One of the things I love most about the field of classical music is the way it brings together people from so many different countries. Throughout my career I’ve worked with musicians from the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Israel, Sweden, Finland, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Canada, France, Italy, Austria, and Germany. And I’m probably forgetting a few. Needless to say, the governments of all these countries haven’t always gotten along so well, to put it mildly.
But in a lifetime of performing and teaching, I’ve never once witnessed an argument that had anything to do with where somebody was from, nor, for that matter, have I ever heard, among the musicians I’ve known, a single word of nationalist or racist invective. It’s very simple and very beautiful: when musicians come together, they come together to make music.
A Minute with Miles is a production of South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the J.M. Smith Corporation.
