I had been playing double bass for a year and a half when I was asked to play in the local community orchestra. It was with this ensemble, in maybe the second concert that i played with them, that I had this pivotal moment in my career as a musician. This piece landed on my stand. Shostakovich's 5th Symphony. Not only had I never heard the piece before, but I'd never even heard of the composer. Boy, was I in for it.

To put a bit of context into this, I have to put my musical life into context: I started playing the bass at 19, and before playing the double bass I'd never played a stringed instrument in my life- the closest being electric bass, which while being tuned the same is NOT the same (as I soon learned). I had played wind instruments in concert band for years, but I went to a STEM high school and we never played anything of any real depth.

So here I am, in WAY over my head. I don't even know where to start learning this part. I'm being taught by a violist, not a bassist, so in a lot of ways I'm pretty much on my own. It was an uphill battle the whole way, and, while I have no memory of the concert itself, I'm pretty I shat all over the part (thankfully there were two other bassists in the section to cover me). The end result was, however, that I was hooked. The feeling I got from being a part of something so much bigger than myself was so intoxicating - I NEEDED to do this for the rest of my life.

and here I am, working on a master's degree in classical music performance right now.