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The Red Room
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Fine, so here we are. Fall 1999, and where have the past 20 years of my life taken (and brought me)? Probably much farther than I ever could have imagined going. I was born on March 23, 1979, and as stated before, I grew up in Austin, Texas. I attended all of my schooling, from elementary to high school, there, in the capital of the Lone Star State. Might I mention that Austin is also the Live Music Capital of the World? I probably should, since music is what has influenced me the most above anything else.
I began my training on violin and viola at an early age, too young for me to remember, anyway. Of course, like all beginners, I sucked...bad. Practice does, however, make (almost) perfect. Since 1990, I have performed as a violist and violinist with both my Junior High and High School Symphony Orchestras, the Austin All-City Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Great Hills Baptist Church Adult Orchestra, the Southwest Texas State University Symphony Orchestra, and most recently, the world-renowned International Philharmonic Orchestra (or I.P.O.).
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Changes
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Now, I have always believed that every situation that happens in someone's life is somehow geared to steer them in a certain direction. After I graduated from McCallum High School in May 1997, I applied for admission at Southwest Texas State University and got in! At that point in time, that was the happiest day of my life. However, I was not prepared for what hit me that next fall; sometimes, I think that's the case for many other college freshmen. The combination of resposibility and freedom was actually a horrible clash, since my devotion was more towards the fun and fancy free aspect of college life, although I continued my studies and practice on violin and viola. I was enrolled as a Music Education Major, which was not at all what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Therefore, the next several months at SWTSU was a black and white painting that proved to be the biggest revelation of them all. I tried combining a part-time job, independence, music, and academics into one space at one time, which ultimately guided me towards my current life's direction.
I gained a great amount of inspiration for my life's work enjoying a live concert performed in Austin (on May 18, 1998) by pianist/keyboardist/composer Yanni and his World Orchestra and Band. The way I saw his musicians perform the extravagant, beautiful music was the way I had always known that I wanted to play. I was especially touched by Karen Briggs, Yanni's own violin soloist. Well, several days later, at the last of many SWT Symphony Orchestra concerts that I performed during my year as a freshman at the University, I was scouted by Maricela Nublado, who was currently concertmaster of I.P.O. She was looking for "talented musicians," as she said, with "soloist personality and expression." I'd been criticized many times for being too expressive of a string player for many years, and just as I was feeling like I was doing something wrong by "feeling the music," my efforts were rewarded. Due to the fact that I had done horribly academically during my first year in college, I left SWTSU to pursue a musical career with Maricela, my new "partner in crime", and the rest of I.P.O., which is a dynamic group of diverse, talented, and powerful musicians hailing from places as far away as Tokyo to Mexico City to as close as right here in the States.
I'm not saying that going to college hurt me, but it actually showed me that formal education is not always the path to a happy, fulfilling career. Therefore, a whole new world was opened up for me as soon as I packed up my belongings from my dorm room and returned home to prepare for the next big chapter in my life.
That following summer, I promptly began rehearsals with the International Philharmonic Orchestra with Maricela having taken me under her wing, training on the music as the new solo violinist (later on, I would also become one of the vocalists). It was the first time I had picked up an electric violin, which seemed to add pizazz and feeling the music I was performing, but I soon grew into the groove, purchasing my five-stringed Zeta Strados as my proud trophy which I currently use. After only two months of rehearsals with the 65-piece symphony orchestra and the group of 14 other cultured soloists (as well as the 6 talented vocalists) that are featured in I.P.O., we embarked on a one month concert tour to Mexico City, performing our new repertoire at the well-known Auditorio Nacional. That was the greatest experience of my life! Being able to see the cultural diversity reflected between the audience and their city and the orchestra touched me deeply, for it is my belief that the performers and the audience must feed off of each other to gain the ultimate enjoyment and fulfillment out of a concert experience.
After the Mexico City Concerts, my team and I began preparations to embark on a Tour of the United States of America which would stretch from September of 1998 to September of 1999. Our Fall Concerts were actually a shortened preview of the new year's tour, performing only about fifteen or sixteen selections from the repertoire. We toured Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, and exposed the nation to a whole new world of instrumental music that was filled with passion and power. That winter, after we performed our last few concerts, I was exhausted, but Maricela warned me of the 1999 Tour, which would surely be the greatest test to see where my devotion rested.
Through Fall of 1998, I had continued my part-time job, but once our 1999 Tour opened in Chicago that February, I realized that the two professions could never co-exist. Therefore, I quit my job (or was fired) when I had to choose between working during a weekend shift or performing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Although my financial situation was severely hampered, I felt like I had made the right decision. Since then, my tour with I.P.O. has taken me to over 45 cities, where I have performed over 120 concerts since February. The tour swept me from United Center in Chicago to Radio City Music Hall in New York City; from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to Space Needle Arena in Seattle; from Jones Hall in Houston to Epcot Center in Orlando; and from one corner of the nation to the other. It truly has been a tour of dreams, and if I was given a second chance to do it over again, I wouldn't think twice about it.
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