“Preparation, Persistence and the New York Phil”
Phil Myers, principal horn of the New York Philharmonic, joins Sarah Willis live from the Manhattan School of Music in New York with some surprise guests at the end! October 3rd, 2014
Transcript
Auto-generated from the live stream, expect the occasional robot mishearing.
Hi everybody welcome to the Manhattan School of Music and we are here for a very special hangout today and I just wanted to say before we start a huge thank you to the Manhattan School of Music distance learning team as you can see here in the room we’ve got Bruce in the corner your Hannah’s doing the sound and
Gabe behind the camera gave wave to somebody yay thank you all for joining us and the reason we are all here is because of this wonderful man in front of me Phil Myers principal horn of the New York Philharmonic welcome welcome to Manhattan School of Music and for getting up so early I was drew you’ve been a bit under the weather so
I was very happy that you actually made it here today and I got the early flu the early food come here the early fruit flu when the weather’s so nice the doctor tells me now that you should be getting your shots in in June for God’s African the sake yeah yes okay well you obviously didn’t well we’re very happy to have you here thank you for coming to this hangout there’s a lot of very excited people out there
Venezuela Norway all over America Australia my mum in London Fergus McWilliams just written said hi he’s at the new park the LA Parker Meridien everyone’s all my colleagues are watching from there and actually we have people watching all over the place and some of them sent in a little early morning good morning greeting Bruce you got it ready for us have a look here
I feel thanks for everything you’re amazing thank you and have a great horn hang we can’t wait to watch it with you and Sarah we can I’ve seen you since your election congratula oh yeah I congratulate on your on your election as president of the International horn Society Jeff Nelson all the students that are you they’re all watching this morning fill you you are a legend for all of us in the hall horn well we were just talking about you know who knows who knows who and every you said you know when you get past a certain point you lose track of who’s playing what
But everybody knows who fill my answers that’s for being old being olds losses look that’s not legend that’s all we are home players stay young forever and we wanted to get there’s all sorts of questions coming in here in the chat and we we can Google a lot of stuff about you you know your your career in a in a nutshell you you actually chose the horn you circle the horn on a piece of paper while you were playing the trombone is this true this story yeah you you you were you you were asked what instrument you want to play you were playing the trombone
But you circled the French horn I like to sound limb oh the French on yeah uh-huh yeah did you like the sound of the horn when you got one in your hands you know I knew the sound of the horn my father was band director so I knew all that stuff but I don’t know that day was they was crucial like really
I mean you realize it you know if she spend she spent 30 or 40 years playing French horn and you spent three or four years playing trombone that there ends up being you know a divide of about nail forty points of IQ I think that I think that trombone just destroys your IQ as you go along so why is that uh
I’ve never figured that out there any trombone players watching we want ya right in and comment on that so would you knowing everything you know today would you have would you circle the French horn again on that piece of paper or would you have decided would you decide to play something else next time around I mean you know
I mean if you’d asked me that up to the age of 20 I might have told you that saxophones always appealed to me but when I was 20 Myron Blum Seraph made me realize what was there for the horn in terms of emotional impact you said something very interesting in an interview that I saw you said in in those days there wasn’t all that much out there for you too you have the dentist’s brain recording and you had my own boom there wasn’t actually that much out there to sort of attach on to and say that’s what
I want to be yet that’s what I want to be like well and that’s what we did I mean you know I I stayed with Dale I stayed with Myron I probably got to hear both of them live maybe 40 times each right but man I’ve got I’ve got you know twice at many records of both of them and
I think I was like a record I bought records like mad and still have them all not the LPS I replaced with CDs but I sold them the one guy and he still has them and I probably will get them back but customs started coming back in now settle them sound better yeah sometimes someone just sound better sometimes some do but yeah no
I I was a record a record junkie still on sometimes if we play a concert that I feel has gone particularly badly for the ensemble not for me individually but stay on so I’ll go home and put on like my favorite record of that piece and just listen to it right down in there just sort get back in the groove yeah just to inspire you to for the next time otherwise we really do remember the last cut the last time we played something it’s not always that healthy is it yeah we’re only as good as our last concert
I don’t know I don’t know if I’m that severe so you started the horn your dad was a band master and you saw the horn because you you like the sound of the name and then you went to study to study properly you went to Chicago to study with Dale and he charged $20 a lesson outrageous he thought it was he thought it was yeah you
I’m sure your dad thought it wasn’t he kept apologizing for it no you know my my father I mean we didn’t know that was just my mother my sister had studied with the first bassoon player so he was he was used to putting out money Leonard Cheryl was the same players name but I started out with I actually started out with
Frank broke in Chicago he was he was first horn player for you know between Farkas and Clojure they went through a few horn players did you ever study with Farkas no no he left my in fact we went to a concert when I was in junior high and my father said if he was staying in town you would have studied with him but but he was going to
IU now Chicago is 110 miles I use 160 miles and that extra 50 miles was just enough that my father said now we’re not driving down there well how was it with Dale you got well you know I mean a big thing I mean you know I mean I mean this is this I hope he doesn’t disagree with this but basically they all said to me in more less kind kind terms you’ve got more problems than a lot of deal with and that was very kind and my teacher deals with these problems the man
I studied with for Stanley so you should go study with him and he was that was tellus that was the best favoured ever a Dale every did for me because he it was quite right I mean I had a lot of fundamental problems and this guy was able to help me with with most of well Dale actually wanted to say something today have a look at them ello everybody in the horn world
I’m Dale Clevenger and I’m being filmed by Andrew Bain the first floor of the Los Angeles trauma Phil Myers who was my very first student he was about 17 or 18 and I was just 26 or so just gotten in the Chicago Symphony in this very tall then young man came from Indiana to have some lessons with me
I don’t remember how many he had by the eye several and he was extremely talented at that time and I knew he would go far I did not know just how far he can go but I congratulate Phil on his many many years playing professionally in the New York Philharmonic and before that in the Pittsburgh Symphony and
I think while in Minneapolis Orchestra are the Minnesota woods but Bill I wish you well and I hope to see you sometime soon welcome nice very nice and I gotta say this well that’s maybe a little more positive about me than he was in most of my lessons ah the thing about there was Dale was very very very very kind about giving you access to his information but for the time it’s like he said from the time
I was 17 but all through with all through my professional life I was able to go see him because my parents would still live 200 miles away and I would go in and see him and hear him and he was really a reference point you know my entire career well it was he was really excited to do that he’s playing third horn in
LA Philharmonic at the moment so thanks Andrew Bain thank you for watching thank you for organizing that on that video and thank you Dale for doing that a little bit like this is your life so but what we got to do we we have so many questions coming in from the online audience you guys keep them coming if
I don’t get to I probably won’t get to them all as you know but Phil is going to get a copy of the chat after this so he can see who’s out there and who’s writing to him and we’ll read them all won’t you Phil yeah so so I’m just going to fire a few of the online questions at you and there we go
Kyle Coe Kyle where are you writing in from wants to know what your favorite record was because we were just talking about about records I guess it’s impossible to say no my generation everybody every record was the four Mozart’s with brain and I would tell you that that I listened to that record so many times that you know for instance we’re doing
Motors fourth this year in Mozart second next year it’s impossible for me to play those pieces and not reference that memory I mean if that record just burned into my mind so I would say that was my early favorite first record yeah that was okay well that’s and I hardly hardly me too hardly an individual always but
I mean that’s yeah for me too um Wilbert Kimball’s I did Forest Stanley Stanley help you most with technique or musicianship when did you study with Farah Stanley I said that was close that was clever that was the guy yeah so I was like after you’d started with Dale and he sent you there that’s right now I studied with him from 67 to 71 and that even those dates even scare her but but no he was he was up you know you can you can only do so much musically if you’re totally challenged by the instrument technically and
I was I I just had you know he had the change where I breathed yeah what was what what were you challenged with because I mean all the students were well all of us we all go through the same things we we all basically we all have the same same challenges as horn player some people are better at something yeah
I read that you said you were better at loud playing and quiet playing so you built on that I was when I began to audition but during at college my two big problems where I couldn’t articulate clearly every time I went to articulate I got blue and this went on for like a couple years of college so
I was concerned because it hadn’t been addressed yet and what it was and his solution to that for me was so radical to me I think I was fairly willing to experiment with things that had been suggested to me but looking back on it I think that I was I was very slow to experiment on my own with tongue position or something so so it was that and then he literally
I couldn’t play PI because I was I was I had a particular Amish embouchure saying that had my own press your pressing too hard I was setting wrong I’m said were setting I was sitting on I was literally in the wrong position this way yeah and he changed that and for four months in my junior year I couldn’t play a note
I mean it was it was scary very scary that’s not a good time of life to not be able to play no that’s the time like you want to be inspired and and love what you’re doing and live good good but you know what I came out of that I came out of that and I you know we play
I could only play hi and so so you know he had he had he’d got my breathing set up he got my tongue set up and now I could play high so I thought wow you know maybe maybe I’ve actually got a chance of doing this because up to that point I didn’t feel that I did I thought if
I go into an audition all my weaknesses are going to be just too obvious so I’m not gonna get anywhere but after that I started thinking you know if I work maybe I’ve got a chance um Parko I said you’re amazed your high ranges amazingphil how did you develop it with the breathing with the resetting then we’ve got you know
I grew all these complements well you’re gonna have to take it where they’re coming in Fast and Furious no no I grew up in a time when the mantra was that you should everybody should play two thirds upper and one-third lower and it turned out that that did not work for me that I tend to I tend to do one-third upper and two thirds lower and that was the change
I made where I couldn’t play for four months and I was scared to death because I mean it was just like that was that Farkus book at the time was like the Bible and if you went against anything in that you were really on your own but I had my teacher helping me Stanley and you know it worked for me so
I would tell him you know if you’re having trouble here high register at least entertain the idea of experimenting with the position of the mouthpiece on your mouth just at least entertain the idea yeah is there a melody or piece that you listen to or or melody or you piece or you listen to or play that is therapeutic for you somebody called and oh hey you guys when you write in your questions right and where you’re writing from because
I’d really would really like to know where in the world you are that’d be great I played for your third in Pittsburgh and when I left there and went to Minnesota I was scared so before I go to work I would put on the Cleveland Orchestra recording a Bruckner AIDS and listen to the end of the third woman because he plays it so beautifully
Marn boom and then the beginning last moments and then I would feel as though those two things had framed what I believed in and then I I go out try and do the same thing Oh a real a real mantra myron bloom was wasn’t magic I know that recording unbelievably beautiful yeah well he was able to he was able to play over rests over rests yeah can you just explain that for people what
I mean here is the famous phrase eagles well we’ve actually better a better example is Mel or knowing what she also recorded quite often you hear this all vo Peter and he when he played that it was me Lord never it never stops it never stops you know by the same token I heard I heard Dale’s they’ll do some just wild
I’ll never forget hear him go Dvorak challenger yield or do you need on vote he didn’t he goes and he waited just that long and I was in the audience and you saw everybody in the Orange Bowl do you hear that a lot these days do you think is that I sometimes worry that that that’s disappearing that those sort of incredible special moments sometimes disappear because everyone’s so worried about being perfect all the time do you know what
I mean say yes what I want to thinking is this there’s no way to communicate the emotion of a piece to an audience if you yourself don’t field and are moved by it and reacting to it so I mean I’m sitting there and I’m trying to I’m trying to yeah I’m trying to I’m trying to I’m trying to share what
I’m feeling and hopefully somebody in the concert will come up and say my god that progress that’s nothing to do with Phil Myers it just has to do with with the idea that the guy had and what it means to me and and can I share that and it does does it hit somebody else that’s all mm-hmm that’s all but it’s got to start with god damn this excites me this excites me yeah thanks go starter oh yeah
I want to ask you all my questions but I’m feeling a bit and just guys people saying they can’t let on the chat they can’t hear Dale very well can you bump bump up his audio a little bit sorry about that he’s probably banging away and yeah on the microphone there you go hope that’s okay let us know if it’s not okay um
Louis Vieira is watching he’s actually our Academy in Berlin so hi Louis um and he said how do you play with such a big sound that’s so round and free tell us your secret I asked you lovely questions at this time in the morning huh well I’d say a couple things damn again I I you know I you know if in this interview we happen to come upon an idea that
I think I actually thought out that I’ll tell you but but most of these things came from other people Dale told me that he felt that the lower lip should be applied to the mouthpiece softly and I think that’s a very that’s a very that’s a very big deal at least it’s a very big deal for me that’s that’s not that’s number one number two there’s a difference between blowing is if you’re going to blow out a candle and blowing is if you’re going to warm your hands and
I tend when I’m playing why again everybody oh I’m blowing out of candles Wow okay sort of cold yeah and this is sort of warm it just has to do with your tongue position in your mouth you know you’re dropping some position in your mouth not when you attack but after you after you after you’re going so
I think I use that a lot in loud I think that keeps it warm yeah probably probably this well once there’s one other thing and that’s this can I yes it’s if you dance we we actually just put that out there for for decoration but we take a train shot guys Phil’s playing on my Alexander quick quick tweet it hashtag the horn hangout where am
I here yeah yeah below that’s in b-flat no chef alright so if I do this position I don’t know how much sound you guys can take but I’m about to play a little bit loud ok um so if I go like this and I don’t manipulate it I just play it here then I can go well you hear that that has a brassy hard edge today
I think not only we heard it yeah I think yeah yeah yeah yeah well that’s not that’s not something that’s not something that’s not something you could use the nurse couldn’t use it but if I go into that pull down position then I can take the same note and go from here well no ok I’m gonna I’m gonna surrender here and go yes go to another mouth tell us because the question piece do you play on my list
I play a stork custom m1 stork custom m1 okay and it’s quite I mean wouldn’t you say that Sandeep side oh yes I mean you look down if you look down if you look down it down it that’s mine that’s Phil’s oh you see my breakfast down there probably look look the other way that’s fairly deep right yeah that’s hard too hard to get in there yeah yeah that’s hot there you get in there yeah sorry these four guys were throwing everything out for everything at you guys this morning yeah that is pretty deep
I must say oh I guess huge it’s huge yeah so that’s how Thanks that also tends to take so that that will take a lot of air yeah well look that okay yeah see how that stays that doesn’t get that doesn’t have that brassy edge maybe enough pieces Ferguson why I’m just used to this one yeah but you know it is it’s true this is a big mouthpiece but
I before I begin to play I always put my lips together really consciously I will say HUP HUP so I know those lips are together before I don’t want to go on the mouthpiece and have those lips trapped apart so before I totally go on the mouthpiece I’ll go hmm oh yeah oh no I don’t I don’t
I don’t sit there verbalize that I don’t think I don’t think the bassoon player would enjoy that much if they constantly hairy hot-button but but if I go oh I’ve done hop ooh and that keeps my lips together and that and I think that makes the larger hole viable someone you just asked what do you think about before you play play a big solo a big no you’re probably thinking
HUP he put it better for decoration so you’d look back on the table you know thank you you know what if if if you know how if you’ve got a lot of ideas running around in your head it’s hard to listen to what somebody else is saying so before I play a solo what I want is to feel almost blank
I want blank almost blank so that so that I can receive the input of music that’s what I want to feel I want to feel still and empty in fact I will tell you that that in all my relationships the first thing that I’ve told women is if I’m going to concert that’s not the time for a different you know you know just just
I’m going to talk to you you know 16 hours in the day about stuff that’s bothering you but I have to have some hope of having sort of a blank sheet when I go into this concert otherwise I can’t respond to what I’m hearing what about um this we will got this we’ve got the part of our brain that’s being peaceful and so saying okay first of all take a breath you got the other half that’s going oh my god middle row how do you keep that still onstage that’s before you prepare beforehand by keeping yourself still when you’re just about to do it what
Would you describe feeling to be 40 I mean what I mean if you’re feeling nervous what do you consider I mean okay wait a minute there’s different mazes of feel you know first of all let me just say because they’re people a lot of people have asked this all right prepare how can I get okay okay they just say two things number one
I try and have a very very strong sense of purpose about what I’m trying to what I’m trying to do but the second thing is this if I was going to go out there I was going to be nervous as hell I just take enderal I just take drugs absolutely just take drugs I mean it’s it’s it’s in 1988
I had an operation and I couldn’t play for three months and when I came back I got set up wrong it was really crazy but I did and we were we went on a tour where we’ve let Brickner for and and shurberg chamber Sofia what I did to those pieces was humiliating all over Europe five weeks five weeks of five weeks five weeks of misery and it took me like it took me like two months after
I got back to New York to realize what I’d done and get and get and get straightened out against I would not have survived that trip without drugs there well I wouldn’t been able to fight my way on stage we’re not talking sort of bat we’re not talking drugs drugs syndrome in enduro Lander and pretty propranolol or whatever fun name the beta blocker yeah and that’s absolutely what
I’m talking about no I’ve never done usual that you talk about this because it’s something that really no one ever talks about and and certainly not something you would really encourage students to do but I guess if you’re a professional and having a rough time what you have to do you have to pay the rent well I don’t know
I would say I would say let me give you two seen areas students coming out of couch and they’re really quite good they’re really quite talented but they’re not having any luck in auditions because they get too nervous now are you going to say to that kid are you going to say to that person you should be you should you know you don’t take and all but you can flip hamburgers through this your life are you going to say to that person try it try it and see if it helps not not don’t don’t make a lifetime commitment you know you don’t you know when
You take an ass for your headache you’re not saying I’m going to take an aspirin for every day for the rest of my life you’re going to say it I’ve taken it as long as I need it so why do you think people are so against god damn I know I don’t know I mean the other thing is this what if you had like what if you had like three kids and a husband and you were their main source of support and all of a sudden you started being nervous onstage and those three kids want to go to college that’s dependent on your money and
You’re scared to go out there now are you going to go out are you gonna go home and say to those three kids sorry you can’t go to couch because I’m going to hide up hamburgers I’m afraid to try this drug I’m afraid to try it not take it not not again you’re not making whatever you’re trying something like that you’re not making a lifetime commitment you’re saying
I’m going to try it and see if it helps me and you know the first place I would try it is in front of the TV set I’d sit down with my favorite show pop a pill and see what feel and what you’re gonna find out is you feel nothing you don’t feel anything and then try it in rehearsal then try it in a concert you know don’t don’t try it for the first time in an audition for
Gracie yeah yeah no well the people of Victoria Matthews from Emma she’s one of the MSM guys are down stay down stairs watching what anxiety issues do you have and how do you do with them other than that that’s answered that’s answer that was and vogner Felix from San Paulo Brazil mr. Myers you are such an inspiration for brass players what’s your inspiration for on the date for it on a daily basis oh
I think my I think my really I think I love records I love recordings and I mean if I’m feeling if I’m feeling uninspired if I’m feeling if I’m feeling like I’m in some kind of rut where I’m not excited about things as much as I think I should then I go back to some of these records that
I know that I can count on Dale playing now or six my Rijn playing Turk in Italy oh my god or the Mozart divertimento number two I mean these things if they don’t get you gone nothing and you’ll listen to them really light light like Myron’s Bruckner right you’ll listen to them before you go out there before you that’s your inspiration mmm
I had a good question here Jill Williams is in Hanover she wants to know if you would live in any other city and still play if you could or any other city so I like these questions that aren’t only only about playing the horn I never thought I’d live in New York and New York is not natural to me because
New York is a very very very aggressive place and I grew up near Chicago it’s not like that out there at all so I mean if if if I had my choice it was been somewhere warm all the time I don’t like cold so I mean it you know if they’ve been if there’d been you know I tried out for a
Orchestra down south and won the audition but then my or Strauss in wouldn’t release me but I always thought I would have been had didn’t you do some amazing deal you some your own Orchestra you you did a deal with them that they paid your extra then you left in the end and I read something what was that was that deal
I wanna know I feel bad about that oh you have to get out you went to New York that’s what happened you know I I went to I went to Minnesota and they waited a year for me because Pittsburgh would not let people out of town out of their contract so they had to wait a year so they waited a year and then
I I asked for a three-year contract guaranteed so if I didn’t I was not such a confident guy I thought well if they fire me after a year then I still have two years of income to where I can audition for a couple years maybe try and get another dress really sweet you really really did not expect to get another job that is true modesty guys really unbelievable so after half a year
I got the New York job so I went into the guy and I said you know you know you waited for me for a year you gave me a three-year contract and I want to leave after six months haha and the guy said the guy said that’s really and ruined because this Midwest I grew up in the
Midwest he said this is not right and I said you know you’re right it’s not right but if you were in my shoes what would you do mmm and he said well yeah okay you got to do it and now the questions come in Kendal gray who’s a regular Horne hang out watch a hi Kendall Phil has a great story about interacting with
James Chambers often vil New York feel audition please ask him to tell it it was my first it was my audition for this job I came and I a lot of us were were were out in the in the world trying to be James chambers to or Myron bloom to that was a that was a that was a definite goal of a lot of us back then and
I was one of them so I came an audition here and I played very badly and he was walking me back to the room and I just wanted to tell him how much I admired him so I said I know that you can’t get this out of what I just did but I said you know there are a lot of us out of there that are just trying to emulate what you did and he said he said that he said to me he says
I have no reason whatsoever to think that’s true now he wouldn’t admit okay later later he would not admit that he said that but that is indeed what he said and I thought man that made me feel even worse because I thought this guy’s just listened to like you know 25 people try out for this job they’re supposedly the 25 people in the
United States and his conclusion is that his legacy is zero oh yeah maybe feel like that oh but you got the job 1980 yeah and and um there’s been so this is a good question actually Eric Eric cap cap risky quite a lot of change with the retirement of Phil Smith how was in New York Phil brass section handling that
I guess life goes on but still it’s a total legend I miss him we played in brass quintet together for an awfully long time and and yeah I’m really sorry he’s gone but you know life does go on I mean here’s the thing and it’s really scary but it’s true this season’s been going now he’s I mean this is first year he’s truly been gone we’ve been back three four weeks
I’ve never heard anybody mention him his name hasn’t come up and that’s just the way it is that’s the way it is we had a clarinet player that was here for 60 years as soon as he was gone I’ve never heard anybody talk about him it’s just it’s just when you’re gone you’re gone well thanks to YouTube and horn hangouts and everything you don’t go you you’ve got along yeah what are you gonna play to your hundreds you know the instrument decide yeah the instrument decides that yeah okay but it’s not telling you that yet
I hope well I don’t think it is but but you know I’m not I don’t know from what I’ve seen you you don’t always know and you need a hutch you can’t trust anybody know what I can tell you that you’ve lost it but I do have a rather truthful wife and I have a feeling that I there’s at least a chance always ask your why you might she might tell me the truth
Phil and everybody online hey you guys we I don’t know if you can see the room here can you show the room we’ve got some um some very welcome guests have just come in can you see where it yeah hi guys it’s the horn section of the New York Philharmonic and thank you for getting up so early come on in you’re all welcome and how are we going to do this we’re going to put you all that just talk amongst yourselves there we go there we go talk amongst yourselves in the horn hangout world
I hope you guys are tweeting we’d like to see where you’re watching from so I’ll get a screenshot I will get it get a selfie of you guys in front of it and tweet it with the hashtag horn hangout and then we can see afterwards where everyone’s watching you guys been watching downstairs and isn’t he a genius let me just introduce um everyone to you our spanger second horn since 1992 92 so you came actually you’ve been in the section second longest stop looking at everyone over there for you we’ve got a big screen here or we can see ourselves a little bit - yeah
It’s really incredibly actually a Tim Kelly who’s watching and though you all know Tim my genius webmaster he’s watching in Melbourne and he and I are so impressed with the setup here at Manhattan I think we need to do horn hangouts here all the time guys and moved him over to New York and me too anyways oh thank you for coming thank you have to get up very early this morning oh no really usually no were the unusual ivory to walk the dog okay you gotta might be almost sweet what sort of a puppy
I have a mixed audience is that gonna be a really huge thing no actually she’s pretty small thing 5:32 walk the dog how it will welcome one of my favorite low horn players at all time did you have to walk the dog at five so she decided not okay well thank you so much did you guys have a concert last night you have
Nielson again he’ll see Zygon well sir Nielsen is a rather painful they work you hard in this band mother one and then Nielsen Oh Leland eat starett thank you so much really a round of applause in the horn work for Leland II because not only is she than you third one of the near-field without you none of this would happen you’ve managed how did you manage to get your section to come in at this time of the morning really nice yeah thank you so much for the organizing
Richard Dean you’re the new boy right you’re the new boy how long have you been in there three weeks so you hadn’t noticed you had no choice you had to get up at this time of the morning please yeah so who’s the real boss of the section actually I mean is is we considered she’s with the Restless or so old that she’s the only one that
I should has up well she doesn’t get sketchy the only ones got a future the rest of us only have a bath yeah you’re um you’re a nice image you and you study together yeah do you have any any good stories about Phil when when he was studying the ones you can tell I’ve been asking everyone for their stories about film most of them
I can’t mention online hate you fit right same guy was Emily you Trulia’s yeah I missing yeah yeah yeah I suppose he did you hang out together oh we did yes I did I did we have every Monday night we have orchestra and I would I I lived in Pittsburgh so I I had access to a car sometimes and
I would drive him and another horn player home and we just sit there for like an hour in the car until these same jokes ever nobody’s every week are you are you still telling the same jokes today no no oh you couldn’t be Isaac remember remember week to week bands races and did you always play second or or look did you guys play always high or low horn or what did you mix up my
Mandrake was angry to me so I played forth for this Oh most my calendar is playing for Thor um which worked out for me because I was working on so many technical things that if I’d if I had to like actually be meeting some demands it would have been you know not good um al you came to the section you’ve been section second longest um so we need we need you’ve got property then you’ve got the best stories on a lot the most stories to tell about
Phil so what are you gonna tell us today a lot of stories um my brother heard story about you well do that on another hangouts my first tour is 85 so it’s almost 30 years ago and the fil sense of adventure has never faded a bit and so we’re in Frankfurt and he’s written a car so we’re alexander’s before rehearsal so but just hop in the car we go down there which is really cool and interesting and so we’re headed back for rehearsal we had this little maps in the
Torah book and the hall is right at the edge of the map so we’re driving around Frankfurt looking for the home we can’t find it and our GPS in those days so I was like how am I gonna find this hole so okay somebody has to get out get in a taxi tell the taxi who will know where it is no problem chillin one guy well exactly one eye one eye gets out gets in a taxi actually disappears couldn’t keep up with him oh okay another guy gets out gets in a taxi disappeared couldn’t keep up same damn thing is okay stranger this isn’t it
So I get out I give in taxing somehow we remember we make the guy realize that these people have to follow us and it worked out and we all got there of course at the more seconds late it was not a good thing was like the sense of the venture is next it’s always worth it yeah and he played with us like how many years for you really sector seven years
Obama’s 30 it’ll be 30 years yeah God absolute record someone’s just written as sean has written do you member the 1986 Alpine Symphony with Zubin Mehta one of your favorites you oh no you were known that you were on that you run on those you’re not um you know what I’ll tell you I know nobody this girls like that guy it’s just me
I thought you didn’t like enough from moon and mood so but you did a lot was ever done it was the good enough it’s a comparison he has seems incredible - he really is huh then 85 door was was modified and so funny domestic time and the next door was was Kelvin Leland he just taught you to boy haha good of showpieces yeah that’s right you went on you fellow you showing off worthy nice - horns yeah yeah oh very yeah he’s totally certain section you know what why join his second we guy was here he went out of his way to just say to
The orchestra this is a guy and I thought wow you are on trial stuff yeah I thought this is so kind of him to to sort of get everybody behind me like second week in the job and so yeah that was he was he was smart guy so so you felt a sense of adventure what is the most adventurous thing about playing second born to him just keep it up well
I mean I figure over 13 years we put like all the major wreck everything over and over and over um so it’s just always having a sense of I know exactly what’s going to happen and discovering that starting out it was always very clear about what was needed and I was able to understand that Oh more than that
I I think I think that he and I have such a common view of of how music goes that I mean I mean you know we do not sit there a lot to talk about what we’re going to do because we basically are hearing the same things I think that’s that’s the most important thing you know I don’t
I don’t have said him I’m listening to this this this thing I’m not I’m listening to the olds hear something that he’s already listening to it was you know I saw its we’re coming from the same place and no that’s been it’s been fantastic and we do you think you saved my life yes my life that’s that’s right let’s say my life and and we grew up listening the same records you’re a record guy tune that the same start the same people and so by the time we met we agreed uh yeah well you just mentioned you know how about this yeah yeah that’s a
Great partnership yeah I’m what did it find that what about you you you new guys you must really benefit from that sort of tradition I know when I came to Berlin Phil and you know listening to two people had worked together for so long thing next to Klaus mollendorf wrote it’s definitely just you’ve been there for it forever it’s just just a dream what’s amazing once you learn just by listening what’s happening and just hearing how well you guys and empowered to of course just going to each other’s minds and sets the bar really high and but it’s very clear like
I was saying it’s I felt like it was it’s crystal clear kind of what needs to be done for the most part she can hear it she can understand it and she can just like everything like radar is so important it’s very we worked on a few people there for quite some time and they didn’t seem to ever you know make any kind of gain and in guessing what was going to happen in the next piece you know
I mean no no that little sort of none of the structure that we used in one piece seemed to transfer to the next and I mean we find right now that like like that’s that’s happening I’m Richard you you you go in and play first tour and on top of this really established section how do you bring something new into there or do you just do what they say well you know sitting there and listening to
Phil’s leadership and how now the way that they follow everyone that they they blend is it’s so inspiring and then I just it’s a mixture of trying to be myself and trying to you know bring you know like folk saying earlier what I’m feeling just trying to get that across and hopefully technically I’m going to have the skills to be able to do that and then also to really try to understand what
I’ve been listening the new film online for 35 years or ever since it started listening right and just trying to understand what it is that they do what is it that they do well yes it’s my dog it’s just so hard to be funny I can’t really put it into words but it’s you understand it you because you’ve heard it and you know
I just try to make that make that happen in roleplay that’s my goal right now you know would you have nobody knows yeah I met him thirty thirty years Wow and he was studying chili or not with me right and and we played a joint concert and I actually recommended him for the Canadian brass at that time because they were looking for a horn player but but their ethic changed at that time they were looking for somebody old now they always look for people young but but but but since it does today you know you know we want so by older that’s been around so
He went down that he was known to admit actually he was out to Atlanta and I just never forgot this guy and so when we needed an associate our temporary basis couple years ago I said I said you know you know I would bring this guy up because I don’t think he doing that’s out and that’s how it started yeah you weren’t always that happy in your own section were you because
I mean I saw you guys in in London at the IHS and it was it’s such a happy section and for me I couldn’t exist in a non happy section I I need that harmony around me I’m so lucky with my guys that it’s great but you you weren’t always that happy is it something you’re allowed to talk about when
I came here it was pretty bitter everybody hated each other I mean I mean literally within two within two weeks everybody in that section told me why everybody else in the section was a bad guy and I would lie to him I would literally like to him I say that’s really weird man because I thought you know like
I talked to me and he doesn’t feel any of this stuff so I just simply why to them to try and get them to go to get along and but you was a losing battle 13 years 13 years 13 years of discord that was hard that was hard that’s why I say he saved my life because when he arrived that was the first ray of light you know that
I hit yeah that’s not much fun but your eyes are happy all is wonderful in the in the New York field world that that’s great I mean that’s the way it should be home playing is hard enough I think without having all this rivalry and backstabbing it was it wasn’t you know it wasn’t right or they didn’t wonder
I just didn’t want to come to work well as soon as he came to work use mad cuz he had to be there I mean it was believing me it wasn’t rivalry rivalry for time off he’s still like getting to work yeah yeah yeah yeah well you know we’re still I one of my big disappointment is that
I’m coming to the end here and there’s still a lot of stuff I’ve never gotten to play and I’m disappointed by that like what what do you want to play you know what I’ll tell Alan sweetness sharp minor by earth stock 90 I love that piece I don’t I haven’t got to play if anyone’s watching from New
York Phil I think someone’s watching from the office they just wrote in so um put it on the program please um John is asked what do you think the role of the section principle is well I mean we all know what this role in section principle is it what do you what what is your role with these guys keep him in line yeah
I mean I think I think it’s like it’s like I think it frankly I mean I think it’s like if we’re playing piece and we all know that something must be done and it’s not happening then I’ll enunciate I’ll none c8 the obvious but I mean I think that I think that ordinarily you’re trying to develop a consensus for instance in auditions
I try not to take any I try and take it I try not all so I almost don’t want to vote on dishes because I think it’s much more important they select who they’re going to play with then I I do I just I just I I know I think that’s interesting things are growing change you know no she doesn’t she’s yeah well yeah they don’t know that how do they know that
I mean you know I I just you know I think one of you guys that’s been you I don’t think I even voted we’re playing us and we got none fine to it and everybody stood up and started walking out and I said who well the job you have to play duets in the audition yeah well do it and we had a section awesome whole section that’s a great idea we don’t do that that’s a really great idea well yeah you especially if you’re sitting there playing for tips that everybody knows but some fripperies in front of them you get some you get some something
Really something like that for our shoots or some I mean you get a real strong feeling of you know or the purse is coming from yeah okay so any more good fill stories come on come on guys no no yeah yeah the very first time I saw the near Monica’s on TV and I was a teenager I probably not been studying foreign for too long but knew a little bit about about the home world in the symphonic world and
I was just flipping through channels randomly late at night and landed on PBS it was a live from Lincoln Center broadcast and right at that moment it was opening bars in the second open HiFi and it was crazy I didn’t know anything at that point that I you I know instantly that was the near Philharmonic and how was
Phil Meyers playing and it was it was the first time I haven’t really thought about wow look at look at these people doing this job thinking I wonder what it feels like to do that and I think yeah and it’s so cool to have heard it from the other side now but that was the very first time
I ever saw you well actually Chris would have been there I think probably sure yeah forget that Oh hood I just remember the first time I met Phil and like he mentioned of course 1985 was the very first joint concert between Julia Orchestra and and we did it was founder of sweet when I was putting first commented oh it was so incredibly inspiring and
I just like to say also and I gotta remember that just everything that happened that week as we went through that for the last 30 years and and also just how supportive Phil has been of me personally over the last 30 years system really appreciate oh that’s a nice to you Phil Howard we’ve done the other good ones partners joke the very first time
I met him was I we went to college together and he was a year ahead of me and I my first day at college I I went to the office to see what the schedule was he down I mean he happened to be going to the office too and he saw me with the horns and Phil Myers if
I learn yep I didn’t know him at all but the thing that impressed me at the time was he was wearing short and I thought oh my god this is college I could as I carry like you know girls could wear pants in high school Oh Oh having things changed so I just one thing there’s all these questions how many people are saying how much they will love you how cool it is to see the the the
New York fill section everyone else um oh and redeem wants to know if you will play a Schmidt horn you will play different horns don’t you Schmidt Schmidt Schmidt everybody plays nude oh um okay sorry no to come in here good um so you okay well that’s all right if you didn’t you can’t all right I don’t solve you don’t know a
United in addition that was very important to me personally what people put never before know me they just got a sound good okay for the concepts doing yeah I mean I mean think about it for my I mean if you I mean really obviously you know if you played like the fourth horn soul debate over night and somebody came up to you did like conference said
Alexander did such a great job on that soul wouldn’t that seem obscure I mean I don’t care what I don’t care what you know you think not wait a minute you know I yeah well you know Phil unfortunately there’s so many things coming in um but we haven’t got that much more time because you know we’ve got it was a
Moscow’s going on in a bit and I think we’re going to go in have some breakfast after this I mean as well there’s just one thing I want to touch on at the very end because um one thing that I adore about what what I’ve read about you what I’ve heard about you is this this thing of preparation because these everyone’s asking you know how do you prepare for this how do you do for this and
Phil I think you could you guys can can vouch for the fact that there’s probably nobody there better than Phil tell us why fear I mean really because I mean if you know what’s coming you know it to me the classic example is is a unfinished symphony I hate coming out on be if it is that’s an entrance after 18 bars of rest but if that’s part of the flow of the piece and
I can actually see that in front of me then I feel like I’m joining instead of beginning and for me that’s a big difference so you would recognize that wouldn’t you sure um what Phil does well levy you tell me cuz you you were the one that did this for me you tell me sometimes what Phil does
I said Sara page of one of Phil’s special editions Oh first that he makes um for for repertoire for a lot of the standard repertoire and as you can see here you’ve got score cues going on in all voids alright you recognize the guys at the end of Helden Laden kind of okay so Sharon good look I also took permission
II so you basically have your part and then you have the violin going on you you write in and you do these yourself boom you do these yourself you write in what’s going on before and after so you’re just joining the music you’re not playing your part and it’s not just something like held my inference since this week we’re recording
Nielsen six I never played that before for me to go in there and play off the the marketed part would be uncomfortable for me I need to know more about what’s going on than that so I’ll make a part you know because just so I know what’s going on I don’t want to go in there and just be you know playing blind do you all do that
I suppose you probably have to be enlightened agree not to the degree but because his influence I can’t and to do that more more mark we’re exactly where the phrases are order so great in but he said no matter how much she thinks she’s prepared you boys come oh yeah sorry I don’t know one thing I like to do is run scores for everything upstairs and and my comment about that is self-defense the more
I know the safer I am because the better opening my job all the information I can possibly have but even even something like Brahms trio which we all know by heart if you actually if you actually have the parts there where you can see when you have to leave and when the violence above you it makes that piece so much more comfortable to play it’s a huge difference
I’m telling you that if if you played that up standard part and then I gave you my part and you played it the next day you feel like you’d feel like you a different experience really much more fun I think so that would be your advice because often we end these sessions with with advice to the students cuz there’s so many watching you’ve got a lot of friends and and all sorts of people watching but there’s a lot of students and unfortunately they all the quit they they get less shy as the thing goes on and now all the questions are coming in but we
Run out of time so I think we’re just gonna have to do another hangout next time I get back let’s do one sense what’s your my advice to what’s your advice one sense breathe listen that’s what I’d say listen to write that I need to listen to writers that’s right all the time yeah they don’t do enough of that these days
I think I think that when you sort of get somebody coming and playing Beethoven I know so long as you saw these notes and it’s like okay well well it’s not just two bars of half body calling we call them in and half notes what happened what’s happening there well the clarinets play oh and it makes such a difference if you can hear it in audition as well if someone comes in and you can hear that they’re they’re prepared like that so that’s that prepare the read scores listen to records that’s great
I have a little quote from someone who wanted to maybe he’s watching online I’m not sure what on deck and oh yeah you’re all too weak we couldn’t organize a video with him but he wrote wrote something that we just like to read out war on deck is former principal chief of the New York Philharmonic when did he retire 2002 nothing yeah it even says it here he now teaches in
Denver and Aspen I think about stuff I learned from Phil every day getting to bat around musical and pedagogical issues with him was one of the greatest gifts of my life and it’s a gift that keeps on giving his insatiable curiosity and inquisitive nature are models for a lifetime of learning his willingness to think outside the box and go beyond is what led to so many fantastic things coming out of his
Bell the likes of which I’ve never heard anywhere else his ability to verbalize so many acts abstract concepts and my ability to steal them has made me a better teacher hope came from him uh-huh ha that gave glory ok came for more did you tell us anything today that was actually yours you shared all your wonderful to all the wonderful tips
I was a good student I mean you you said to me what was your one pound I’d say I was a good student I really ripped off ideas remember well Phil we are so honored to have you here and what we’re going to do now we’re going to go downstairs because downstairs watching in the hall downstairs is a huge public viewing party right guys you downstairs and we’re on our way down to come and say hi thank you all for watching thank you all for your all their hangout people
I’m sorry we didn’t get to all your questions but there were just too many of them and so many people are sending in selfies of themselves watching or that’s Jill from Hanover watching we’ve got it’s really incredible what’s been going online I’ll get you a copy of that thanks to Manhattan School of Music for putting this on thanks guys to the
New York Philharmonic Korn section for coming in thank you Tim Foley in Melbourne thank you for running the horn hangouts and Phil you are just a hero to us and um thank you very very much come back we’ll have you on again as soon as we can all of us yes thank you so much see you next time bye bye oh look at this that okay can everybody see the camera okay yeah you got to be in it one two three mouth
P again
Horn Hangouts are created by Sarah Willis of the Berlin Philharmonic. Brassbanned is a proud long-time collaborator and streaming partner.
