Every once in a while, I get a stunning reminder of the importance of visionary role models and teachers in a young musician's life. I count my blessings for the privilege and luck I've had to work with some of the best teachers in the world, because my career would certainly never have happened without them.
As a kid, I spent several life-shaping summers at the wonderful Bowdoin College Summer Music Festival in Brunswick, ME established by my amazing teacher from Juilliard, Lewis Kaplan. The festival is one of the most important music festivals in the world, and Mr. Kaplan served as its artistic director for 50 years. He was also the founder and violinist of the Aeolian Chamber Players, an important new music ensemble which was in residence there for many years.
So, after a quick trip to Boston, my wife and I took a couple of days to relax on the Maine coast and visit the old stomping grounds when we discovered that the Bach Virtuosi Festival, also founded by Lewis Kaplan, was having it's closing concert that night in Portland. Mr. Kaplan was conducting and it was a celebration of his 90th birthday! And there was no way we were going to miss it.
Besides teaching me how to play the violin--I started studying with him at the Juilliard pre-college division when I was 8 years old--Mr. Kaplan demonstrated the importance of artistic vision and the dedication and discipline needed to bring that vision to life. These were lessons that resonated far beyond the teaching studio and which I carry with me every day as a performer and founder of The Strum Bowing Groove Academy.
Mr. Kaplan is currently a Senior Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Juilliard where he is also the recipient of the William Schuman Scholar's Chair, one of the conservatory's highest honors, as well as Professor of Violin at the Mannes College of Music, visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music in London, honorary professor at the Xian Conservatory in China, and the recipient of numerous other awards and honors.
And the icing on the cake was that my college and Bowdoin roommate, Dean Stein, also a Kaplan student and who I haven't seen in 30+ years, was also performing on the concert. Old home week for sure!
Gratitude and love!
