Getting To Know You
A few weeks ago, our team had the pleasure of sitting down with various members of Eureka to discuss who they are, where they come from, and what matters to them. We traded their time for either free coffee, tea, or a surprising amount of hot chocolate at Oakleaf Bakery and Cafe.
The following responses are from some of the inspiring women that make up Eureka. We hope that you enjoy getting to know them as much as we did.
Meet Victoria (trombone), Ha-Eun (violin), Maria (trumpet), Abby (Violin), Stella (Flute), Isa (Violin), and Ariel (Piano).
Q1 — “What social issues are most important to you?”
Maria: “In classical music, people like to ‘grey-ify’ a particular person. People don’t really regard that being an amazing musician does not excuse terrible behavior.”
Isa: “1. Awareness is the largest obstacle there is 2. Representation, especially LGBTQ issues 3. Gender, women’s rights, equal pay 4. Mental health could be the most important. It’s a big swirl of a mess, but the arts can appeal to the emotional side of that.”
Abby: “I just hate our government, but that’s fine”.
Ha-Eun: “Mental health- the stigma against mental illness, particularly depression. “I used to be really uncomfortable talking about it, but as I’ve gotten older… “We’re a pretty neurotic bunch” angst-debilitating depression — — -angst “the trope of the tragic/tortured artist”.”
Q2 — “Why did you go into music? Why did you pick your instrument?”
Victoria: “My mom wouldn’t let me pick an instrument that didn’t fit in my backpack. She’s a school conductor and said that “too many people play the small instruments”. All three of my sisters play brass instruments, so I didn’t realize that being a woman and playing trombone was weird until I started in undergrad.”
Ariel: “I don’t think I knew about any other instruments”. Mom played a lot of Mozart and Bach “fun to bang on the keys”. “I went into music because music makes me be a better person; it makes you more sympathetic to other people, especially with chamber music. There’s a tangible connection with your partners and the audience.”
Abby: “I originally wanted to go into law, but chose music because you can help more people through the arts. You don’t have to be Itzhak Perlman and ‘be the best’ to make a change.”
Q3 — “What was your favorite performance to witness and to play?”
Abby: “I’ve been getting much more emotional during concerts; I guess it makes sense since I’ve been experiencing more as a person so I can let music affect me more now. Most recently was watching the Boston Symphony perform Strauss’s Alpine Symphony and Shostakovich 14.”
Ha-eun: “I went to the Boston Symphony for La Mer, but what blew me away was a Rachmaninoff piece with a soprano. Usually don’t like vocal music” singer vibrato goes out of control because they’re trying to project their voice. It felt like I was in love. The only other time I’ve felt like that was being picked up at the airport by a loved one.”
Ariel: “I went to Bosba and Ozner’s recital and was really inspired by a piece that Bosba wrote called “Father of Mine,” and the concept of using music to explore personal trauma and how music inspires you to find peace.”
Q5 — “Do you have any problems with the culture surrounding classical music?”
Stella: “I think it’s ridiculous that only 50 years ago orchestras were made up of only straight white men. I can name maybe one female conductor off the top of my head. That’s ridiculous”.
Victoria: “There’s a total lack of diversity. I grew up in an area where only the rich white communities had the facilities to help and promote musicians.”
Abby: “I absolutely hate the stereotype of yellow fever. I was born in AMERICA. Especially because of the scandals coming out, there’s a lot of demeaning asian women. NEC is one of the more diverse music schools, but we tend to clump together by race which is bad because we have to be unified to play well together. Also, women should be allowed to be sensual we shouldn’t have to be afraid of being female. There’s a lot of old culture in the classical music world. We shouldn’t have to wait for the old generation to die out.”
Q6 — “In your personal opinion, what does it mean to be a professional musician/What do you hope to get out of a career in music?”
Abby: “I absolutely want to perform as much as possible; it’s the quickest/most personal way to have a connection with people. I grew up underprivileged with single mom, and my dream is to travel to underprivileged places and help people
Isa: “It’s about standing by what you believe in and doing what you say. Being a person of integrity.”
Ha-eun: “What I find meaningful about music is teaching, because I might be able to leave behind some legacy of sorts. I can make my mark by helping the next generation.”
Ariel: “There’s an very selfish part in that I love piano repertoire and I want to keep exploring it. But also, music forces you to be really honest with yourself and with your audience.”
