistant
principal bass. Now you're in her chair. That's
true. Yes. Yeah. And a big smile came across
John's face there. I don't know if he had clocked
that yet. Yeah. So I said I started off with
her and then for my undergrad, I I studied at
the University of Calgary with Chuck Garrett,
so her husband, the previous principal base of
the CPO. And then from there, after my undergrad,
I won my assistant principal spot with the National
Ballet of Canada Orchestra, which I still am
a part of. And that's in Toronto. Yes, that's
in Toronto. I started going out there for like
four months out of the year. And I would come
back here because I don't really want to pay
Toronto rent on a one, four months of salary.
Yeah. Yeah. OK, this is Where things kind of
get hairy, so I took Like a little bit of a little
bit of a break off the ballet so I could go to
school in boston for my masters Um, I did like
one year of that of actually being in boston
at boston university Um, yeah, I studied with
ed barker there. He's the now former principal
base of the bso and then I took so I took a break
off the ballet and so I took a break off of My
grad school to sub with Montreal and I was living
with my sister in Montreal there too and then
the pandemic happened and kind of wrapped up
all my loose ends and I was like oh wow that
worked out really well for me yeah seems like
it would have been really confusing to deal with
otherwise yeah and you had just won this job
in Calgary yeah exactly exactly and so yeah and
then. Didn't play very much for a while because
nothing happened for a while. Yeah. Yeah. Well,
I played a lot of video games. Maybe not so much
base. What did you play? What? What? What's the
most memorable game you played during times?
Well, definitely Breath of the Wild, Zelda, because
I haven't like really sunk my teeth into a video
game at that point in a really long time, like
since I was like in high school and then so.
kind of being forced well actually okay when
the pandemic hit i was like hyper motivated i
was like okay i'm still technically doing my
master so i'm like gonna prepare my master's
recital and uh i was practicing a lot of hours
every day um the neighbors in montreal really
hated that but then yeah i mean i i burnt out
really really hard because that was not sustainable
yeah Intensity and then yeah, and so I eventually
started playing my sister was a genius and got
a Nintendo switch before the pandemic happened
and so yeah when she was like she was still working
remotely because she could and So yeah, I was
like playing Breath of the Wild for like 10 hours
a day. So the point that like every day without
fail, I would have a headache because I haven't
really moved. It was kind of kind of bad when
you look at it. But at the same time, it kind
of like brought it back in for me. And it was
kind of really, I don't know. It was nice to
be a kid again. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, for
sure. Although that was a little extreme. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, it was an extreme time. Truly. Yeah.
I found for me like I ended up hitting a rhythm
of like one month of practicing, one month off,
one month of practicing, one month off. And I
found that that let me stay fresh. And it also
let me sort of practice things that I usually
can't, right? Because usually we have weekly
deadlines of things we have to sound good on.
And it's hard to take the time to like really
slow down and like work on basic things in your
playing, you know, that Don't really get you
in performance shape, but form such a healthy
foundation of what we got to do all the time,
right? So I found that one month on one month
off was a rhythm that let me do that. It let
me work on the basics in a way that I still am
reaping benefits from, and will continue to,
without getting, you know, burnt out or super
bored or anything like that. That's really smart.
That was handy. Next pandemic, I'll make sure
to do that. sitting around all that time must
have been a big change for you because you're
a really active guy. Yes. Well, kind of. I mean,
I really like picking heavy things up and putting
them back down repeatedly. That's one of my great
joys in life for me. I don't know. Yeah, I started
lifting weights in my undergrad and kind of I've
always liked athletic endeavors before before
even picking up base like in high school. Actually,
I wanted to I was like making a beeline towards
like a kinesiology program and then I picked
up base and I was like, no, I'm not going to
do any of that anymore because I like this too
much. What what got you into the kinesiology
stream? Was there a particular sport or activity
that you were into then? I mean, in high school,
my main sport was wrestling, but I don't think
I was particularly good at it. It was just I
like athletic endeavors. The human body. I mean,
it still fascinates me immensely. That's a huge
part of what we do. Yes, very much so. We. think
about that sort of stuff all the time. Yeah,
I mean, like, once I picked up bass, it was like,
I don't know, this is too much fun. And I can't
imagine doing anything else. Yeah, otherwise,
you know. Yeah. So I started I've always kind
of been like active ish. And then I think kind
of around the pandemic is when I actually like
straight up started into powerlifting. And a
little bit before then, like in grad school is
when I I was always kind of like messing around
with my like Lifting weight programming and now
I'm kind of uh, I don't know I think one of my
regrets is like when I started I wish I actually
just stuck with a program instead of just like
faffing about and like not really really progressing
just kind of I was always like if I like lift
and work out my back a lot then my Then my chest
won't like pull my shoulders forward and I can
play bass better sort of thing Sure, which I
think by and large has been pretty true Honestly,
but also now like for the past like I don't know
For five years ish, I've been like dedicated
to powerlifting, which is squats, bench and deadlift,
and you compete with those three lifts, essentially.
So I've been doing a lot of bench pressing and
like base has still been pretty OK. Like I haven't
I've never really had any like playing related
issues like cool switches. Yeah, I like not being
hurt. Yeah, boy, it's the best. Yeah. Yeah. Huge
fan. Something about. Lifting as well. It's just
like it's such a measurable way of progress like
Kind of going back to what we were talking about
like with the auditions like it was like kind
of signposts when I was like Oh, I'm better than
I was before and that audition. I was better
than I was that time. That's still very like
subjective But when it comes to like lifting
weights, it's like number goes up. You are stronger.
Yeah It's super measurable super defined and
definitive and it's like Yeah, I don't know.
It's it's it's a really good feeling to know
that you're actually making progress to whatever
goals you are Yeah, it's such a thing. It's such
a controlled system then it's very honest. Yes,
it's very much so and At the same time, there's
so many like other variables like, you know,
like your body doesn't know the difference between
X amount X X pounds and Y pounds. It only knows
I'm working this hard versus I'm working this
hard. Yeah, but on a day -to -day basis X and
Y might feel the exact same, you know, like,
yep. I don't know. It's just kind of interesting
I think it's trying to like lifting has kind
of taught me to go with the flow because I can't
really control how my body's gonna feel that
day There's obviously things I can control like
am I eating? Well, I may sleeping well, but by
and large it's Like, you know, I can't force
things and it's kind of the same thing for bass
to like If you force a sound on bass or if you
force a sound on any instrument, it doesn't sound
good Yeah, you know, it's needs to come come
out organically sort of thing. So, yeah. Yeah,
there's so much in common between, you know,
I feel like there are so many sports athletic
endeavors in general that you can make so many
comparisons to playing playing an instrument
with that. It's great to be able to take the
lessons from one and apply it to another. Yeah,
absolutely. Yeah. And it's it's funny, too, because
I in the small like powerlifting community that
I. I'm not super huge big part of it because
I have a home gym. But whenever I like take part
into it, it's kind of funny as a musician to
see someone like do their first meet and they're
like really nervous. And like for me, it's like,
oh, but it's like I the first time that I competed,
I likened it to like a professional orchestral
audition. but fun and everyone's cheering you
on and you don't have to worry about these tiny
little muscles and wondering if these they're
like going to work the same way. You only have
to worry about like the big muscles and just
like move as much as you can. Yeah. Yeah. And
it was very, very freeing. So I mean, like, you
know, I can obviously empathize that people are
nervous, but at the same time, I'm like, but
this is so fun. Yeah. It's such like a good vibe.
Like in an audition, the panel is definitely
cheering you on, but they're not going to be
like vocally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, in an audition,
everyone wants every candidate to play their
best, right? Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And
it's easy to forget that when you're when you're
taking an audition, you have those awful audition.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. But yeah, like the supportive
nature of that community reminds me of, you know,
a good day at work. Mm hmm. Absolutely. When
the people around you in the orchestra are we're
all hoping. That everyone plays well. We're hoping
that everyone has a good time on stage because
when, when things are going well is when we make
the most joyful music, right? And we can have
the best experience doing it and make the best
product. I think. Yeah, I agree. Talking about,
you know, the different styles of support, right?
Like when we're in a rehearsal or in, especially
in a concert, right? Like we're not talking to
each other. It's a really sort of strange state
when you think about it, because there are solitary
activities and there are. communal activities,
things, shared experiences with people. When
we're playing a concert on stage, you know, we
might be sitting next to these people in a very
intense environment doing a thing together for
a couple of hours. But when we're doing it, we
don't speak to each other. Yeah. Right. All that
communication and all that support is nonverbal.
Right. Like I. You know, when I'm. Not sure about
account and Miranda kind of nudges me it gives
me on her hand the information that I need that's
one kind of support and I really appreciate it
but also like when you're playing and when you
go for something. And people come with you that
feels like support as well and when someone goes
for it and you support them you know that they're
feeling that as well and like it's such an interesting
combination of I think of like a shared. Experience
and an individual experience because it because
the communication is so limited Yeah, very much.
So yeah, but I mean at the same time I guess
like yeah musicians are expert communicators
in nonverbal Yeah forms, you know, like oftentimes
like just like looking across the orchestra and
you just like You you barely like lock eyes with
anyone and it's like oh, this is where the magic's
happening Yeah, you know, yeah and when stuff
like that happens, it's It's incredible. It's
such a rush to perform in that way. One of my
favorite ways, or this is a little more humorous,
but bass solos are so rare. Sometimes in our
part, we'll have something marked as solo, and
it's literally just a single pitch. But I love
when the section rub on our basses. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. A little applause. Well done. It's both
hilarious and it's like almost facetious. I don't
know brings up brings a smile to me every time
yeah absolutely absolutely and I think little
things show up for all the instruments like that
yeah exactly you know of course a nod a wink
the shuffling of a foot yeah exactly well done
yeah we can only play the solos that are given
to us exactly that's right well I mean you could
play other solos that aren't given to you but
well yeah less generally frowned upon in classical
music yeah exactly indeed Well, John, in your
years here at the CPO, you heard a lot of great
playing on stage. Who are some people whose playing
really inspires you? Yeah. First of all, definitely
my section mates. I mean, they all have so many
different qualities. And I think the beauty of
an orchestra and, of course, the section is we
all kind of fill in each other's... I don't want
to say weaknesses. I don't know how many weaknesses
we have, but like whatever like slight dips in
our like musician profiles, you know. Yeah, I
like to think that the the different strengths
complement each other. Yes, that's a much better
and positive way of saying it because everyone
has things they're stronger at and things that
are more difficult for them. We all do. No one
is a perfectly perfectly even player. Yeah, of
course. Yeah, definitely in my section. Obviously
you, Adam. You're out there killing it all the
time on these super exposed parts also I think
like David Sussman has a really really beautiful
rich sound and whenever he plays a solo I'm just
like, oh my god, that's like it's so lush, you
know and just how he phrases things it's Like
I feel like his sound like really builds upon
his Like his sound just really develops in such
a way. It's so it's so beautiful. It's very expressive
and also Where we are situated on the stage,
basses are very close to harp. So Emily Melendez,
like whenever there's a big harp thing, like
I always have an idea of what the harp is going
to sound like, obviously. Whenever she plays,
it's always like, and I've told her this before
as well, it's like at least like 30 % more rich
than I was expecting it to be. Yeah. Yeah. I've
loved hearing Emily play as well. You know, one
of the one of the newer players in the orchestra
and the CPO just got a new harp. Partway through
last season, we're hearing this brand new instrument
as well. But let's face it, Emily's the one making
it special. Yeah, I think Emily has such a great
sense of ensemble playing and she has incredible
time. Yeah, so that's great to hear because the
harp is such an rhythmically incisive instrument.
Very much so. That we can really all appreciate
and like stick to that as a real source of pulse.
Yeah. Great. Well, Don, thank you so much. It's
great to be playing with you again as the season
starts. It's great to see you in your new chair,
and it's great to chat with you. Yeah, thanks,
Adam. Notes from the Stage is an independent
production of the Calgary Philharmonic Players
Association. The opinions expressed here are
our own and do not reflect those of the Calgary
Philharmonic Orchestra. Our thanks to Nathan
Chandler for his technical expertise. The music
in this episode was the Courante from Bach's
5th Cello Suite and Cesar Frank's Violin Sonata,
here performed on bass by Jonathan Yeo and pianist
Akiko Tominaga. On our next episode in two weeks,
I'll be talking with violinist Danielle Green,
who joins the CPO this season. Talk to you soon!