New York Philharmonic Cellist Carter Brey

(CNN) --Carter Brey is the Principal Cellist of the New York Philharmonic. He dedicated himself to serious study of the cello as a teen-ager -- and within a decade was playing in a major American orchestra. He has appeared with Yo-Yo Ma in "Live from Lincoln Center," and toured the nation as a featured soloist.

CNN Moderator: Carter Brey, welcome to CNN.com!

Carter Brey: Hi all. Glad to be here.

CNN Moderator: What have you learned from music that has helped you in other areas of life?

Carter Brey: That's a good question. It helped first of all when I was a teenager. Discipline was a given, and it kept me out of trouble. Well, MAJOR trouble.

Player Profile Carter Brey, principal cellist Hometown: South Salem, New York Age: 46 Age at which he began to play cello: 12 Early music education: John Jay High School, Cross River, New York; private lessons with Barbara Levy, Chappaqua, New York Formal music training: The Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Maryland; Yale University Professional resumé: 1979-'81 -- Section cellist, Cleveland Orchestra 1981 -- Prizewinner, Rostropovich International Cello Competition 1981-'95 -- Numerous appearances as a soloist with virtually all the major orchestras in the U.S. Regular appearances with the Tokyo and Emerson string quartets; the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Spoleto Festivals in the U.S. and Italy 1996 -- Appointed Principal Cellist of the New York Philharmonic Number of years with New York Philharmonic: Five Favorite pieces to play: Ravel, "La Valse" Bartok, "Concerto for Orchestra" Anything by Mozart Recordings: Complete works for Piano and Cello by Chopin, with pianist Garrick Ohlssen; Alan Jay Kermis' "Still Movement with Hymn"; "The Latin American Album," with pianist Christopher O'Riley

Question from chat room: How young can a child begin to study an instrument like the cello?

Carter Brey: It's just a question of physical proportion, I suppose. A child has to be able to hold the instrument and move around on it without undue strain. So I would say, maybe, 10 or so.

Question from chat room: With whom did you study?

Carter Brey: I started out on the cello in the public school system where I grew up, in Westchester County, NY. My first private lessons took place when I was 16, with Barbara Levy of Chappaqua. I then studied in Mt. Kisco with Paul Wooster before going to the Peabody Institute, where I worked with Laurence Lesser and Stephen Kates. Finally, I worked as a grad student at Yale with Aldo Parisot. Of course, good old raw performance experience is an incomparable teacher!

Question from chat room: Did you study any other instruments before you were 10 years old? What instruments should children study at an earlier age like 4 or 5?

Carter Brey: I started out at age 9 on the violin -- also in the public schools -- and dabbled on the piano. But I wasn't serious about either one. The problem was that neither parent was a musician and neither was in a position to give me guidance in that arena. I finally settled on the cello at an age when I was able to take responsibility myself for my studies.

CNN Moderator: What advice would you give to musicians just starting out?

Carter Brey: The important thing is to foster love for music and the instrument. If there's resistance on the part of the child, either change teachers, find something else for her to do or try another instrument or the voice. It should never be drudgery. That comes later. (Just kidding)

Question from chat room: What did you think of the Tommasini article in the "New York Times" on February 25? Do you think Maazel will take on any of the suggestions made?

Carter Brey: I'm glad you asked about that article. I found it to be one of the most obnoxious, ill written pieces of lousy journalism ever to have appeared in those pages. First: Every music critic on the staff has obsessed over the fact that Maazel let us out early at the final rehearsal. This is entirely irrelevant. Many conductors do this, both guest conductors and Masur. It was an entirely normal circumstance given the fact that the repertoire consisted of one piece that was familiar to the orchestra. In addition, Tommasini compared our attitude unfavorably to that of the Cleveland Orchestra, hinting that they would never have stood for such an outrage. Now let me tell you something: He does not know about the Cleveland Orchestra. I know about the Cleveland Orchestra. I was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra, O.K? And believe me, the degree of dedication in both institutions is identical -- and the degree of laziness, for that matter. So I found the premise of the article completely lame. Thank you so much for allowing me to express myself on that article.

Question from chat room: How do you keep the drudgery out of music making when you have to play day after day? Is it possible to keep your love of music fresh when playing with an organization like the NYP?

Carter Brey: Yes, absolutely. It comes from you, not the circumstance or the institution. If you are committed to music, to maintaining your chops and the standards of your orchestra, everything else follows. Like most things in life, something good leads to more good things. You MUST above all remember that you are very lucky to be doing what you are doing for a living. Music is not just a job; it's a vocation.

Question from chat room: what sort of standard etudes and practice music do you adhere to on a regular basis? And do you have any suggestions for music that would help with finger speed?

Carter Brey: I regularly play scales and arpeggios every day, without fail, but slowly. I think that velocity, as an isolated virtue, is not a good concept in itself. You attain it through total relaxation, concentration and an economical technique. Please do not use soi-disant velocity exercises such as Cossman. They only serve to give you tendinitis. Do NOT isolate the fingers! Use large motions of the hands. Watch good pianists. They "roll" the hand through scalar patterns. Their fingers do not go up and down like robotic digits.

Question from chat room: Do you have any music on Napster?

Carter Brey: No, I've never done that. I played with the software out of morbid curiosity once, but didn't download anything. I have to say that I feel a bit queasy about the idea of folks downloading copyrighted tunes for free. GNU software is one thing; it was created on a freeware basis. But many of the artists who record rely on income from royalties. This is not an evil thing in itself.

Question from chat room: Is Elgar really as important as they seem to think over here in the UK?

Carter Brey: Yes. As a matter of fact, I recall performing that concerto once with the Bournemouth Symphony and being pretty nervous about it, given that Brits (rightly) feel rather proprietary about it. Aside from that, it's simply a marvelous piece that cellists cannot do without.

Question from chat room: What musicians did you admire when you were growing up and learning your craft?

Carter Brey: Schnabel, Gould, Richter, Rostropovich, Ameling, Norman, Fischer-Dieskau and Carl Stalling.

Question from chat room: Music written during the last twenty or thirty years is some of the most exciting music being performed today, but there seems to be some resistance to "modern" music. Many orchestras program many of the old standards. Do you think this resistance is on the part of the audiences or the orchestra management?

See other installments in the series Week 1: Flutist, Mindy Kaufman Week 2: Cellist, Carter Brey

Carter Brey: I think on the part of the audiences, I'm afraid, and then by extension, on the part of those, like management, who program. For example: This week I've been discussing rep for upcoming appearances here in NYP at the Met Museum with the Philharmonic Virtuosi. I gave the Music Director, Dick Kapp, a list of four new concerti that I had commissioned and premiered in the last ten years. He expressed interest, but also understandable trepidation about the reaction of the series director. He was afraid that she would say the program wouldn't sell. So we've been talking about adding a dollop of something sweet with the "medicine." Not that I think of any beautiful music, new or old, as medicine, but apparently, some audiences are uncomfortable with new stuff, even melodic stuff. Depends on the audience, you know. If you play at BAM, or the Knitting Factory, you can get away with pretty much anything. At Avery Fisher Hall, they fall asleep during the overture anyway. So the question might be why worry?

Question from chat room: I would like to see schools take more interest in teaching music to children, or at least as much as they do their sports programs. Do you ever visit schools and expose the children to your music?

Carter Brey: Yes, I do this frequently when I'm on tour by myself. I find it vitally important. It was really how I got interested in music myself. Musicians from New York City would play for our public schools. Of course, this was back in the flush sixties.

Question from chat room: Truly, one can get away with anything in Brooklyn. As a composer myself, I wonder if too many of my colleagues are rather too ready to compose with an absolute disregard for whether anyone in the audience (who might not hold a Ph.D. in music composition) derives any pleasure from the sonic experience. I see that you encourage new compositions for cello; what is your read on where composers are going, these days

Carter Brey: Despite Miton Babbit's famous article from some time ago with the welcoming title, "Who Cares if They Listen," I think there's little doubt that composers are writing accessible music now. The days of ivory tower to ivory tower communication are, I think, mostly over. Of course, I have to add that last week we premiered a major work by Henze. It was, um, difficult.

Question from chat room: I am a professional bassoonist in the south. Could you give me a general idea of the type of educational credentials that members of the NYP have?

Carter Brey: All of us, of course, have advanced degrees from the School of Hard Knocks. But seriously, it varies. Most people probably have BM's or MM's from major conservatories, here and abroad. I know a couple of members who have gone on to earn advanced degrees in unrelated subjects such as philosophy or economics.

CNN Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts for us?

Carter Brey: That has an ominous ring to it. A cigarette and a blindfold, perhaps? Aside from that, I urge anyone watching who is pursuing music studies to hold on to that passion for music. It never has to die; keep it nurtured though demanding excellence from yourself and from stretching the boundaries of what you like to hear and/or play.

CNN Moderator: Carter Brey, thank you for chatting with us today!

Carter Brey: It was fun. Thanks!

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