Episode 2.6 - Dr. Jose Leon
Episode 6 features Dr. Jose Leon, Florida-based trombonist and educator. We talk with Jose about his musical life growing up in Venezuela, the impact El Sistema had on his career, moving cities and finding gigs, and setting goals. Transcripts to all podcast episodes are created by Hollyn Slykhuis and are posted on our website!
To learn more about Jose, check out the links below!
Full Transcript
Carrie Blosser 0:03
Welcome to Diversify the Stand. Together we build a community to listen and learn from the stories and experiences of passionate musicians. I'm Carrie Blosser
Ashley Killam 0:12
And I'm Ashley Killam. In our second season, we talk with musicians, performers, educators, historians, and entrepreneurs to expand how we think of the music we perform and follow non-traditional career paths.
Carrie Blosser 0:25
Our sixth episode features Dr. Jose Leon, trombone artist and clinician, music entrepreneur and educator. He got a start in El Sistema in Venezuela, now lives and teaches in Florida. Jose has won a Global Music Award and Latin Grammy for his recent trombone album, and has a constant drive to learn, explore, and grow as a person and musician. Well, Jose, thank you so much for joining us today.
Jose Leon 0:49
Thank you for having me here. It's an honor and very exciting. After seeing all you guys have been doing all this time, you know, being one of the feature guests here is a true honor.
Carrie Blosser 1:03
Honor is definitely ours. I've known you for a little while. But I think this is a great story for everyone to learn because I don't actually know it, I'd love to know how you got started in music.
Jose Leon 1:13
Well, I come from a musical family. I started in choir first when I was five years old, and I sang in the choir for like two or three years. And then I quit music for a little bit, just did it for fun with my parents, especially during Christmas time. Because he was the director of the choir during Christmas time at our local church. And that gave me the opportunity to get into music again. And then after that, the whole El Sistema came into my hometown. Before I started they came six months around, you know, before that, and if you guys know a little bit about El Sistema is you know, is basically a program that's spread out throughout the entire country. But it didn't take over the whole country all at once. It was periodically, you know, just coming from town to town, and the program being acquired by every single town. So by the time it did in my hometown, my cousins, which were also musicians, I was very close to one of them, the cellist. And therefore I wanted to play cello. When I got into El Sistema, they were not distributing string instruments anymore. They were all gone. So they only have wind instruments. So I wanted to play flute, because I, you know, as a little kid, I was probably like, 10 or 11 years old, I had a crush on the one that was supposed to be the flute teacher. So it was like, oh, she's the one that's gonna teach flute, I want to play flute! And then at noon, all the instruments were gone. And the only thing left was percussion, and one trombone. And the music teacher tells me, well, you know, we have a trombone and percussion. And then I obviously, I choose percussion. I go to my dad's office. And you know, my dad sees that I show up with nothing in my hands. And he's like, what happened? Where’s the flute? And I'm like, no, I'm not gonna play flute. They assigned me to percussion. And he's like, but you don't look too happy. And I'm like, no. Do you like percussion? No. So why did you choose percussion? I said, because it was the only thing left. So I never mentioned the trombone. So my dad is like, let me go talk to Carlos just, you know, stay here, because he knew the music teacher because the music teacher was his former student. He comes back, like, 30 minutes after and he's like, did Carlos offer you a trombone? And I'm like, yeah, he offered me a trombone. And why didn't you choose the trombone? You know, I really don't like the trombone. And he's like, what are you talking about? Have you ever heard a trombone? And I'm like, yeah. Who? Well, you know, the guys in town, you know, the, guys from the town band. So he closed the office, we go home, he was an aficionado of recording tapes. And he happened to have this set of tapes of the music that I later found out where, you know, Canadian brass, Empire brass, German brass. The Simon Bolivar Brass of the time, Venezuelan National Brass, you know, all those. I was listening to all of these and I'm like, wow, sounds great. So I asked my dad, you know, is that the trombone? He said, yeah, that’s trombone. And that's how trombone sounds. Oh, I want to play trombone. That was that Saturday, I spent the whole weekend listening to those tapes, then on Monday at seven in the morning, I went to school of music before going to my school, and the trombone was there in the corner, same place. Nobody touch it since Saturday, and well, the trombone came to my hands, and the rest is history.
Ashley Killam 4:46
That's awesome. I feel like brass players have some of the most interesting backstories on how they came to be. So we would love to hear a little bit—you mentioned in your how you got started, you mentioned El Sistema. And we'd love to hear about kind of how that kick started your career going into school.
Jose Leon 5:11
It was a combination of things. Because when I became 12, 13, I already had in mind that I wanted to come to the US, a professional trombone player, because well, you know, because most of the examples I always heard were, you know, the best examples were always from here. You know, as I mentioned before, you know, the main people that I always listen to, you know, Scott Harmon, Joe Alessi, Charlie Burnham, I was always listening about all these people. And then on top of that, in Venezuela, I had the opportunity to study with Domingo Pagliuca, which is now the trombonist of the Boston Brass, but at the time, he was here in the US, he was studying in Indiana, both in Indiana and the University of Miami. And then after a few years, he came back after he graduated, he joined the National Symphony. And then there was this program, the program consisted in, you know, eight students that they were going to choose to be the core students of the program for two years. And they were gonna bring Mitchobikan every four months to teach us. And then in the meantime, in between his trips to Venezuela, we were going to have a professor from the country. That professor from the country happened to be Domingo, you know, that's how I was able to meet Domingo. So I audition. But I audition with the mentality that, you know, let's see what happens, because the program was supposed to be focused on professional trombone players. They were, well, you know, they were different instruments. But trombone players in this case. So they wanted to focus on professional trombone players from the professional orchestras. They were the ones auditioning, but then they open up the window for anybody else that would like to audition. And then at the end of the day, at the end of the audition, there were six, no, five picks from the professional orchestra. And then three picks from three kids that came from out of nowhere. I was one of those three kids. So, I was like, okay, so, you know, I came into the program, and that gave me the opportunity to study with Domingo. So it was more, you know, even though Mitchobikan is amazing. And I love him. And I, you know, I learned so much from him and everything. But my whole focus was, I want to learn from Domingo during that, you know, during that time, all of that influence always ingrained in me, like, you know, the little seed that yeah, you know, this is cool, but I really want to go, you know, to the US. So, it was always this idea in the back of my mind, even though I was in El Sistema, one of the most positive sides of El Sistema was that it actually build a culture of professionalism in music in Venezuela, because before El Sistema, before we went into this, musicians in general were considered just to be, you know, another hobby, you know, it was it wasn't really considered to be a profession. It was even though it had been there for a while, I mean, El Sistema has been there as a program ever before since I was born. But it didn't became like really famous until, you know, probably the new century or so, until the 2000s or so when Gustavo came out as a conductor and all of that happens, you know, El Sistema was a great way to build relationships, to build a long time friendships. I have a lot of my childhood friends are the people that I met through El Sistema basically. The people that I still been in contact with from El Sistema, I don't have fingers to count, we all, you know, we all grew up together. It was like a family. And you know, especially when you are in a specific Youth Orchestra, it's like everybody grew up together. So that sense of belonging, El Sistema was a really good way to build that. And it was basically, as a lot of people say here, that you know, your band class is your safe places for a lot of kids. That's what El Sistema meant for many of us. While you're in El Sistema, growing up in El Sistema, there is an umbilical cord that start building between the student and El Sistema. And there is a point that you have to decide if you're going to cut it, or you're going to continue and become an adult and keep, you know, leaving from that. And that is the time in which many of us make the decision of okay, that's it, you know. Now it's time for me to become independent and do my own thing and follow my own dreams. And there are others that decide just to stay and you know, become old there and do what they need to do and just stay there, which is you know, very, very valuable as well. So, but many of us just, you know, decide to okay, now it's time. So there is a time in life when you become 18, 19. That I said, okay, that's it, you know. Now it's time for me to just start going and leave. And well, and then that was another adventure. You know, that was another adventure—of that is like for another podcast or something.
Carrie Blosser 10:22
Yeah, I think it's really important to recognize, like, the cultural difference, right between like, if you're, I think being decided and what you want to do at like 17, or 18. And knowing that you're going to go be a professional trombone player probably opened a lot of doors for you, because that was what you were going to do. And especially like, if you're an educator, working with someone, understanding that cultural difference is definitely really important. And speaking of connections, and being dedicated to the trombone, so you did both your bachelor's and your master's in Florida and then moved to Colorado, did your doctorate, and then moved back from Florida. And I'd love for you to talk a little bit about—I feel like we don't hear a lot of times, I don't want to say the struggle, but when you're established in one area, you pick up and you move to another area, especially for a, you know, terminal degree, like a doctorate, I'd love for you to talk and share with our listeners, how you made connections, worked with other people, maybe helped get gigs, and to continue your teaching and your professionalism, while you're moving, kind of as we bounce from place to place, which is very common for musicians, especially ones who want to be educators.
Jose Leon 11:34
It's a whole complex, yet simple, you know, kind of situation. Complex, because, you know, when you make a decision of moving, you have certain expectations, you know. Living here in Florida for a long time, while I did both my bachelor's and my master's, gave me the opportunity to build really solid relationships, and really solid friendships especially. So as I mentioned to you before, you know, in my time in Colorado, that some of my best friends, or the best friendships that I made in Colorado, were my professors. Amazingly, the same thing happened down here. So even though I was in a younger age, my best friends, or the best people that I actually met, down here in Florida, were my former professors. And somehow, I was able to maintain that relationship with them. So I think that relationship started all the way from the, time I became their students in the colleges. Most of the times you don't know, you know, my parents taught me that, you know, you always no matter what, you always got to be respectful to whoever it is, I always had that as a premise. In every single school that I went to, I was always friends with everybody, with the people that clean, to the professors, to the directors, to everybody. They all know me, and they all know my name. So why is this important? When I came back from Colorado, I remember when I make the decision, because my main idea was, you know, when I finished my master’s, leaving Colorado was not the first time that I left my, you know, my radius of action, or any of that, you know, I before that I have left to Mexico for a while. I've left Venezuela for a while. And every single time I came back, I sent emails to people that I knew, and coming back and coming back and coming back, blah blah blah, two or three people. Those two or three people always reply with, great, what date are you going to be back? I'm probably gonna be back, I don't know, December 15. That's when I came back from Mexico, for example. All right, so I have these dates blah blah blah blah. So all of a sudden, I started getting dates, even from the airplane. I was already getting here and had some dates going on already, while I wasn’t around. Who are these people that I email to? Former professors, former peers, former classmates, former people that, you know, somehow have been here, you know, building their business, doing their stuff, becoming contractors becoming whatever they were becoming too. And we never stopped talking. We never stopped being in communication. I was always like, hey, what's up, man? Good, man. Hey, how's it going? You know, once in a while is better than never. That was the first time. Then when I left Colorado, I thought that was gonna be it. You know, I thought that, okay, you know, I'm going to Colorado, I'm gonna get my doctorate, I got this, you know, huge dream that I was going to get a doctoral degree and immediately was going to get a job and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know, all these fantasies. But apparently I was in this fantasy land by myself because my wife was more realistic. She kind of knew like, I don't know, you know, hold your hopes. Because the situation is not easy, you know, the whole thing. Okay, you know, I went to Colorado, we did what I did. So by the time I was about to graduate, I think I applied to like 10 different places, it was one of those weird times in which there were tons of jobs opening, you know, not like right now that there's nothing. Like, back then they weren't like, I think they counted, like, probably like 20 trombone jobs are open that year. And I made finals to three of them and semi-final to one of them. And without graduating, you know, without being graduated yet. But at the end of the day, I didn't get any of them. So it was, you know, then I started realizing, oh, geez, this is going to be harder than I thought. So my wife was like, I always knew that, you know, you were the one that were in your Disney World Land there in your head, you know, thinking that you were going to get a job immediately or something. Around April or so I told my wife, well, listen, I think we have to make a decision, we're probably going to have to go back to Florida. Because even during my time in Colorado, I came down to Florida to play a couple of gigs. And I told her, you know, because basically, in Colorado, yeah, I make, you know, I make some connections and stuff. And there are too many good musicians for the little amount of work that there is. So putting all of that on the plate, we were like, okay, we have to go back. So around April, May, I started making, you know, some phone calls and some emails again, you know, like I did from Mexico. A lot of people make the mistake, a lot of musicians especially, make the mistake of every single time they move from one town to another, they burn bridges. And they start like, oh, I'm leaving anyways, oh I'm going anyways, ah whatever, you know, you know, so they show up late or don't, you know, don't practice the music or whatever, you know, they start burning bridges, they leave, and then you don't have the face to go back. Well, another thing that musicians have to think is going back is not always a bad thing. You know, actually, it's almost never a bad thing. You know, it's just another possibility, as possibilities to move forward, there's no remorse in going back. Sometimes, you know, in order for you to throw a ball, you know, you don't throw the ball from here, you go back, and then throw it, and then it's stronger, you actually go faster, you know, when you move your arm back and then whoosh. So sometimes you have to go back to bounce stronger to the front. So we decided to come back and all of a sudden, things started happening. People started calling me. New friendships started happening. You know, I started gigging again throughout that year. New World Symphony called me, some other new gigs came up, I met new people, I re-meet with old people, and all of a sudden my calendar started filling up again. And the whole thing filled up again. And then about around September or so, I received this email from Domingo Pagliuca, remember that name I mentioned to you at the beginning of the podcast? Well, he's not only the trombone of the Boston Brass, but he's the principal trombonist of the Palm Beach Symphony and the Florida Grand Opera. So their bass trombone quit, and he sends me an email and he’s like, Jose, I am going to give you all these dates, and you gotta say yes. And I'm like, dude, but—you gotta say yes, or else I'm not gonna give them to you. And I’m like, okay, so he sent me the dates. And I say yes, of course, without even looking at them. And you know, all of a sudden, they send me the contract, and, boom, I started playing with them. And that was basically the first program was my audition, my real audition because I have played with them before, and they were like, okay Jose, this is the rest of the contract and you know, you're officially here. So I started, I became again, the bass trombonist of the Palm Beach Symphony and the Opera, and then the professor of trombone positione opened at FAU, and I apply for it, and then two weeks before the school year started, they call me, they give me the interview. I play, I did all whatever I need to do and then okay, you got the job, and then all of a sudden, everything started adding up. The only thing is your goals, you know, your goals can be long term goals, and your goals can also vary depending of your experiences. When I first came to the US, all I wanted to do was get a bachelor's degree, and go back. Or get a bachelor's degree and win an orchestral audition, and that’s it. And then all of a sudden, my goals started spreading, you know, and I started like, oh, well, you know, my goal became, like, I want to be a person that can play and also can teach and, you know, make a living of either of the two or both, and, you know, just make music. Then, throughout the pandemic, I realized that I love, you know, I have a minor in, an AA in audio engineering that I got when I was like 19 years old. And I started putting all of that into practice again. And I bought my equipment and I started getting into it. And now I'm, you know, I'm learning about audio stuff. I've been learning about entrepreneurship, I've been learning about music business, I've been learning about all these, you know, all these diversifying what I know, trying to learn and diversify as much as I can, you know, and all of a sudden, I have become this person that have a folder in the computer with, like, 10 different types of resumes. If there is a recommendation that I can give to any musician during the situation that they're graduating from a college, they're graduating from a doctoral degree or so, you know, make sure that when you go to grad school, when you go to a master’s, when you go to a doctorate, and you have to make big moves, and all of that, make sure that you have your goals clear. What is what you really want to do with it, not just do it for the heck of it. No, really think of what you want.
Carrie Blosser 21:58
But you kind of answered a few of our questions, kind of all in a lot of that, of your response there. But you have a lot of really great advice. And I really think that we don't talk about, you know, what it looks like and what happens when you graduate. I think your advice is really important and helpful for those out there. So we're going to wrap up our questions and ask you the final question. Are you ready? We ask all of our guests this, we would love to know what is on your music stand this week, and how are you diversifying your stand?
Jose Leon 22:31
All right, well, actually, believe it or not, it's probably gonna be the easiest question to answer. Because of all the stuff that is going on, one of the first things that are on my music stand, well, I just had a concert playing all Frank Sinatra music. So I was playing some Frank Sinatra stuff, but those are already off my stand because that happened already two days ago. But the next things are my stand are The Soldiers’ History, I have a bias for Stravinsky, I'm playing that June 6. So I'm losing one ... for that day. And I'm very excited about that, because it’s going to be, like, reconnecting with a bunch of musicians that we haven't played in a while and playing Stravinsky's music, which is great and playing, you know, The Soldier—that is, you know, one of my favorites, chamber music out there. And I have that on my stand. The other thing that I have on my stand is a piece from a friend of mine. His name is Ricardo Arbiza, he’s from Uruguay, it’s one of the pieces that I recorded originally with trombone and bandoneon that I included in my album, but I'm going to play the trombone and piano version at the International Trombone Festival in July. I'm actually getting on it and practicing because, you know, when you stop playing something for a while it starts sounding like you have never played it before. So actually, that is on my music stand right now. Also, as the next project this week, orchestral excerpts that I always have there, a couple of other pieces that I'm probably going to be premiering in the fall that were in the fridge during the during the pandemic, they were supposed to be done before the pandemic but we couldn't do that. I also have a whole new repertoire. I have two future recording projects going on. One of them is an album in all Latin American composers. And the other is an album that I want to put together in all women composers. And I'm trying to put all the pieces together, everything together. One of the pieces is actually one from my sister. She's not only an amazing flute player, but she's also a great composer, great singer. So yeah, it looks a little bit—I'm just staring at my stand right now. Just to answer the question is like, geez, that thing looks thick. But anyways, I'm planning on taking a few days off. This year has been not normal. So I need kind of reset, press the reset button.
Ashley Killam 25:10
Jose, thank you so much for your time, your knowledge, and we are so excited to hopefully see you in person one day. So, for all of Jose's links, for all of the resources and organizations he recommended, visit the links in the podcast description. Thank you for listening to Diversify the Stand. I'm Ashley.
Carrie Blosser 25:32
And I'm Carrie. If you'd like to support us and our projects, find us on social media and visit our website. We now have a store where you can pick up some Diversify the Stand gear.
Ashley Killam 25:41
And as always, a huge thank you to Trevor Weston and Whitney George for allowing us to use their compositions in our podcast. The musical introduction is Trevor's trumpet duet Fanfare for Changes, and the ending music is Whitney's Incantations for trumpet and piano. Both composers websites are listed in the podcast description.
Carrie Blosser 26:00
Until next week, what's on your stand?