1/52 Pathétique, the Juilliard reject. Fitting that I start this 52 part series with where it all began– with an angsty lost 16 year old that thought he was good enough for Juilliard. Classic big fish in a small pond syndrome. It was my senior year of high school. Me and my buddy were arguably the best classical pianists in our small town. Not arguably, we were. College application deadlines were around the corner and my mind was set on either military academies (Westpoint, Naval Academy, etc.) or Juilliard. Don’t ask why, remember the angsty lost part of this story? Also don’t ask why I didn’t want to send my application to other conservatories. I guess it was the moon or bust (good of me to stay on brand all these years). Recording the audition material was my very first professional recording experience. It was the Fall of 2003. I remember going to my piano teacher’s house, the recording engineer coming in and setting up (I’m not sure if he even had a computer at the time), and doing a couple takes of each piece. The Beethoven Pathétique Sonata and Mendelssohn’s Variations Sérieuses. They weren’t great, as you will hear in this recording. Despite being played on a Steinway the recording was mediocre at best, operator error. I listened back to these recordings for the first time in over 20 years and wow, haha. When I received my “we regret to inform you” letter I was crushed. But I also remember post rejection my piano teacher telling me at the time that she knew that I wasn’t ready, but wanted me experience the process. The playing was robotic and I only wanted to play as fast as possible.. typical boy. It was all about muscle memory and who cared if it was sloppy. I followed exactly what my teacher asked of me, but there wasn’t much intention behind the playing nor care on the accuracy. A literal robot. A very pivotal moment in my life to be honest. I sometimes wonder where I would be now if I had ended up at your standard “classical piano conservatory.” I certainly don’t think I would have wandered down the path of being a singer/songwriter and recording artist. Would I be living in New York? Would my piano talent really have been cultivated that much more than it currently is, probably not. My journey in classical music continued on not the way I intended. I later learned it really wasn’t about the school you attended but who you met along the way.