Скачать или смотреть California Youth Symphony: Mahler 1, Mvt. 4 (Edited)

Note: Please use headphones for the best listening experience!

This past May (2019), I performed Mahler’s First Symphony with the California Youth Symphony. It was my final performance with the organization after five years and marked the end of a formational chapter in my musical life.

Mahler 1 is one of my all-time favorites — each time I hear the SF Symphony recording, I get goosebumps. I remember campaigning for this piece to Maestro Eylar in June 2018 on a ferry somewhere in the Baltics. This performance was one full year in the making. All the details mattered; for instance, I must have spent hours just practicing the little excerpt you hear at 5:00 in the video, desperately wanting it to sound like bells ringing somewhere off in the distance. Mentally and physically, training for this performance (especially those last few minutes) was my trumpet-player equivalent of training for a marathon. I say this to convey the gravity of this piece for me and many of my colleagues on stage.

The full symphony is almost a full hour long. The fourth (and final) movement (section) is about 20 minutes. The video I have shared here is just under 14 minutes and showcases some of my favorite sections from the fourth movement. To give some context, here’s a revealing quote about this movement from the CSO program notes: “The finale begins with a ‘flash of lightning from a dark cloud,’ Mahler tells us. ‘It is simply the cry of a wounded heart.’ This is music in search of victory, and Mahler retreats from battle several times before he triumphs.”

With this performance, I close the books on my pre-college musical years. I'd like to take a moment to thank my parents for everything, Carmina and Mr. Eylar for making this all possible, the army of musicians on stage, all my friends who came out to support, Walter for their friendship, Vicky for exposing me to this world, and my incredible teacher, Jim Dooley, for guiding me through a challenging and rewarding journey with this beautiful instrument. Jimbo: you would tell me I’m wrong, but I most definitely could not have done it without you.

Now…on to the next chapter!