Sincerity

Sincerity seems to be one of the most important qualities of great musicians. For me, this translates to being honest with my students. Harvey Shapiro was my teacher in my 4^th and 5^th years at Juilliard, and he could be brutally honest. After my fourth lesson he said I was getting worse. Then he told me to quit practicing. That really did hurt… but I knew he was right. The following week at my next lesson, he said I was still getting worse and he pulled me out of the Orchestra at Juilliard, which was not supposed to be allowed for anyone.

I was impressed that my new teacher, as a substitute for Leonard Rose for one year, cared enough to goes to bat and actually get the Dean to release me from the orchestra. During that first year, I got pulled into his studio once or twice a week to make sure I was staying on course.

Shapiro had been the lead recording cellist in New York as well as principal cellist in the NBC orchestra under Toscanini before coming to Juilliard. You can watch him teach on YouTube. I posted 3 videos of him Shapiro doing a masterclass in Germany where you can see him smoking his cigar, playing, and talking all at the same time.