Michael Casimir (Viola ’18)
Interviewed by Ali King
Director, Marketing and Business Development
Curtis Institute of Music
October 21, 2020
AK: After graduating from Curtis in 2018, you accepted a position with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. What was the transition from full-time student to tenure-track violist like?
MC: Curtis does a very good job of preparing you to manage the workload, musically. Every day at school you’re workshopping to be the best musician you can be. Coming from Curtis and as a new orchestra member, I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure I knew all the music, to be concert-ready, by the first rehearsal. That pressure every single week can get draining after a while.
AK: What skills have you learned since graduation that you wish Curtis would have taught you?
MC: All the other things about being an adult in the classical music world. Budgeting — time, money, emotional energy. Negotiating a contract. Understanding how gigs work, what it’s like to freelance, to be a soloist or chamber musician. Not everybody wins the competition or the job to have that safety net; a lot of us are waiting and have been waiting for the big break that may or may not ever come.
AK: I was expecting you to say audio and video editing! On Instagram, I’ve noticed you’re posting a lot of self-produced videos. Is this a hobby for fun, or are you thinking about it as a professional tool?
MC: Both. It started just for fun. I’ve been contracted out by multiple organizations to make videos and livestreams during the pandemic though, and I assist where I can. I’m teaching high school kids about easy, cheap video editing technology, TikTok — what’s out there and how they can use it. Self-producing is becoming the norm in other music genres, and classical music shouldn’t be the exception.
AK: What is your teaching gig?
MC: I teach for the Normandy High School orchestra department — violin, viola, and bass. I’ve been teaching since I was 15 in Philadelphia. My parents teach in the Philadelphia School District. I’ve always valued teaching; I love it — little plug for me being a professor at Curtis…
AK: Do you want that on record?
MC: I wouldn’t mind. I obviously have to build the viola resume more, but maybe something about technology and viola — how you put them together.
AK: You got it. So how did the teaching opportunity arise?
MC: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has a side-by-side partnership with public educators in St. Louis; someone from Normandy High School approached me at one of those events. It’s been great. I ask the students tons of questions: Do your parents know about the symphony? Have they ever asked to take you to the symphony? Have you ever asked your parents to take you to the symphony? Do you follow any classical musicians on social media? What should the symphony, or I, be posting on TikTok or Instagram?
AK: And how do your students answer those questions?
MC: They give me very blunt answers, but it’s good! The problem with classical music is that we tell people what they should like. It’s our fault; we’re snobby. A lot of it comes down to visual stimulation. With movies or video games, people are better able to make a memory connection. I want to propose that Powell Hall, which used to be a movie theater, have a screen above the performers with a live feed of six or eight camera angles of the stage — like a Jumbotron at sports games. When you’re sitting in the back of the hall, it’s just impossible to see what’s happening on stage without help.
AK: Are you seeing the classical music industry adapting to these audience needs, especially in response to the pandemic?
MC: I’m not. I think most people want things to return to the way they were. But livestreaming isn’t new. We all should have been doing that for years. I guess a positive is that finally more of us are doing it — and generally being more accessible. St. Louis is a pretty racially segregated city. The fact is that some Black people today might not feel comfortable at a place like Powell Hall, and only a few generations ago would certainly not have felt welcome. I’m working with some colleagues to bring symphony musicians to neighborhoods on the north side of the city, like Ferguson, for outdoor performances in the spring.
AK: So the pandemic has given you and your colleagues time to build these relationships?
MC: There’s always been interest; we just have more of an opportunity to meet these audiences where they are now.
AK: Tell me about recording for The Lion King last year.
MC: I couldn’t talk about it much until it was released in July 2019. It was the best ever, and during my birthday, which is how I got a picture with Hans Zimmer and Jon Favreau. I was in LA for two weeks; every morning Hans-freaking-Zimmer was telling me what to do through this incredible sound system. Being in that room, the Barbara Streisand Scoring Stage, was so cool.
AK: Are you still in touch with the folks you met during those two weeks?
MC: Definitely! Stephanie Matthews is how I got the gig in the first place, and only because we met at a Sphinx Competition years ago. She was asked by Hans Zimmer to assemble a diverse cast of musicians to record for The Lion King, and my name came up. I was just happy to be there. Breaking into the LA scene is hard; you need somebody to call you.
AK: How has your relationship to Curtis changed after graduating?
MC: It’s fun going to different festivals and events, meeting people from Curtis and bonding over like…Wednesday tea time, especially with the older alumni. I still rep Curtis hard. I love Curtis. Curtis people randomly seem to gel right away. It’s like a language we all speak. There’s something exciting about that bond.
AK: How do you think you’ll stay connected to Curtis?
MC: It’s a special place in my heart. Being from Philadelphia, it makes it easy to want to go back. Instagram and social media help to stay connected and see how people are doing, how they sound these days. Kevin Lin and I are always sharing ideas with each other. Oliver Herbert is kicking butt. Maria Ioudenitch just got a new Strad.
AK: Do you miss Philly?
MC: Oh my God, yes. I got to grow up in St. Louis, though, and I’m grateful for that.
