Over the past three days, I have gotten to know William Joseph, a well-known LDS contemporary pianist. I had seen posters all over campus that he was coming to BYU-Idaho to perform with the Teton Chamber Orchestra. I bought tickets about a week before to attend the concert. A few days later, I received an email saying that the orchestra was short on violinists and could use an extra player during the concert. I replied immediately, seizing the opportunity. The conductor emailed me the sheet music, which printed about probably over one hundred pages of music. At first I felt a little overwhelmed, but luckily all of the music was pretty straightforward.
On Thursday night, I had a symphony orchestra concert, so I missed the first rehearsal for WJ's concert. After I finished, though, I walked over to the auditorium where rehearsal was being held, just in case the rehearsal wasn't over yet. They had just finished, but I introduced myself to the conductor and then to William Joseph himself. I felt very welcomed. I thanked them for the opportunity and told William about my goals and dreams as a violinist and invited to him to listen to my CD, which I gave to him the next day.
The following morning, William came to the music building to talk about his career and to answer questions we had for him. For those of you who don't know much about him, he started piano at age 4 (similar to me). He heard piano music on his favorite tv show and ran and grabbed a toy keyboard and started playing the theme song along with the show. His parents decided to get him lessons. He was classically trained for about sixteen years. I can't remember all the specific details, unfortunately. In 2003 when he was playing at a charity event, he just happened to bump into David Foster (producer/composer with I believe 17 Grammy awards?), who heard him play. He ended up working with Foster and creating some albums and his career went from there. I flipped out when I realized he toured with Josh Groban on his Closer Tour. (omgomgomgomgomg)
Anyways, William also served an LDS mission in Australia, where he also had many performing opportunities (which also created missionary opportunities!). He is still active in the church and has a wife (one wife, not five) and two sons and a daughter. What I respect a lot about him is that he has had huge opportunities where he could have made a lot of profit, but those opportunities did not fit his morals. For instance, he was supposed to compose the music for Desperate Housewives, but he turned it down for the sake of being a good influence on his young kids. (Sorry, nothing against the show, but it ain't exactly kid friendly).
William talked a lot to us about how the modern music world works and all the politics involved, as well as some composition and practice tips. He also mentioned that he was offering a composition/songwriting masterclass on Saturday morning. I definitely signed up for that.
When he was done talking to us, I walked up to him and handed him my CD. He complimented me on the neat album cover and title, "Sounds of GUTH," (Thank you, Sister Morales for you amazing photography skills!) and seemed eager to listen to it.
I saw WJ again at rehearsal that afternoon and then obviously at the concert that night. The concert was spectacular. He is a heck of a lot more talented than I thought. He was great at talking with and involving the audience, and put his heart and soul into his music. He even laid down on the piano bench backwards and switched his hands and played completely upside down, without error. That blew my mind. That was NOT rehearsed.
This was my view during the rehearsal and concert!
...someday I'll be in that chick's position. (I shouldn't call her "chick," I apologize. She was very talented and very nice)
Post concert photo before the paparazzi craze
Saturday morning had to be the best. I brought my violin and composition/song ideas to him and got to have a one-on-one session with him. The time was supposed to be divided between however many people showed up. Well, for the first hour, I was the only one who showed up. The first thing he said to me was that he listened to my CD, and he really liked it. (AHH!) One other guy showed up later, but it was still a mostly private class. He gave incredible insight. And, his insight is basically coming from David Foster, since that's who coached him on his compositions. For four hours (yes, from 9am-1pm), we were zoned into songwriting and developing main themes and creating changes in the structure of music while still keeping the basic pattern. He gave me so much inspiration on my current unfinished songs. Later, I got my violin out and played my arrangement of I Know That My Redeemer Lives/I Am A Child Of God. He really liked it, and told me I had a lot of talent and potential (I almost cried), and then gave me more of his ideas on how to improve the arrangement. He even jumped in on the piano and gave the song a "firmer foundation." (only LDS people will understand the pun I just purposefully intended.)
To wrap up things, he promised to stay in touch and offered Skype lessons. He talked a little bit about his family and kids and showed me pictures of them. It's amazing how big of a deal this guy actually is, but he is a normal righteous man with a family to support. I am SO, so grateful and blessed that I got to not only perform with, but also learn from this amazing pianist virtuoso. I pray that this experience becomes a bridge to even more wonderful opportunities.
I kind of stole this from a stranger on Facebook, but you can barely see me on the left! :D
All smiles after an inspirational master class with William Joseph
