In partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music, WHYY presents the following program.

[MUSIC] I'm Gavin Hardy.

I'm a double bassist.

I study double bass performance at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Curtis to me is a training place to just become the best musician that I can.

And I can do this through all of the classes that are designed to give me the theoretical background necessary to succeed, ear training, which is very important, and then just specializing on my instrument, the double bass.

My professors Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer, they work very closely with me and just give me the tools that I need to achieve whatever I want to achieve.

I think the qualities that make a great classical musician is just always having your ears open and always being receptive to new information.

You know, listening is such an important part of being a musician because, you know, the more you hear, the more you know, and that's also the more that you can try on your instrument.

So just being creative, not afraid to try different things and just being free to express yourself however you want to on stage.

I feel like that's the most important quality of a good classical musician.

So it's funny, as a kid I was watching TV and I saw a Raisin Bran commercial.

"Rain, that's a wrap."

And a man sat at the piano and was playing lively music for people in the restaurant to hear and for me just seeing the way it uplifted people that were coming in and out of the restaurant inspired me to want to play.

[Music] There was a quote that was told to me about a year or so ago, and it was, I remember I was warming up to play for a master class for the composer of the piece that I was playing, and the professor at the school told me, he said, "You're only as good as you are cold."

He told me that when I asked to warm up.

And so at the time I was a little agitated at that because I was like, I need to warm up so that I can play good.

But as time has gone on, and especially being a student at Curtis, I've realized the importance of really being good, cold and being comfortable cold.

Because if you can play good, cold and sound good, then when you get to stage that feeling of nerves and stage anxiety is not going to be unfamiliar to you.

So I always keep that quote in the back of my head now and I try to just perform as much as possible for friends and the key is to do it cold, so no warm up.

So I might finish dinner and just gather some people and just play cold.

Now I know that I'm not going to sound my very best because it's cold, but that's the whole point.

So the next performance was a Curtis student recital of the five Negro spirituals arranged by Lawrence Brown.

And the five songs are "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," "Every Time I Feel the Spirit," sometimes I feel like a motherless child.

I know the Lord laid his hands on me and swing low, sweet chariot.

[MUSIC PLAYING] As a child, I definitely saw myself going the route of, I'm going to play Division I football or Division I basketball.

So that was always my focus.

I played a lot of travel ball growing up.

So going to different tournaments, trying to get my name out there and get exposure to be able to achieve my goal of going to a Division I school and then even going on to play in the NBA or the NFL.

So that was my goal and it wasn't until around COVID time, so around 2020, till that changed for me.

Up until that point, I had just been doing both, playing sports and playing music, but then once COVID happened and we were all kind of in our own spaces, I was really practicing the bass a lot and just developed this immense passion for the instrument and everything just transformed since then.

So I played pretty much every sport.

I did football, swimming, basketball, golf.

So I kind of rotated through all the sports.

I did everything but lacrosse.

My family was actually in support.

So when I came to them and said that I wanted to play the piano, they thought it was a great idea.

So, you know, they put me in piano lessons and I took lessons alongside with playing sports as a kid.

[Music] My friends reacted well.

They thought it was cool that I had an interest in sports, had an interest in, you know, certain academics, and then also doing the music.

It was kind of viewed, and I kind of viewed it myself as kind of, I'm cool because I can play, you know, this instrument, and people might not expect me to be able to play it.

[Music] So a day in the life at Curtis is pretty rigorous for me as a second year in school.

We have a lot of our fundamental classes, so theory classes, keyboard, music history.

So we'll typically have around four to five classes a day, and it's basically just those foundational classes.

And then that'll take us up around 'til the evening, and then from around four to 6.30, we'll have an orchestra rehearsal.

And then kind of just scattered throughout the week, we'll have lessons and masterclasses that all come up.

And the cool thing about studying at Curtis is that we also have the opportunity to take elective classes.

So currently I'm taking a dramatic writing class, so that's, you know, analyzing films, analyzing scripts, and even getting to write some of my own.

So it's a great multifaceted experience where you're intensely studying the art form that you came for, but you also get to take a look at some other parts of the world as well.

[Music] Whenever I have pockets of time throughout the day or during the night, I'll set up the camera, set up the tripod, and then I'll just shoot two to three videos, and then throughout the next day or so I'll edit them and get them out.

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I have a list of video ideas that just pop into my head at random times.

So the content creation comes in.

Social media, I just plan to keep doing that.

Keep making videos, keep collecting fragrances and just seeing where that goes as well.

[MUSIC] So my process is just a lot of practice and more so instead of practicing for long amounts of time, focusing more on what I'm doing rather than how long I'm doing it.

So, focusing, keeping everything organized, so keeping a journal, writing everything down of my goals for the next practice session.

It really helps to keep me on track and focused so that I'm achieving my goals how I would like to.

And in terms of the performance aspect, I always strive to perform for my friends, you know, at school as much as possible because I feel like the more that you're performing and the more that you get used to playing under that condition, the better and more comfortable you'll feel on stage.

And these are five very powerful songs because they each have something different to say.

And just simply written out on paper, the music is simple, but you know, really thinking about the emotion that was put into all these songs and really conveying it to the audience was very powerful and it was a lot of, it took a lot of focus for me to really give the music the respect that it needed, but in all it was a very rewarding performance.

[MUSIC] Three years from now, I'll be graduating college.

So after I'm entering the latter part of my time at Curtis, just trying to line something up for the next step or potentially even continuing school.

[Music] Five years down the line will be 24 for me, so I'll be hopefully, you know, landing somewhere and kind of getting my ground going.

In terms of starting to teach, you know, performing in an orchestra and then doing, you know, chamber music all over.

And ten years from now I'll be approaching my 30s so I'll be hopefully pretty well established and pretty well renowned.

So, you know, it's hard to say what that'll look like in ten years but I plan to just continue doing everything I'm doing now and then just being able to look back and be amazed.

For most double-based jobs, you will have a preliminary round.

You might have to send in a tape or the audition, the whole audition might just take place on one particular day.

Depending on the job, the number of applicants can vary, but for some of the bigger auditions, you might see 100 plus people that are going for the same spot, and at the end of the day they might only take one person, maybe even two.

So that just really goes to show how high the level has to be and just how prepared you have to be walking into the audition room.

And I recently had the opportunity to perform on one with the Wicked star Cynthia Erivo.

And so I performed on her album I Forgive You.

And that was an amazing experience because it was a chamber orchestra.

The vibes were great the whole time.

We were all at different points.

We were laughing at different other moments.

Some people were tearing up.

So it was just an emotional roller coaster that day, but it was an amazing time and a great experience.

[MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] So my goals after I graduate Curtis is to pursue orchestral performance, to also do solo, so soloing with different orchestras and playing recitals.

Also, playing chamber music with a lot of other great musicians.

And then a big goal of mine is to also teach music at a university or a conservatory.

I would love to give a solo performance in Carnegie Hall.

I've performed there once with the National Youth Orchestra, and that was an amazing experience, but I definitely want to perform there as a soloist.

And then I also just want to explore other venues all around the world.

I've played in some venues in South America and then just around the United States, but I definitely want to see what else is out there.

[MUSIC] As of right now, just preparing for many different competitions that are coming up.

Just still studying at Curtis and learning different things, becoming a better orchestral performer.

And just learning a lot from my peers around school, which will in turn make me a better teacher.

And outside of music, just keeping up with my fitness and potentially going even further with personal training and then just keeping up the content creation and seeing where that ends up.

Ralph Lauren sent me their brand new fragrance release, Polo 67.

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So the main thing that I would tell my older self is to just stay healthy, stay in the gym and do not let myself go.

I wouldn't tell my younger self too much other than to just keep doing what I'm doing, keep exploring and keep trying new things.

And the other thing that I would tell my younger self is, you know, when I'm performing just don't be afraid to be yourself as a performer and don't feel like you have to be super stoic in performance.

Just let your true, authentic self come across.

[Music] Yes.

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[MUSIC]