Dear Mr. Zander,

I got an A because I decided to accept that the path of my dream was not as direct as I had always hoped it to be. I've always wanted to be in a quartet and teach. But this year for several reasons, I have let myself explore the realm of orchestral playing. I've always had a preconsception of it because I never wanted to let go of my dream. But this year I have achieved both. After beeing on trial for several major orchestras in London for over a year, I have started to really enjoy orchestral playing, touring with 100 other people and I've met people in the orchestra who also desperatly want to play in a quartet.

The other big change is that I have always thought with no doubt that I was going to stay in the US and live here. But I've decided that after 6 years here it is now time to return to old Europe which I miss terribly.

I've learnt how to live in the present and how to enjoy every moment instead of being anxious that I am leaving, leaving my friends and teacher here. I've spent a quarter of my life here! It's a long time. Everything is going to be ok, it's blooming into my life as an adult and that's so exciting.

Performance wise, I've never had stage fright or anything like that. But I have been self consicious because being the Teaching Assistant, I am supposed to be doing everything right, because if I don't do it, how do my students and my teacher's students know that what I am telling them is credible? But I've discovered that if I don't care about it in the slightest when I am performing, everything (physically: posture, hands etc...) is right and the music is more enjoyable because I am into it.

It's been a very rich and full year. One of many...

Yours,

Emmanuella Reiter

May 2005
Dear Mr. Zander,
I got my A because...
I have solidified my life-long dream this year: to begin a foundation that plays benefit concerts for cancer research organizations and also plays in cancer wards in hospitals. I have succesfully put on two benefit concerts and six hospital concerts, and raised a significant amount of money for two cancer research organizations. I have realized that my dream is one of the most important things in my life, and I must continue to build upon it. Even though I have never done anything like this before, I realize that I can't be afraid of this unknown. This idea is important to me and since I believe in it, I can make it happen. I have always know that music is exceptionally powerful, and now, after playing in hospitals for patients and seeing their reactions, I am convinced of its power. Music was vital to my own recovery after I was sick, and now I know that it is helpful to everyone, whether or not they have heard a string quartet before in their lives.
I have finally learned to stop doubting myself and believe in my abilities as a person and musician. For as long as I can remember I have felt somehow technically deficient on the violin but I have realized that it is only my brain that was deficient - for thinking that I had limitations! I have found that when I presume that I am incapable of doing something, inevitably I have trouble doing it. So, I shall not presume that I cannot do something! If I don't get something after the first try, I will keep trying until I succeed. This year I have definitely grown in my ability to stand up to people who I feel are mistreating me. I have learned to defend myself and not allow myself to be pushed around by anyone. My ideas are significant and if someone doesn't think so, they don't deserve to hear them! I am not weak person, and I will never act like one.
What a fun year!
- Gabriela Diaz

Hi,

My husband and I enjoy your concerts and pre-concert talks very much and I've read your book (very inspiring!).

I attended your talk at the MFA on February 4th and had to tell you what a particular part meant to me. At the end, Virginia Eskine asked you why you aren't a "typical" cynical musician. You explained how you had changed, but then you said that it finally had occurred to you that a cynic is just a passionate person who doesn't want to be disappointed again.

I sat back and almost cried.

I have a tendency to be a cynic in certain areas of my life -- something I'm not happy about because it doesn't fit with the rest of who I am. At that moment you helped to give me a new "label" that was so much more freeing! All the pieces of who I am suddenly fit together so much better.

Thank you!

(And thanks, too, for taking care of the "missing third disc" -- I've now been to the Boston Phil's office and gotten a replacement.)

- Lisa Jones

hello....
my name is hyo-jung kang.
i'm new student on fall semester.
todays, i was present at your class which is interpretation class.
so when i was taken class, i felt that you have a lot of fervent about music.
and Also, you seems like fall a music your life...
anyway i was very impressive about class.
but i have worriment..that is i have weight on my mind..
because i'm international student.
for that reason i can speak english but not very well.
so i didn't understand well about my homework.
anyway, i have some problem....
so...i want to confirm about my homework.
while i have a class, you said that until after two week, we have to send e-mail to you about something
i don't know what do you do..!!
i'm so sorry...
if you don't mind, i hope that i get it your reply..
anyway i was happy because of join you...
thank you for your reply in advance....
have a good day.....
*^^*

je suis etudiant français je voulais savoir si je peux etudiers l'anglais au usa

May 2003

Dear Mr. Zander,

I got my A because my mind has escaped from the framework of the world
of measurement. This might suggest that I never have competitive
feelings anymore, but the reality is quite different, and more exciting.
I can now easily recognize and locate that voice, which comes in so
many guises, chanting "strategize, compete, compare". I see next the
source of that voice's power: millenia of natural selection, in which
resources were scarce and survival was uncertain. I follow this
logical path, and suddenly the light shifts, my personal invented
universe bends and realigns itself: my competitive drive is a vestigial
structure, just like my compulsion to buy 5 cans of soup when I mean to
buy one - or just like my tailbone.

Now, I notice with glee the presence of that voice, which I had always
struggled to deny or ignore. I notice it in my music-making, like
an outdated hairstyle: this urge to be the most expressive, the most
sincere, the most intelligent, the most insightful, the most
spiritually nourishing musician people have ever heard. I notice it
in my career goals and anxieties: "this life you desire, is it
impressive? when you describe it at a dinner party, will it inspire
the right mixture of admiration and envy in your listeners?" I even
notice it - and this was a shock, the first time - in my ambition to
make the world a better place: "Is it really enough to teach music to
privileged children, when your Harvard classmates are teaching in
inner-city middle schools? Is it really enough to play music for the
American public, when your Harvard classmates are in northern Ireland,
promoting peace? ...really enough...Harvard classmates...really
enough...Harvard classmates...Harvard...Harvard" And I notice it with
glee, because the moment I recognize this vestigial voice, it becomes
absurd. Its power melts away, just as any other mirage does when
your perspective shifts. The insurmountable obstacles become funny-
looking shadows, and anything is possible.

Kate Bennett

May 2003
Dear Mr Zander,

I got my "A" because I decided to stop playing it safe. I take risks and chances in my performances that make them great. I play music for myself to make myself happy and complete. I experience the music with my whole mind, body and soul. I do spontaneous things in my playing and my personal life that make my life and work interesting and unique. I love to play before audiences and to convey to them the passion, emotions, and convictions that I feel in the music.

I love my family, friends, boyfriend, puppy with all of my heart and tell them on a regular basis how much they mean to me. I value their support and criticisms that allow me to grow as a person. I do not take for granted one moment that I get to spend with any of them, especially my mother after her illness a few years ago that showed me the true meaning of life and love. I do little, insignficant things for them every day that make them smile, laugh, and brighten their day. I am on the forefront of everything I do, both professionally and personally, and look for experiences and opportunities that will contribute to my development as a person. I have no regrets and "leave everything on the field" of life.

Sincerely,
Megan Hinz

Dear Mr. Zander, May 2003

I got my A because I have a perfect life. I am a musician who loves what I
do. When I play, I do it for myself. I do not play to be the best. I do not
play to please my teacher or a conductor. I play because I love it. I play
because I want to show others how much I love it. I play because of the
incredible happiness I bring to others when I play for them.
I am a passionate teacher who loves every student for how different and
unique they each are. I have taken the talented, and the not so taleneted and turned them into enthusiastic music lovers who now all have something that they are passionate about.

I am a natural leader who loves working with other people no matter what the job, whether its chamber music, organizing a meeting or trying to get other people to get along. My job and life possibilities are endless because of my leadership skills.

I love my family, my husband and my pets. They fill every day of my life with
support, love, and humor. In turn I provide them with love, support, and always with humor.

I make my new husband laugh every single day. I am goofy and silly every day.
I can laugh at myself and I can take myself and others very seriously.
I live every day knowing that I contribute to other peoples' lives. I live a
wonderful life and I know it. That is why I got my A.

Adrienne

May 18, 2003

Dear Mr Zander,

I got my "A" because I can now express myself beautifully, spontaneously, and with purpose. I approach music and life with the joy and innocence of a child, yet also with the wisdom and richness of context gained through experience. I delight in causing a stranger to smile unexpectedly. I create unforgettable musical moments every single day. I reserve time for meditation, study and pure enjoyment. Every instant of my life is precious, and I fill each to its bursting point with energy and love.

I'm able to live the way I do today because I practiced it all year. I decided that I wanted to change the way I make music and the way I approach my daily life, so every day, I practiced. Now learning a new way to live was not easy. Like learning a new instrument, it takes patience, dedication, and a great deal of time. At first, I wasn't very good at living this new way, but each day got easier and more rewarding and more instinctive until I wasn't trying it anymore - it was just the way I live. That moment was a great one, a crucial turning point in my life.

Today I learn for the sake of enlightenment, I teach in order to nurture, I conduct to arouse passion and insight, and I love for no other reason but to love. William blake once wrote, "He who sheds no light will never become a star." I'm now able to exude light and joy in every experience, and I will indeed reach for the stars for the rest of my life.

With the deepest appreciation,
Jayce Ogren

Dear Mr Zander,

I got an "A" from the Interpretation class beacuse now I really understand how important it is to open my heart to the world and only when I open myself to the world, the world will open to me.

I think we have all had the similar experience: sometimes when we sit in the room watching the cloudy sky through a window; sometimes when we walk by a church; sometimes when we see a piece of land with green color; sometimes when we watch a little girl playing with her toys... we are suddenly so moved by realizing that this is the world we are living in, and this is a world which is so wonderful. But we do not have a very clear awareness about this wonderfulness and beauty all the time. We are in some illusions we are making for ourselves, we are living in a world consisting of things going to happen in two months, two weeks, in two days, and even in two hours.... so we are always worried about the next exams, auditions, concerts... and we may cheat ourselves by saying that these things become our world. But actually, this is not the true world we are living, the true world is much more than that. The true world is full of colors, joys and hopes. Unless we realize what the true world is, we cannot live a true life.

As a musician, I have the obligation of delivering the truth of this world to other people through my music. And I must be moved by the wonderful world in my eyes before I move other people, to show them how wonderful their world really is. It is very true that the more consistent awareness of the real world we have, the more happiness we have in our life and the closer we are to the truth. Why not raise your heads, and then you will see that the world is so broad.

I got an "A" from the Interpretation class because now I understand that by opening my heart to the world, the world opens to me. It is also the same process of liberating myself from the tiny world of self to the true world of broadness, which we are actually living in.

Sincerely,
Chuxiao