0:00

I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening

0:02

to here's the thing. This

0:22

is it sak Perlman's exquisite vibrato

0:25

on Bach's first violin Sonata.

0:28

He was mature by the time he made this

0:31

recording, thirty years into

0:33

a career that started before

0:35

his bar Mitzvah. Perlman doesn't

0:37

like the word prodigy, but it's hard to

0:39

avoid. At three, he was practicing

0:42

scales on a toy violin. At

0:44

four, he was studying with a great

0:46

master. At thirteen, he was whisked

0:49

away from his native Israel to the United

0:51

States to be on the Ed Sullivan

0:53

Show. He

0:58

won admission to Juilliard that same

1:00

year. From

1:04

prodigy to master and

1:06

finally national treasure. For

1:08

sixty years, his life was a blur

1:11

of world tours and TV specials,

1:14

playing for the Queen and given a place

1:16

of honor on the program for Obama's

1:18

inauguration. Yet

1:26

it's not Perlman had a difficult

1:28

childhood, stricken by polio

1:31

in the war torn early days of Israeli

1:33

statehood. Now he gives

1:35

back at every opportunity, including

1:38

through the Perman Music Program

1:40

founded by his wife Toby. The

1:43

summer school is located on Idyllic

1:45

Shelter Island, giving talented

1:47

kids of every background the chance

1:49

to study with the world's greatest musicians.

1:53

You'll meet Toby and a couple of

1:55

former students at the end of the program.

1:57

You'll even hear the students play virtuoso

2:01

movement from Mendelssohn's Octette. The

2:03

whole crew joined me live on stage

2:05

at the n y U Screwball Center in

2:07

Greenwich Village. Ladies and gentlemen,

2:10

it's not perlment before

2:25

we get into the the real grist.

2:28

Here you and I were talking about the grist,

2:31

you know, the real essence like

2:33

that the So

2:37

this is a burning question I have. What's your favorite

2:40

guilty pleasure? Go to food

2:42

or snack late at night? Oh?

2:45

Let it now, now that I'm old, there's

2:47

no food after at eight o'clock, you know, if if

2:49

I pay for it, if you can't eat after,

2:52

I can't eat it. But then in the middle of the night

2:54

and you give vault. So no,

2:57

no, no, no food. But you grew up food

3:00

was everything. Food was everything, very

3:02

very guiding force in your life because you grew up

3:04

kind of poor. Correct very no not

3:07

no. What did your dad do you grew up in Tel

3:09

Aviv. What was your father? What was his occupition?

3:11

My father did all sorts of things, you know. He

3:14

was the immigrated he immigrated

3:16

from Poland to Israel, you know.

3:18

And uh, no professional really, so

3:20

he did He picked oranges in an orchard,

3:23

he went into construction, anything.

3:25

He just got any job. He was not

3:27

you know, he did not have a particular skill, so

3:30

he just did whatever it is and he

3:32

learned on the job. And then when he met

3:34

my mother and they somehow got

3:36

ahold of a barbershop and

3:38

she knew how to cut hair, but

3:41

she taught him how to do that, so he did

3:43

that as well. So he did like everything that he

3:45

had to do to make a living. How

3:47

many siblings did you have? I'm an only

3:49

child child. Yes. I

3:51

always ask people who have a career similar

3:53

to your career if you understood

3:56

they have a career similar to Mike. Well

3:59

not really, actually, you know, there aren't

4:01

many. There aren't many, but anybody,

4:03

but anybody who was a young person who

4:06

especially in this world you're in where they cultivate

4:09

them very young, and in sports too, where they get

4:11

these kids when they're ten years old and they kind

4:13

of know that they're heading to the NBA or the NFL

4:15

or whatever. But you're a very young child,

4:18

and I'm wondering, do

4:20

you know what you're going through when you're a

4:22

young child, or you're too busy doing it to

4:25

understand what you're inside of when you were getting

4:27

shot through this rocket to become the famous,

4:29

well, when I would look when I was young, Uh,

4:32

my parents thought that I had a good

4:35

ear because I could repeat everything, you

4:37

know, by singing it. And then

4:39

I said I want to play the violin, and

4:42

I think they told me that I had

4:44

a nice sound. So that was the,

4:46

if you want to call it, the unusual thing about

4:48

the way I played. I had a nice sound. You

4:51

were playing on what didn't you like? A toy violin

4:53

or But I just started with a toy, which I didn't

4:55

like, so I quit that. And then I was playing

4:57

on something. I don't remember what it was. It wasn't

4:59

any in spectacular. I

5:02

started really when I was like almost

5:04

five four four and three quarters almost? Why

5:07

what made you do I want it? I want it. I like

5:09

the sound. I love the sound of

5:11

the violin. I heard it on the radio and

5:13

I said, that's what I want to do simple,

5:16

that's what I want to do, And there's no explanation.

5:19

You know, everybody has a different thing

5:21

that they hear and it sort of grabs

5:24

their imagination. And the violence

5:26

sound was that and I think it was hyper so

5:28

it was pretty good for grabbing the

5:30

imagination. You know. When

5:33

I was a kid, I saw Butch Cassidy and

5:35

I said, that's what I want to do. I want to rob trains.

5:40

Very impressionable when we're young, But when you're

5:42

five years old. What's the difference

5:44

between when you teach a five year old and a ten

5:46

year old. I don't teach that young.

5:48

You know, there are people who specialize and then

5:51

you can tell basically, uh

5:53

something about technique, you

5:56

know, something about what kind of hands do they have?

5:58

You know, it reminds me sometimes, you know, you you

6:00

see young baseball players, you know, and they say they've

6:02

got soft hands. You know, when they catch

6:04

the ball, that's soft hands. Well, it's something

6:07

like this is similar when you when you play, you can

6:09

see that somebody can get around

6:11

the violin pretty naturally, even

6:14

though it's not finished or anything like this. But

6:16

at an early age you can already see it, so

6:18

that gives you an inclination as to what's

6:21

in the future, but of course you don't know what's in the future.

6:23

You just and and for me, I

6:26

personally feel that when I hear somebody play

6:28

at the young age, let's say even

6:30

ten, eleven, twelve years old, if

6:33

they play age appropriately,

6:35

I'm very happy. What I mean

6:37

by age appropriate is that you can if you close your

6:39

eyes, you think that that's a young person.

6:42

You know, there's there's hope, there is

6:44

you know, there is talent there and and but it's

6:47

young. You hear it as opposed to listening

6:49

to sometimes if you put on on

6:52

the internet, you know, you hear people who are five,

6:54

six, seven years old who sounds like like

6:56

the years old. You know that amazing

6:58

and that I find something times is challenging

7:01

because if you're twelve and you sound

7:04

like you're twenty five, what what are you gonna sound

7:06

like when you're eighteen or nineteen? You know, That's

7:08

that's and that I worry about,

7:11

because that's very very difficult exactly

7:14

you know and what and how do you treach this person?

7:16

And according to your philosophy, at what age

7:18

do you've started a little tougher with them? With how old.

7:21

Well, it's not a question of being tough. It's

7:24

well, look, everybody has their

7:26

own sort of schedule of development.

7:29

You know. Sometimes you hear somebody at the age of twelve

7:32

who just sound basic, not

7:34

very very good, but you hear something

7:37

there, and so you have to

7:39

know what's to say and what not to say.

7:41

I'd like to just insert that. You know, what's

7:44

the great secret of a good teacher

7:46

is not only knowing what to say, but

7:48

knowing what not to say, and especially

7:50

what not to say. When somebody that has great

7:53

gift and great musical musical

7:56

naturalness, and those that have that great

7:58

gifts in that natural them alone, do

8:01

you leave them alone hurt their feelings?

8:03

No, no, you don't want to hurt them. No,

8:06

it's not their feelings. It's you don't want to

8:09

fox around. You know, you don't want to, you know,

8:11

just let the natural ability

8:14

to natural talent develop and usually

8:16

things get better as you grow

8:18

older, you know, without having to really

8:21

nitpick with everything. And that's that's

8:23

I find is a danger because

8:26

you know, when a teacher has such incredible

8:29

talent in front of them, you know, they want

8:31

to give you their old So then they become too

8:33

picky, leave it alone, Just leave

8:35

it alone. During what years did you study

8:38

with gold Guard? I studied with her

8:40

from the age of five until I was thirteen. You

8:42

studied with for eight years, eight years, and then

8:44

you came to the United States to do Sullivan.

8:47

You were thirteen years old. And when

8:49

you came to do so I find

8:51

that unbelievable. When you came to do Sullivan

8:53

and you're thirteen years old, did you

8:56

have any idea who Sullivan? Was? That what your first idea,

8:59

there's some guy was exactly

9:02

No. No, I didn't know how how

9:04

you looked or anything. I just I just

9:06

in Israel they talked about because when we came

9:08

to to Israel to audition a whole bunch

9:10

of people to go on his show,

9:13

they said there they didn't call

9:15

him Sullivan. They called him Sullivan.

9:19

That's Sullivan, sat Sullivan.

9:23

Is that Sullivan? That's Sullivan? Oh,

9:26

Television, I said, okay,

9:28

television. At the minute I heard television said

9:31

I mean so I So I auditioned,

9:33

you know, and then I was chosen. You know that there was

9:35

there was sent people over to audition musicians. Yes,

9:38

yes, because Sullivan he wanted at

9:41

Sullivan wanted a show only

9:44

of the isra Eli pard

9:46

of my accent, only of the isra

9:48

Eli people. So it was a variety

9:51

great Jew and was going

9:55

back to the homeland and the kids. Ever, well,

9:57

there's some people thought his name was that Solomon,

9:59

but we changed the two at Sullivan. It

10:01

might have been, but but you know, so the

10:03

whole show was an Israeli variety

10:06

show. You've seen this show, you know. He had

10:08

everybody had a monkey dancing, and then

10:10

he had somebody playing the violin. And so

10:12

in this particular case, it was a

10:15

pair of folk singers

10:17

that there was to know

10:19

that we didn't have topo and we

10:22

didn't have them, but we had a ballet

10:24

dancer was fourteen. We had a coloratura

10:27

soprano from yem And I think I was

10:29

in the Department of Human

10:32

Interest story or chubby

10:34

story. I don't know what I was what I

10:36

was, but I was cute, I think, sorry,

10:39

very cute. I was cute. Thank you so much, thank

10:41

you so cute. I know when

10:43

you come over you've never been to the US before, your

10:46

mother comes with you. Yes, and you perform on Sullivan.

10:48

Yes, do you remember what that was like to win the show?

10:51

It was slightly exciting. Uh,

10:56

I didn't know, No, it was it was very

10:59

exciting, you know, and so I I kind of played

11:01

and it was very It was over very quickly,

11:03

you know, because I did the last moment

11:05

of the medlsone concerto and they

11:07

cut it down to about I think two two

11:10

minutes and forty five seconds because that was

11:12

it. And uh, and he introduced

11:14

me. He was a lovely gentleman, really

11:16

very very nice. Is that what happened after you did Sullivan?

11:19

Uh? We went on a tour

11:23

in the US, the entire group that

11:26

did Sullivan, we went on a on a tour months.

11:29

Yeah, about three or three or four months. Yeah.

11:32

Yeah. And at the end of the at the end of the tour,

11:35

I went I well, the main

11:37

thing the

11:39

challenge was to get into the Juilliard

11:41

School, and that was one of it was it

11:44

was it was that a plan for you to go to Juilliard.

11:46

Yes, when you were back in the issue before Sullivan,

11:49

before before sa it was a dream

11:51

to go to Juilliard, but Sullivan made it. But yes,

11:55

it was a very Julliard And there was a

11:57

teacher there who taught Julia

11:59

that I heard about in Israel. By the name of Glamian,

12:01

and so we said, one of these days, maybe you'll study

12:04

with Gala and Ivan Galamian

12:06

yea. His assistant at that time was Dorothy

12:08

Delay, and she came and heard

12:10

me play, and she thought

12:12

that I had a good

12:15

chance, had a good sound. I had a

12:17

good sound, you know that that was my forte

12:19

is the sound. But then you were about fourteen thirteen

12:22

half fourteen, right around the same sound.

12:24

So what was it like for you? You never lived in

12:26

New York. And again this idea of

12:29

being like shot out of a cannon to have the spectacular

12:32

career, this big ticket career.

12:34

You want thirteen years old, you want Sullivan.

12:36

You're touring the country, You're gonna go to Juilliard.

12:39

What was your recollection that? Was it intimidating or

12:41

you don't have time to think about that. I didn't really

12:43

think about it because it wasn't really look

12:45

it wasn't like a professional

12:48

career. It was a specialized

12:50

career, you know, an other ways to play for It

12:52

was an Ed Sullivan concert. It wasn't like I

12:54

was playing a recital someplace, you

12:56

know, or I was making my debut in

12:59

Carnegie Hall or any thing. Like that. It

13:01

was a specialized kind of concert,

13:03

you know, and it used to play um

13:05

Also, I used to play for

13:08

Jewish benefits, you know, for the u J and

13:10

they knew about me, you know, because the

13:12

whole organization, the Jewish organization

13:14

knew about this Sullivan program.

13:17

So they used some of the people for fundraising.

13:19

And I was, you know, sometimes I was. I

13:22

would be called at the telephone. I

13:24

would be hired to do fifteen minutes or

13:26

ten minutes at the end of the fundraising,

13:29

you know, and I would appear probably

13:32

like eleven o'clock at night, you

13:34

know, and I would play then gun Bay Block and the

13:36

Flight of the Bumblebee, and that was it. And then

13:38

I would leave and and I would get I

13:40

would get paid, you know, and it was

13:42

it was great, you know. I played while the people

13:44

were eating their desserts and of

13:46

kosher food and things like that. It

13:49

wasn't the same people like when one night you do fly

13:51

to the Bumblebee and somebody says he was better

13:53

at Jerry's bar mitzvah, so

13:56

much better. I never did bar Mitzvah's. I

13:59

never did bar mitzvahs. And I didn't and

14:02

I didn't do Veddings,

14:04

No Veddings. Absolutely. You

14:06

know, now, when you leave and you come to

14:08

to the United States, when you left

14:11

for the Sullivan trip, was it assumed

14:13

you were going to go home or did you kind of know you knew

14:15

you weren't going home. I knew that I was.

14:18

I was going to stay and

14:19

did. My dad

14:22

stayed for about a year in Israel and finished

14:26

selling the apartment and do us in the business, and

14:28

then he came and joined us. I

14:30

even remember, you know, I did

14:32

not see my dad for a year, and

14:35

the only way to get in touch was through

14:37

letters. And then a

14:39

bit later on, you know, maybe

14:42

after about five, six, seven, eight

14:44

months, we actually were

14:46

able to arrange for a long distance

14:49

call from New York to Tel Aviv,

14:52

you know. And at that time, so you're talking

14:54

about nineteen fifty

14:57

nine, so it was like

14:59

ten o'clock the morning, you know, on the phone rings

15:01

and I had Hello,

15:08

Hello. That was the

15:10

connection, you know, that's

15:12

the connection. And you know, we had absolutely

15:15

and we had in our street where I lived, we

15:18

had no phone. So what we had

15:20

was there was a grocery store that had the telephone.

15:23

So whoever want to make a long distance called

15:25

we'll go to the grocery store and we pick

15:27

up. So that's that's what you knew you were going to

15:29

stay. Yes, yes, I learned the language

15:32

from watching TV and you

15:34

know, listening to the Yankee baseball.

15:37

Spoke very little English and now

15:40

hardly. I took a class of English

15:42

in Israel. I think I failed. But

15:45

it's amazing how quickly you learned, you know, when

15:47

you hear the language around you all the time,

15:50

and you were you went to Julia with family years.

15:52

Let's see, until I

15:55

think nineteen or I

15:57

was nineteen or twenty. I think as

16:00

I because I still I remember still

16:02

uh doing concerts and having

16:05

to go to class, and you

16:07

know sometimes I was late to a class and I got hell

16:10

to pay, you know, because I just took a flight

16:12

from Los Angeles. Give me a break. You know. I

16:14

don't know, but you didn't go to an English class,

16:16

you know, I have to be that. So but I

16:18

was, you know, So I did both things for

16:20

a while and then I graduated.

16:23

And is it literally

16:27

your hand and your brain the way they connect.

16:30

Is it a passion and a spirit that you have inside

16:32

you? Also that helps you play the viol

16:35

When you talk about having a good sound. What

16:38

does that mean? Having a good sound? It means

16:40

that you play the violin and

16:42

you hear as a particular sound and that's

16:44

you. It's it's something that's

16:46

individual, that's all it is.

16:48

It's not like I'm not going to practice so

16:51

that I'm going to get a good sound. I'm talking

16:53

about the tone actually to the tone,

16:55

which deals with the beauty of the sound.

16:58

Sound, of course, is tech. My

17:00

teachers worked on it. You know how you use the bowl,

17:03

you know where you put the bow between the strings,

17:05

and you know what's the direction of the bow,

17:07

the bow speed, etcetera, etcetera. That's

17:10

the it's a healthy sound. But

17:12

the beauty of the tone is something

17:15

that every person has

17:18

differently. It's an individual. Yeah,

17:21

you cannot teach that. There's certain things you cannot

17:23

teach. And where do you think your sound comes

17:25

from? I don't know. I mean I

17:27

really don't know. It's it's something

17:29

that I hear you had when

17:32

I was four and three

17:34

quarters. So do you find that music become

17:36

you imbue that with even more of

17:39

your being in your spirit because you were limited in the

17:41

things you could do as a child. I don't think

17:43

so. I'm getting everything wrong with you everything,

17:46

But that's not it. But

17:48

but you're batting,

17:51

that's good. But

17:54

you're doing good, you know, I mean because you

17:56

know, No, it's no, Seriously, I just

17:58

I don't think so. I mean, I mean, I couldn't say

18:00

to you. Well, let me see how I'm playing

18:03

without napolio. Now, let's see how I'm playing

18:05

with the polio. I can't I can't say what I'm

18:07

wondering. But I'm wondering if you that Okay,

18:15

sorry, I mean giving you such a hard time.

18:17

So I'm so sorry. No, I mean, I knew this was kinding. I've

18:19

been around you a few times. Always it's always

18:21

an obstacle. Course, but anyway, the the but

18:25

but you know, what I'm saying is is that do you think

18:27

the spirit of the person is that relevant?

18:29

No, I don't know. I love to watch

18:32

people who are famously like, whether it's

18:34

their actors or or people

18:37

in sports, and sort of try and guess

18:40

what kind of people they are in private,

18:42

you know, and uh being

18:45

good and being a wonderful

18:47

person and being a sort of an

18:50

agreeable, sympathic a kind of person.

18:52

It is not necessarily together, you know.

18:54

I remember my wife always. You know, sometimes

18:56

we go to a concert and we hear

18:58

somebody who's absolutely amazing, and I

19:00

said, Toby, come on, let's go backstage and

19:03

say hello, and she said, I'd rather not. You know,

19:05

I I don't want to be disappointed

19:08

the way this pression plays.

19:11

Just let's let's not do it. Let me

19:13

just relax and just enjoy it. Uh

19:16

you. Many many people who conduct, and I'd

19:18

love to get your opinion of this. Many people who conduct

19:20

are people who have good careers as

19:23

a soloist. They played typically the

19:25

violin of the piano, but they don't necessarily

19:27

have great careers. And then but someone taps them

19:29

on the shoulders. There are you keep time very well, and

19:32

they moved them on. No. But I mean, I mean every

19:34

every one of that I would talk to would say that. To me. I'd

19:36

say, uh, you know, do this

19:38

one they say. Somebody walked up to me when I was

19:40

like ten years old and said, you keep time very

19:43

well. And they moved them into the conducting program

19:45

whatever. They moved into the viola section. That's

19:55

our ad for the show. Right, No, no, no,

19:58

I might study that viola jokes on no longer

20:00

applicable because the level of viola playing

20:03

has really risen seriously

20:06

so that you said we should be that too. No,

20:08

it's really viola jokes. You know. Used

20:10

to be that the level was a little bit

20:12

below, but right now it's brilliant.

20:14

I mean, so many brilliant viola players.

20:17

So it's not but it's still

20:19

funny, you know. Violin

20:31

legend. It's a Pruman has a special

20:34

place in his heart for the New York

20:36

Pilharmonic. He and then music

20:38

director Alan Gilbert teamed up for

20:40

the Phil's opening Galla a few years

20:43

ago. Here films our guest soloist

20:45

It's a Filman, followed by

20:47

music director has A l film ut

20:50

Alan Gilbert. Gilbert

20:52

found out he got the job from the Phil's

20:54

president, Zarin Meta, after

20:57

a particularly miserable bedtime

20:59

for his toddler's We had had a

21:01

tortuous night and they'd finally

21:04

fallen asleep, and I got a call from Zarin Meta

21:06

just after they had fallen asleep, and

21:08

he said, I'd like to invite you to be our next

21:11

music director. I said, my kids just fell asleep. I can't

21:13

talk to you. But then

21:16

I called him back and we had seen it in a movie

21:18

where guys like more than being the music

21:20

director of the Philharmonica, I want my kids to go

21:22

to sleep. Clink totally, he will. We all know

21:24

the madness of that moment. The rest

21:26

of my conversation with conductor Alan Gilbert

21:29

at Here's the Thing dot Org coming

21:32

up It sucked Perman on Alan and Gilbert's

21:34

art, what makes a great conductor?

21:37

Plus his wife Toby Perlman on

21:40

their music school and the next generation

21:42

of great masters takes on Mendelssohn

21:45

and my questions. This

21:49

is Alec Baldwin and you're listening

21:51

to Here's the Thing. It sacked.

21:53

Perlman didn't bring his famous strata

21:55

varius. He says playing takes

21:57

more effort now than it used to. As

22:00

you get older, everything becomes more difficult

22:02

and more demanding. Uh oh,

22:05

are you kidding me? Uh? But

22:08

you know, if you do a great piece,

22:10

you can do it over and over again and no

22:12

matter how I mean for me, I mean a

22:15

perfect example is debatedpen Violent Concerto,

22:17

which is not getting any easier as you get

22:20

older, because but it's not. It's but it's very

22:22

very difficult when you're young as well. It's

22:24

I call it when when my students

22:27

start the piece, I say, welcome to

22:29

the lifetime journey,

22:31

because that's what it is. You know, you start to

22:33

play and it's pretty good, and then you

22:35

played again, and you played again and you grow

22:38

up with it. So that's that's what music

22:40

is about. And the minute you think

22:42

musically like that, especially

22:45

when you repeat something, you're

22:48

on the right track. Instead of saying,

22:50

oh, I have to do that again, but

22:52

you know, you have to look at the music and you have to say,

22:54

this is going to be yet another

22:57

experience. You know it's

22:59

it's going to be one way or one

23:02

or another way, but it's not going to be a repetition

23:04

of what I did a week ago or a month ago.

23:07

When you want to sit down assuming that you do

23:09

this, I don't want to assume. But when you want to listen

23:11

to someone else play the violin that you admire

23:14

and you admire their sound, give us an

23:16

example of somebody you listen to

23:19

for pure tone. The

23:22

first person that comes to mind is Friz Chrysler.

23:25

Uh. You know, you you listen

23:28

to old recordings

23:31

of him and you think,

23:33

you know those days that you know, there

23:35

wasn't there wasn't the great

23:38

advancement in technology and so

23:41

and that it's that you you hear scratches, you

23:44

hear the tone, and you say, oh my god, that is

23:47

something unbelievable, you

23:49

know, or you know, Menu and had a fantastic

23:52

sound. I mean, everybody had a different kind

23:54

of sound, but sometimes sounds it's

23:56

apples and orange ice, you know. I mean, but

23:59

that the first Christen that I hear

24:01

of that kind of sound is his. But

24:03

you can say hello, it's

24:08

this is a very dear friend of mine. By the way,

24:11

Yeah, you should be ashamed

24:13

of yourself. You

24:17

know that story about the mall Or nine with Alan at

24:20

Lincoln Center and they get down to the end.

24:22

I mean they talk about squeezing at the death. I mean they're

24:24

squeezing the end of the Maller nine. It's

24:26

like it's

24:31

looks like it's like this cosmic soup. And

24:34

the guy's phone goes off and he sitting They're going and

24:41

no one in his office told me he had a new

24:43

phone, and

24:45

you cannot, you cannot and put

24:47

the arm on it and the alarm

24:49

and finally Alan stops the

24:51

performance. They stopped

24:54

the end of the Mallar nine. That was a

24:56

very special Maller nine. That was a memory.

24:58

It was. It was like a reason. Yes, it

25:00

was like a sausage. It had it had

25:03

two endings. Now

25:12

you you conduct? Yes? And then when? When

25:14

did that again? And why it began? I tell

25:16

you it's very funny. It began with the Proman

25:18

Music program. Uh, my

25:20

wife who started

25:22

this whole thing. She said to me, we're

25:25

gonna have a string orchestra. Could you coach

25:27

them? So I didn't think of myself as

25:30

a conductor. I thought myself as

25:32

a coach. So I picked up at pencil and

25:34

conducted with the pencil, you know, because if you conduct

25:36

with the baton, you're a conductor. With a pencil,

25:38

you're more of a teacher. You see that I mean?

25:41

And anyway, so that's actually when it started

25:44

and I got some interesting

25:46

again. I got some nice sounds

25:49

from the orchestra conducting.

25:52

I find very mysterious, you

25:54

know, because you can have four

25:56

or five conductors who are absolutely

25:58

excellent, and each one gives

26:00

you a downbeat and the orchestra will sound different

26:03

with each What do you attribute that to? I have no

26:05

idea, Thank god. What do you think makes a good

26:07

conductor? Oh? Well, obviously

26:10

knowing the score and knowing all of this things. But

26:12

in the final analysis, there is a mystery

26:15

as to what makes somebody conductor

26:17

phrase in the orchestra play a certain way.

26:20

I don't understand that, you know, a

26:22

great conductor should understand what he

26:25

or she wants to hear from the orchestra.

26:28

So if I do, let's say a bit of a

26:30

Brahms symphony, what do you say

26:32

to a great orchestra who have performed

26:35

that hundreds of times?

26:37

How do you get the orchestra to hear

26:40

pop up up and say, hey,

26:42

that's really good stuff as

26:45

as opposed to I again,

26:48

you know, so that's that's that's the difference.

26:51

Well, it's your it's my own rendition

26:54

of what I want what I want to hear. So

26:56

if you say to me, it's high Tank doing this smaller

26:58

piece, he pasces it up, which I don't like.

27:01

And if you show me that it's gary if he squeezes

27:03

every drop out of it, how could one movement

27:07

be almost two minutes longer

27:09

with someone else conducted easily? And it's easily

27:11

mean they just squeeze it. But also,

27:14

but also if it's too slow, it doesn't

27:16

mean that it's bad. And if it's too fast, it doesn't

27:18

mean that it's bad. If it works. There

27:20

is no such thing as the right temple.

27:23

If you hear that it's too fast, then

27:25

maybe there's something in your background that you're not

27:27

used to it. Now, tell

27:30

everybody the idea. How did the school start?

27:32

It was Toby's idea, My wife, Toby's

27:34

idea. It was her dream because

27:36

we met in a school in

27:39

a summer program during during Juliard,

27:41

sure of course, and so she started this whole

27:43

thing, you know. And it was actually

27:46

five years ago. So this is our anniversary

27:48

for the program music program and yes

27:56

and uh and it was it was basically

28:00

for strings. And I think

28:02

we had kids come to our house

28:04

in Long Island and practice scales and

28:07

you know, like at eight o'clock in the morning, you said, Toby

28:11

thought that was the greatest alarm clock. And

28:14

but we are now in Shelter Island.

28:19

The people, whether whether it's the young program or

28:21

the eighteen program, are they

28:24

is it free of charge? And you're raising money to pay

28:26

for the whole people? We never we never we never

28:28

refused. We never refused for lack

28:30

of funds. We give a lot of people scholarships

28:34

and scholarships and some uh

28:36

some more some lessons so on, and some if

28:38

they want to pay, they can pay, but it

28:41

really doesn't matter because, you know, the the expense

28:43

of the program is so that even if

28:46

we were to charge

28:48

everybody equally, will still be in

28:51

the in the red severely,

28:53

severely, believe me, so really, but it's

28:55

great. And the program has not grown on

28:58

purpose. You know, we started with about

29:00

thirty eight thirty nine kids and we still have thirty

29:02

a thirty nine kids for the little program.

29:05

And it's and and it's amazing. It's

29:07

it's very difficult to describe unless

29:09

you go there and just give

29:11

the experience. We have kids playing twice

29:14

a week works in progress

29:16

we call it whips, you know, where they try

29:19

new pieces in front of an audience and so on.

29:21

It's it's it's great and I've been listening during

29:23

the summers. I don't play concerts. I

29:25

just teach there and with with other

29:28

great, great faculty, and we have you

29:30

know, the philosophy of a lack once you're

29:32

in that program, a lack of

29:34

competition between the kids. You

29:36

know, they all support each other, and

29:39

for me, that's so important. You know that

29:41

that you know, when somebody plays well,

29:44

they are truly happy for them, and when somebody

29:46

messes up, they go and they console

29:48

them and they really feel for them. It's it's

29:51

it's a it's a real Family's so important.

29:53

It's a great father. It's our problem's wife, Toby

29:56

Proman, please come and join us, Toby,

30:00

and please welcome Rachel, Lee Friday

30:02

and Randall Gooseby. Thank you,

30:04

Thank you, Toby. Your husband

30:07

has so kindly dumped the responsibility

30:10

of explaining to all about the school to you.

30:13

So how did it start? I want

30:15

to say something else first, go right

30:17

ahead. I want to say something

30:19

about the sound he

30:21

doesn't know. It's

30:24

like breathing. You

30:26

don't think about each breath that you take.

30:29

You just do it. And I breathe a

30:32

little differently than you. The

30:34

sound that he makes comes

30:37

from I don't know, magic

30:40

or some something that I don't understand,

30:43

unique to him,

30:46

and that's the only kind of sound

30:48

he can make. I'm

30:50

stuck with it, right,

30:52

So okay, now ask me a question. I love

30:55

that I believe that I believe in something

30:57

otherworldly inside you.

30:59

But so the school started when twenty

31:02

five years ago the school started It

31:04

started because I went to a meeting.

31:06

I was invited to a meeting out in the Hampton's

31:10

people wanted to start a music

31:12

festival. I wasn't really interested

31:14

at all, and I said that up

31:16

front, but I went and

31:18

there was the talk talk talk, talk talk, and

31:21

somebody said, and

31:23

we could have a school, and

31:25

I said, oh, I could do

31:28

that. I'd like to do that. And

31:30

that was maybe March, and in August

31:32

we ran a two week program. And where did

31:34

you run the program? Initially we ran

31:37

it at Boys Harbord, you know, you

31:39

know where that is, and they had snakes

31:42

in the rooms and there

31:44

was no hall to play in. The

31:47

dining room was the concert hall,

31:49

and yeah, it was very exciting. We

31:52

also had the food. Should we should

31:54

we talk about the food? Now? What food

31:56

did you serve in the early days

31:59

of the school? Mystery meets

32:04

now for Rachel. Now you

32:06

are not at the school anymore. You went to the school, correct?

32:10

Yeah? I went to the Proman music program

32:12

beginning in two thousand one. And

32:15

how many summers were you there? I was there

32:17

at the little program for six years,

32:19

and then I went to the Chamber workshop

32:22

and I also attended their Sara Sota

32:24

Winter Program. How old

32:26

were you when you knew you had a little

32:29

special something in the musical department? I wonder

32:32

how old were you? Well, so

32:34

I actually asked for a violin

32:36

for my fourth birthday. I

32:38

saw it on TV on lamp

32:41

chops play along, and

32:48

and then what happened? The day rolled around

32:51

and I had sort of forgotten about it. But in

32:53

the middle of the day, I think in the afternoon or

32:55

something, I suddenly remembered and

32:57

then I was like, where's my violin? And I got

33:00

really upset and I started

33:02

crying. And then I think my mom knew I was really

33:04

serious about it. So when I was

33:06

about four and a half, she finally got me one, what

33:09

about you? Um? I started a little bit

33:11

older when I was seven, Um,

33:15

father time over here. UM.

33:19

My mother is Korean and she grew up in

33:21

Japan, and um, music education is

33:24

a very big part of their culture, and so she

33:26

wanted me to have music. And

33:28

for some random reason, I chose violent, You're

33:31

you're going to school where now at Juilliard?

33:33

Now you're a Julliard now and you

33:35

talk about Pearlman, how nurturing

33:38

it is. Now it's like a family. Would

33:40

you say that Juilliard is the

33:42

same way. Was a little is

33:48

a little more competitive. It's safe

33:50

to say, yeah, a little bit, but um, I mean

33:53

so many. I mean most of the people I hang out

33:55

with the Juilliard I met at p MP, so I still have

33:58

my my sort of family. Got

34:00

out of that and he said

34:02

what he said about making a certain sound? Do

34:05

you feel that you have a sound? Are

34:07

you developed by yes?

34:10

Like Mrs P said, it's kind of second nature. It's like breathing,

34:13

so we kind of focus on the difficult stuff.

34:16

I disagree you have to work on your

34:18

sound. I mean I think all

34:20

our video nights and studio class

34:22

really you know nailed

34:24

that in my head that you need to work

34:26

on your goal? What do

34:29

you want to do? What do I want to do? Well?

34:31

For me, I love solo playing, I love working

34:34

with recital partners with pianists, and

34:36

I love chamber music and I also

34:38

love teaching. So

34:41

for me, having a variety of activities

34:43

really is the most satisfying. How

34:46

have would you say for both of you? How

34:48

have the students changed and we're coming through the program

34:51

and the twenty years you've been doing it, I

34:53

can tell you then in terms of applicants

34:56

and admissions. The level

34:59

is higher and high and higher and

35:01

higher. It's like everything

35:03

else. The kids throw a ball faster,

35:06

and hit the tennis ball faster, and run

35:08

faster, and swim faster and play faster

35:11

and better. Amazing.

35:14

No, No, we're gonna bring out six

35:16

other people who've been playing the violin since they were eighteen

35:18

months old. Let's get them

35:20

out here, and then when we're

35:22

done performing, we're gonna end. We're gonna end

35:25

with this music. Here

35:27

they come right. That

41:44

was Itsak Proman, his wife

41:46

and Proman Music program founder

41:48

Toby, and their brilliant violin

41:51

students, Rachel Lee Priday and Randall

41:53

Gooseby. The artists who

41:55

made up the octet were Rachel and Randall,

41:58

plus Stella Chen and Keneth Renshaw

42:00

also on violin, Chalee

42:03

Smith and Joshua ma Chale on viola,

42:05

Nico Olarte Hayes, and iChon

42:08

Su on cello. The piece

42:10

was the presto from Mendelssohn's octet

42:13

Opus twenty in e flat major, recorded

42:15

live at n y US Screwball

42:18

Center in Manhattan. I'm

42:20

Alec Baldwin and you're listening to

42:22

here's the thing,