- [Narrator] On this episode of "On Stage at Curtis."

- I actually didn't really play Viola as a child.

I played piano.

My parents started my brother and sister and I on piano when we were really little, it was just supposed to be a hobby that we did for fun.

- [Narrator] In partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music, WHYY presents the following program.

(upbeat orchestral music) (upbeat orchestral music) - My name is Alyssa Warcup, and I play viola at the Curtis Institute of Music.

(upbeat orchestral music) Because piano was a hobby, I didn't really practice.

Like I doubt I practiced for more than 20 or 30 minutes a day as a kid.

And when I played viola in school, there's a really funny story.

I was actually gonna quit viola after like one year just because it was like, Okay.

I didn't really wanna do it anymore.

I would've rather played sports at the time, but my teachers convinced me to stay with it.

They said, "It's really fun.

You'll make a lot of friends, and the school always goes on fun trips.

And so I stuck with it for one more year, and here I am.

(upbeat instrumental music) My least favorite part about being a classical musician is that there's a lot of solitude that goes into our craft.

(upbeat instrumental music) I spend many hours every day practicing alone, studying alone, listening to music alone, it can get a little isolating sometimes.

And because art can't be measured, it can be hard to feel like you're ever truly done.

And so it can be really easy to keep working and keep working nonstop because you just want something to be the best that it can be.

So every person has to figure out what does it mean for something you know to be done or just ready to go out into the world.

(upbeat orchestral music) So the deal with my parents was, is that if I could find a different instrument going through school, then I didn't have to play piano anymore.

So in fifth grade at school we had this like fair at school where you got to try all these different instruments, and I remember my first choice had been flute, and my second choice was violin, and I couldn't make a sound on the flute.

So immediately I didn't like that one.

And I liked the violin better just because you know, the immediacy of like the strings speaking, I found really satisfying.

(soft orchestral music) We didn't have enough viola players at our school.

I think we didn't have any.

And so because I was okay with it, my teachers nudged me to just play the viola instead.

And so I ended up on viola by accident.

(soft orchestral music) First piece, it was Brahm's Sextet in G Major.

So it was myself, four of my classmates, and one of the professors at our school.

(audience applauding) That's always special.

It's can be hard to perform with your teachers, but it's really special when you do.

The travel schedules of my classmates is so insane.

So I think we only rehearsed, I think we rehearsed twice, and had a dress and then the concert, and this was all in like two days.

So it was fast, but it was a great experience.

(soft orchestral music) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (upbeat orchestral music accelerando) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (soft orchestral music adagio) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (upbeat orchestral music accelerando) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music) And I've found that the deeper I get into the arts world, the more I kind of become part of the bubble.

(soft orchestral music) I don't know, I have to really put myself out there.

To like sometimes like during the school year, if I don't make a point to go out, and see other people that don't go to my school or just do other things in the world, it can be really easy to be at school for like, 12 or more hours a day just working or hanging out with the community there.

(soft instrumental music) I remember my school orchestra played many different genres of music, but I knew as a violist that what I wanted to do long term as a career was to join an orchestra, and orchestras perform mostly classical repertoire.

(soft orchestral music) (uplifting classical music) I do like performing in groups, and I think that's part of what pulled me into being a musician was playing with other people, and having fun with other people whether that just be a couple people or a huge orchestra.

That's always been one of my favorite parts.

(bright instrumental music) Of course, many of my friends are on this journey with me at school and around the world, so that's really amazing.

It's hard to pinpoint one moment, but when I started going to summer camps for music, that was when I realized that I wanted this to be my entire life and career.

Just being an environment surrounded by creative people and doing something I loved all the time.

It just seemed like the only, it was the only thing that I could see myself doing.

(audience applauding) My debut in the Curtis Recital Series, I performed a viola Sonata by York Bowen.

He is not a super well-known composer, I think by musicians that don't play viola, but he writes so beautifully for the instrument.

It was such a wonderful way to make my debut at school.

(upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (soft orchestral music decrescendo) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (upbeat orchestral music accelerando) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music moderato) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (soft orchestral music decrescendo) (soft orchestral music adagio) (soft orchestral music adagio) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music adante) (upbeat orchestral music adante) (upbeat orchestral music adante) (upbeat orchestral music adante) (upbeat orchestral music adante) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (upbeat orchestral music allegretto) (soft orchestral music decrescendo) To me, Curtis is about becoming the musician that I have always wanted to be.

(upbeat orchestral music) (upbeat orchestral music) Right now, the future is still a bit uncertain.

I would love to get an orchestra job, otherwise I will either be freelancing in Philadelphia or I will move back to my hometown of Chicago.

(upbeat orchestral music) (upbeat orchestral music) What's always appealed to me about playing in an orchestra is that it allows you to really put down roots in one city, and make a lot of connections there.

So I would love to find some chamber groups with friends, commission new pieces.

I think finding new music can be really exciting.

I would love to record an album of music by women composers.

In general for viola, there is a lot of great music out there that hasn't really been recorded yet, so I think that would be really fun to do.

(footsteps thudding) I will be taking a lot of auditions this year to find my next destination for next year, so that's really exciting.

(footsteps thudding) We have different auditions for jobs versus summer festivals, versus competitions, but I probably take at least 15 every year, if not more.

(upbeat instrumental music) (soft instrumental music) I am going to leave feeling like I have a very solid technique, and that I've had such an enriching experience broadening my musical worldviews, and I would love to have a full-time job in the industry.

So yeah, Curtis means the world to me.

I would tell my younger self to not be so hard on yourself, and definitely try to have more fun with it because this is supposed to be fun, and it is a journey.

I would tell my future self to appreciate how far you have come, and just be a little proud of yourself.

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