July 12, 2011
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
This is a story of a kid who lived on a farm in the Midwest. A family friend gave him an old, beat-up plywood string bass, and he started to play it just for something to do. His family couldn’t afford lessons, so he taught himself out of a method book.
He was not particularly talented; he was just doing it for fun. But one day, he saw a magazine article about Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony. Impulsively, he decided to give up farming and work as a bassist in the Boston Symphony or the Boston Pops.
Off he went to the big city to seek his fortune.
I should mention that when it comes to professional music, I am somewhat of an expert. I spent many years playing the double bass in the Boston Pops, so I know just how hard it is to get hired for the gig. Quite frankly, if you told me about a kid with the above résumé and that kind of lofty unrealistic ambition, I would have difficulty not laughing out loud.
The competition is intense. Auditions for some seats only happen every five to 10 years, and it’s not uncommon for 500 highly qualified applicants to show up — musicians with really good instruments who have been studying with the best teachers for years.
But there is one piece of wisdom that all of my years of experience cannot see or share with you, and that is the existence of unexpected — even screwy — opportunities.
For example, in this kid’s case, no one could have predicted that his instrument, a free hand-me-down from a family friend, was in fact a really fine, old, Italian bass.
Display article as PDF for printing.
Would you like to send this article to a friend?
Remember, if you have a question or comment, send it to .
