I love music immensely The idea of motivation to practice and perform is outwardly a simple question, b ut actually a very interesting

question to answer. The obvious answer would be becau se I love music immensely, I fell in love with the piano early on, and I cannot separate myself from music and performance. While this is all true, it is not th e whole story and Im going to focus on other things that may not be as obvious. I am motivated by many things in regards to performing piano, and some are relat ed to the above and some are more practical. Starting with the easiest: professi onal piano performance has become my primary life focus, where all of my energie s are devoted, and also is my principal form of income; clearly, in order to sur vive I need to make a living and doing what Im best at is of chief importance. The refore keeping in top shape (ie practicing!) is mandatory, and is one motivation to play. As someone said to me a while back, you are replaceable, and in this cutth roat business it is vital to be the best you can possibly be. But this involves the practical. Now for the deeper answers to your question. At this point in my life, having played professionally since I was 18, I cannot se e myself in another career and do not wish to do anything but perform onstage. O bviously there are smaller things within the music business I enjoy doing, but t here is an unquenchable desire within me to continue forward and nothing else ca n replace that. When I am in top technical shape there is no feeling quite like that and I feel like I can do anything and express everything. I love achievement and ambition, and this career is filled with very tangible wa ys to gauge accomplishment and growth. Not to mention that the piano literature is so vast and amazing; its like exploring new worlds every time one selects new r epertoire! There are many reasons why I continue performing, but many are hidden impulses a nd desires that cannot be satisfied with any other career. Maybe I was born to p lay the piano? Teachers My teachers occupy the most important influences in their own ways: Bettye Ware , Lydia Artymiw, and Jon Kimura Parker. But other musicians and individuals have inspired me to climb higher and reach for a greater level of artistry. My first teacher, Bettye Ware, quickly recognized that I wanted to achieve great things even when I couldnt do them at the time. She was able to balance my ambiti ons (ie wanting to play Rachmaninoffs 2nd Concerto a few months after starting up piano again) with fundamentals, in order for me to stay interested but also gain ing necessary theory and technique. Concert pianist Lydia Artymiw was my teacher and mentor from 2002-2008, and it was with her that I learned what it took to b ecome a concert pianist: hard work, ceaseless ambition, core conviction, large r epertoire, and everything else one assumes a concert pianist possesses. She was very tough on me at times, and I needed it, but she was and continues to be supp ortive of me and is one of my most cherished mentors. Her example as a top piani st also helped inspire me; I wanted to be like her and worked hard to try and do what she could do onstage. Jon Kimura Parker has been my teacher at Rice University since 2008, and I learn ed a lot from his example as a concert pianist. He has a slightly different peda gogical approach from Lydia, but both are equally gifted as performers and teach ers and I gained a lot from both. Since I was older and more experienced while s tudying with him, he inspired me to search for my own personal expressions and g ave me the necessary breathing room to develop independently as a maturing artis t.

There are many, many people that have inspired me: my girlfriend and amazing cel list Caroline Nicolas, Robert Neu (Vice President, Minnesota Orchestra) has supp orted me immensely through my career, my brilliant friend and professional colle ague Lindsay Brown, the composers Christopher Walczak and Christopher Goddard, a nd so many others. The music world is small and completely connected, so everyon e can and does influence me. Earliest memory There arent that many, since I started much later than most concert pianists. I used to take private lessons at the Nativity of Our Lord school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from a nun in a convent near the school. I remember sitting in the basement waiting room for my brother to finish his les son, and begin myself. I was nervous to say the least, because she was quite str ict! Soon after this, I gave up piano for a number of years before I started up again with newfound dedication. Mountain range There are many career moments that are particularly memorable, and I cant single o ut just one. I think of a music career like a mountain range: many peaks and man y valleys. Some peaks are higher and more majestic than others, but theyre all vit al and important. Recently, some major peaks have been my solo debut at Carnegie Hal l, performing with major symphony orchestras (Minnesota, San Diego, Houston), my Amsterdam Concertgebouw debut, and performing with top artists (Martin Chalifou r, Desmond Hoebig, Chee-Yun) in concert. But there is not one single Mount Everest s o to speak! Pro Musicis Pro Musicis is a wonderful organization that sponsors top artists in major conce rt venues such as Carnegie Hall. But its more than that: the founder, Fr. Merlet, recognizes the transformative power of music as a means for good. All Pro Musici s artists play additional concerts for the poor, for the sick, and for the impri soned. Many major concert artists number among the alumni of this wonderful orga nization, and Im very proud to be a member myself. I hope that Pro Musicis continu es its wonderful mission for many more years! Tips for aspiring pianists Some of the most important qualities of a concert pianist I can think of: a. mental and physical stamina To be a concert pianist means testing ones own stamina to the limits. It i s not a 9-to-5 job, and enormous stress almost always accompanies the task of pe rforming onstage. Mental stamina involves dealing with performance anxiety, playing large or new w orks in front of an audience from memory, and trying to maintain an artistic vital ity or freshness after repeated performances. Physical stamina is obvious: it is e xtremely taxing to perform onstage, period. Fatigue, pain, and chronic pain can result from too much work. People often say that correct technique means one can play Rachmaninoff as much as they like, but clearly they were not a touring pia nist. I rebut that statement by stating if one has perfect walking technique, and walks 70 miles in one day, theyre absolutely going to be fatigued tomorrow. I stress the importance of physical fitness in performing for a living, much like a prof

essional athlete. Active rest, massage, managing fatigue, and listening to ones bo dy in practice are all extremely important. b. unwavering dedication and ambition The music business is ridiculously competitive, and many people are trying to ga in those few spots onstage. It involves many successes, but many more disappoint ments too. Unless one can deal with rejection, do not try this career. I cant tell you how many times Ive been contacted for amazing performing opportunities, only to have them give the concert to someone else without notifying me. This gets di fficult, and you have to maintain a positive outlook or cynicism is right around the corner. Also, you need to have very real goals in order to stay in the lone ly practice room day after day! c. people skills I cant stress this enough! Music is people oriented, and if you cant get along wi th your audience, your conductor, your chamber music group, your interviewer, yo u are in for trouble. No one will want to hire you, play with you, or hear you. You need to be yourself of course, but getting along with people in this busines s is a huge deal. d. music business/marketing skills Even if you have a manager, this is a starting line. Keeping a website in top fo rm, contacting orchestras, networking, and creating new performance opportunitie s are necessary aspects of a professional career. Ive personally contacted hundred s of orchestras, professional organizations, and kept in touch with countless pe ople in the business. Practicing is only one small facet of creating and sustain ing a real music career. e. memory/technique These are basic requirements in the varied arsenal of a concert pianist. The maj ority of pieces one performs in public as a pianist have to be memorized, and a smart pianist will create ways to memorize faster and more securely. Ive used my k nowledge of music theory and structure to aid in solid memorization, but each ar tist is different and needs to devise personal solutions. Having a solid technique is absolutely basic, enough said. Much of it is develop ed through proper training, but top artists seem to possess a fluidity and natur alism that is either there or not. Imagine the greatest athletes, and compare th eir form and abilities to the millions more that play these sports. Everyone tra ins in the same way, and yet only the most advanced achieve legendary things. Wh ile performing at the highest level challenges even the toughest pianists, that extra natural talent and technique can make all the difference. f. unquenchable love of music/sharing it One needs to have an unquenchable love of music to carry through the multitude o f challenges, stresses, and disappointments that a music career can throw at you . Furthermore, the intrinsic desire to share music with others is what a perform er is all about. An artist finds his/her voice through music, no matter what set backs occur. Nothing can replace this in an artist, and a ceaseless drive to com municate is the fuel one needs. g. artistic imagination Music is more than technique, and it is usually the imagination of an artis

t that is the most memorable thing to audiences. One needs solid technique in order to express every possible emotion, but it is essentially the words and grammar that allows a Shakespeare to create masterpiec es. A concert pianist needs a huge imagination, fueled by an intellectual unders tanding of the music performed, to create memorable and touching performances. Challenges There are so many challenges that face an aspiring concert pianist, and piano pl aying in general. Off the top of my head: 1. Physical requirements: The piano is a very physical instrument, and it is qui te a workout when performing a major concerto with orchestra. The sheer amount o f notes, as compared with other instruments, makes it extremely difficult to per form onstage. Additionally, the large dynamic range possible on the piano makes for difficulties in stamina; the loudest fortissimos of Rachmaninoff can quickly tire the muscles of the forearm and shoulder. 2. Mental requirements: memorization of nearly everything, the stress of perform ing a solo recital without anyone onstage, and many other factors take a toll on the mind. Without resolve and ambition, it can be too much for even the toughes t artists. 3. Musical limitations: The sound of the piano dies quickly, so maintaining a me lodic line is quite difficult indeed. Unlike a singer or wind players, a pianists playing mechanism is not immediately connected to breath so it is a little more challenging to create a more natural singing line. Finally, while the piano can poss ess nearly limitless tonal possibilities, it can also be tonally banal. 4. Amount of pianists today: Today, millions of people study piano at an advanced level, and yet there are fe wer and fewer performance opportunities. Competition for these select spots is a t an all-time high. It is often the extra things mentioned (ie marketing skills, other talents, networking abilities, etc) that can make all the difference. Staupe is a nonhistrionic performer, and this observation is meant as a compliment . A lean young man, he performs upright, with focused concentration. Unmistakabl e, however, was the sense of seeing a real musician at the starting gate. Judgin g by the shining moments displayed in Thursdays performance, this is a career on t he rise and a performer to watch. - David Hawley