The Cello Sherpa Podcast
The Cello Sherpa Podcast explores all aspects of the climb to the summit from intermediate musician to the professional stage.
Now that I’m finally taking cello lessons, I looked for podcasts about playing the cello or string instruments in general.
The Cello Sherpa Podcast is my favorite podcast so far. Joel Dallow, a member of the cello section of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, started this podcast on March 8, 2021, one year into the Covid-19 pandemic. Dallow has kept this podcast going for 139 episodes so far, releasing a new episode every fourteen days.
This podcast is aimed at the aspiring young musician who wants to attend a music program at a university or conservatory and then make a career playing in an orchestra.
What is a cello sherpa? The website explains:
No one reaches their goals alone, and, especially in the music world, we depend on experienced and knowledgeable instructors to guide us as we refine our skills on a musical instrument.
Joel Dallow is a true cello sherpa. Without a sherpa, even the most conditioned and skilled climbers cannot summit. It takes the experience, knowledge, and wisdom of a sherpa to achieve your goals.
The podcast episodes began with an interview of Steven Isserlis, who has had an unusual career in that he did not win any cello competitions but built his career as a soloist from scratch through sheer competence and professionalism.
In subsequent episodes, Dallow has interviewed cello professors and orchestral musicians, eliciting their experiences and advice for how to pursue a professional career. This includes how to prepare for an audition for a music school or orchestra, tips on preparing a video audition, how to choose a professor with whom to study and whether or not to request a trial lesson, what repertoire to study, what it’s like to play in different orchestras, etc.
These are not things I need to worry about since I’m far too old to pursue this path in music. But the Boston area is full of aspiring musicians, some of whom I am beginning to meet, and this gives me insight into what they are experiencing.
I had to make similar choices when I became a scientist: what university departments to apply to, which investigator’s lab to work in during graduate school, how to present a seminar, how to apply for research grants, where to do a post-doctoral fellowship, how to get a job in academia or industry, etc.