basement. It must have been July or
August, ‘cause I sweated it out and learned
the arrangements. I did My Fair Lady. A
bunch of different shows. And I learned an
awful lot from that.
Sherman: It’s so easy to make fun of or
minimize a young person for being in
the high school band, but the truth is,
that’s where lot of future musicians really
get their start and get inspired. Can you
tell me about a teacher who either really
inspired you or who maybe was a nega-
tive mentor, but the experience perhaps
gave you the determination to prove them
wrong?
Nelson: Oh, yes. Is this one for me?
Sherman: It’s for both of you.
Nelson: Well, my first piano teacher was
not a happy lady. I was four, so I was really
young [to start taking lessons]. And I
played by ear. She was determined to teach
structure to all of us little kids. And so, our
first ever number was “Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star,” of course. And at the end, I just
couldn’t help but add this little flourish.
And she was like, “Don’t do that ever
again.” And I did it again. And I got fired
by my piano teacher! But in the back of my
mind, I was like, “That lady’s wrong. You
should be able to play with music. It’s sup-
posed to be fun.” So, she was my example
of a negative experience with a teacher. My
good experience was my violin teach-
er in junior high school. I played violin
for many years, from elementary school
through college. But I had a junior high
school teacher, Mrs. Fuschetti. She’s
probably still at I.S. 61 right now. And she
was so passionate. Her parents were both
from Italy. And they both played violin
and took it very seriously and she whipped
us ordinary little kids into like a gorgeous
orchestra. We were better than my college
orchestra! We were really good. It was a
breathtaking thing and it was all because
of her passion. She was so passionate.
She was hard on us, but in a way that I
really responded to. She pushed us to
practice. She pushed us to be better, and I
would spend hours at home playing. I was
obsessed, and I wanted her to be proud
of me. But I never learned to read music.
I was homeschooled in the sixth grade. I
broke my leg pretty badly, so I got assigned
violin, and then I was homeschooled the
whole year. So, I just kind of practiced
along with my parents’ records. And I was
really good, so I got first chair right away
when I came back in the seventh grade.
But I just played by ear entirely. By halfway
through the seventh grade, she figured out
I wasn’t really reading it.
Ritcher: Yeah, I got caught, too. The
conductor said, “Don’t turn the pages with
the violins,” because I didn’t know when to
turn the page, so I just turned when they
did.
Nelson: She could tell you were
cheating.
Ritcher: Yeah, she was on to me.
Sherman: Once you started playing
gigs (not just in school)—what
were some of the lessons you
learned?
Dwig
ht, M
avis +
Nico
le
Nelson: It’s so important to spend
enough time with yourself, tapping
into what you really love, what
makes you feel alive, what makes
you feel connected, and what s
sparks your light and your joy
inside. You have to learn to trust
yourself, and the only way to learn
to trust yourself is to know your
self. Figure out what you love, what
you don’t love. Try new things!
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