Saluting Four Marvelous Musicians

Posted August 10, 2020

The four New York Philharmonic musicians retiring in 2020: Assistant Principal Librarian Sandra Pearson, bassoon / contrabassoon Arlen Fast, horn player Howard Wall, and cellist Eric Bartlett

Each spring the New York Philharmonic family — active and retired Musicians, Board Members, and Staff — gather at a concert and post-concert reception on the Grand Promenade to honor their colleagues who are retiring, who are invited to share their reflections with the audience.

We could not hold this year’s event at a live performance because of the cancellations of our spring concerts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but are committed to celebrating the four talented and dedicated musicians who are retiring. Here’s a taste of what appears in their individual Q & As and slideshows:

Before becoming Assistant Principal Librarian, the multifaceted Sandra Pearson received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in bassoon performance, and will next pursue studies in archives and records management.

Contrabassoonist / bassoonist Arlen Fast has spearheaded a long-overdue modernization of his deep-voiced instrument.

Horn player Howard Wall, who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, got to watch the Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts on television when there wasn’t a Steelers game.

Cellist Eric Bartlett grew up in rural Vermont and was a busy freelancer before joining the Orchestra.

Learn more about the musicians you usually experience in our concerts by exploring their pages and checking out our social media channels this week.

Tags: Farewell & Thanks

Meet Sandra Pearson, Retiring New York Philharmonic Assistant Principal Librarian

Posted August 10, 2020

Sandra Pearson’s career reflects her wide-ranging expertise. In addition to serving at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, she is the only person to have had the official title of Librarian for the Boston Pops. You may be surprised that she has worked with the likes of Cab Calloway, Conan O’Brien, and The Manhattan Transfer, and on the recording sessions for Saving Private Ryan.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what interests Sandy, a multifaceted musician and researcher who is retiring after serving as Assistant Principal Librarian of the New York Philharmonic for 21 years. Here's her Q & A, followed by the speech she would have given the night the Orchestra would have celebrated this year’s retirees.

Q: How were you introduced to music?

SP: I grew up in a house filled with music in Madison, Wisconsin. My mother was a pianist, organist, and singer; my father had played trombone in the high school dance band, my uncle was a bassoonist, and we kids took piano lessons. There was a decent phonograph record collection; one LP I loved so much that I wore it out was an introduction to the instruments of the orchestra, with musical examples. I also loved the record of Peter and the Wolf. My mother played the postludes in church and, in the evenings, cocktail piano, so I already I knew that you could do music for a living and that music was going to be part of my life.

Q: When did you decide to pursue music as a career?

Meet Howard Wall, Retiring New York Philharmonic Horn

Posted August 10, 2020

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Howard Wall began playing the horn at age ten and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in music performance at Carnegie Mellon University. He made his Carnegie Hall debut at age 19 performing Schumann’s Konzertstück for Four Horns, the same work with which he made his Philharmonic debut in 1995; he has since reprised it with the Orchestra, both in New York and abroad. Howard is among the performers awarded Gold Medal and Top Honors at the 2018 Global Music Awards.

We usually honor our retiring musicians at a special concert and reception, but this year that isn’t possible. We therefore invite you to get to know Howard Wall as he retires as Philharmonic horn, The Ruth F. and Alan J. Broder Chair, after a 26-year tenure. Though he is man of few words — the Gary Cooper of the French horn world — we managed to get him to open up a little about how he came to music and to reflect on his Philharmonic tenure. Here's his Q & A, followed by the speech the night the Orchestra would have celebrated this year’s retirees.

Q: How did you come to play the French horn?

HW: My older brother played the clarinet, so I wanted to play an instrument. When I decided to join the school music program it was in the middle of the school year, so when I asked to play the trumpet, the available instruments had been claimed and the teacher suggested horn. Read More...

Tags: Farewell & Thanks retirees

Meet Eric Bartlett, Retiring New York Philharmonic Cello

Posted August 10, 2020

Eric Bartlett came to the Philharmonic in 1997 after serving 14 years as a member of (and occasional soloist in) the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and principal cellist of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. The recipient of a Solo Recitalist’s Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, he has participated in more than 90 premieres with ensembles such as Speculum Musicae, New York New Music Ensemble, Group for Contemporary Music, and Columbia String Quartet, and has commissioned new cello works from American composers. He teaches orchestral repertoire and coaches the conductor-less orchestra at The Juilliard School.

It’s a long way from rural New England, where it all started. Here’s his Q & A.

Q: How did you discover music?

EB: I grew up in Marlboro, Vermont. While there weren’t musicians in my family, my father loved classical music, and the well-known music festival was right up the road. (Twice in the summer of ’71 I actually got a glimpse of Pablo Casals, and I mowed Hermann Busch’s grass.) Alan Carter, the founder of the Vermont Symphony, addressed the need for local string teachers by bringing one there from Connecticut, and provided student instruments for us to use for free.

My first teacher, the violinist Stanley Eukers, offered lessons on violin or cello. My father thought that the grumbly, out-of-tune cello playing of a beginner would be more bearable than a scratchy, screechy, out-of-tune violin. That’s how at age eight I started studying cello with a violinist in group lessons. Read More...

Tags: Farewell & Thanks retirees

Meet Arlen Fast, Retiring New York Philharmonic Contrabassoon and Bassoon

Posted August 10, 2020

Arlen Fast is the highly regarded contrabassoonist and bassoonist of the New York Philharmonic, as well as the husband of Anne Ediger, an applied linguist and professor at Hunter College. He is also a pioneer in instrument design who has introduced a dramatic evolution to his deep-voiced instrument that now enriches ensembles around the world, including The Cleveland and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras.

Arlen’s path to the Philharmonic (of which he has been a member for 24 years) and the frontiers of musical technology began on a Kansas farm and has been paved by persistence and a singular love for his instrument. Here's his Q & A, followed by the speech he would have given the night the Orchestra would have celebrated this year’s retirees.

Q: Would you tell us about your childhood?

AF: I grew up on a farm outside Moundridge, Kansas, that has been in my family since my great-grandfather’s time — I’m in the first generation not to have taken up farming, though we still own it. My grandparents and parents were instrumentalists and church singers, all of my siblings are musicians, and everyone could sing four-part harmony very well. Music was as essential as learning to read and write. Read More...

Tags: Farewell & Thanks retirees

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Saluting Four Marvelous Musicians

Meet Sandra Pearson, Retiring New York Philharmonic Assistant Principal Librarian

Meet Howard Wall, Retiring New York Philharmonic Horn

Meet Eric Bartlett, Retiring New York Philharmonic Cello

Meet Arlen Fast, Retiring New York Philharmonic Contrabassoon and Bassoon

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