Principal Horn of the Cleveland Orchestra Nathaniel Silberschlag on Being Your Best

The last sentence here from Nathaniel Silberschlag, Principal Horn of the Cleveland Orchestra, from Episode 171 of The Brass Junkies really floored me:

"I honestly just was not that nervous about (his Kennedy Center Opera audition) because I didn't have any high expectations for myself. And I think because of that it lent itself to… taking no prisoners.

And I was like, I'm just going to give this my best shot. I can only be the best me on a given day."

The last 11 words from that quote had a profound impact on me.

I can only be the best me on a given day.

I love it when something so obvious is said so eloquently in a way that I need to hear. All I can do is try to be the best version of me at any given time.

While this point is obvious, the way he puts it is brilliant. His job isn’t to be great. His job is only to be the best he can be today.

None of us is promised linear progress in anything. Not even one of the best horn players in the world like Nathaniel!

There will be plenty of times when something isn’t as good on Thursday as it was on Wednesday, or even a week ago. Rather than getting held up on where we should be (in our minds, of course!), Nathaniel is encouraging us to focus simply on being our best possible version today. And that has nothing to do with last week!

Thanks for the reminder, Nathaniel. This is something I need to be reminded of from time to time!

(The above GIF is from the part of the interview when Nathaniel told us about how he had to tell the Kennedy Center Opera section that he couldn’t go out for a drink after winning the audition because he was 19 and because his father was waiting for him in the car. We were dying.)

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You can watch our entire interview with Nathaniel Silberschlag on YouTube below or find links to all the other places you can find it here.

The Brass Junkies Episode 171: Nathaniel Silberschlag

Between The Brass Junkies and The Entrepreneurial Musician I have done close to 400 interviews and this was one of my favorites.

Nathaniel Silberschlag is a true mensch. His energy and approach to both music and life left me in the kind of good mood that sticks around for a while afterwards. He is a gift.

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• Being the 10th member of his family to go to Juilliard

• The specialized horn he started playing on when he was three years old

• How Julie Landsman told his parents she wasn’t available to teach him as a 12-year-old but gave him one Skype lesson and then was so impressed that she agreed to teach him anytime she came to DC

• How Julie introduced him to Sylvia Alimena who he studied with through high school and was a major influence on his life

• The one thing that each of his four private teachers all focused on

• His use of specific images and colors to get a clear idea of what he’s trying to sound like

• The importance of painting your picture away from the horn through things like singing

• Jen Montone’s Process Cues

• How his approach to sound has informed his teaching

• The specific visualization he uses when performing Mozart concertos

• How the best teachers teach you how to teach yourself (and how to be teachers)

• The value of watching great teachers teach

• The experience and pressure of trying to become a peer to brass legends who you’ve looked up to your entire life

• What it was like to win the Kennedy Center Opera House audition even though he fully didn’t expect to win it at the age of 19

• “I can only be the best me on a given day.”

• How his dad was waiting for him in the car while he kept advancing through the Kennedy Center Opera House audition

• All that he learned from sitting next to Geoffrey Pilkington including how and when to use your Assistant Principal

• His experience of playing Mahler 5 in Carnegie Hall in his first full week as Principal Horn of the Cleveland Orchestra with almost everyone he knew in the audience while being sick

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