Transcribed with Whisper from the original audio, so nothing is masked. Names corrected. Published in full, as spoken, so it can be read, searched and quoted. Search every transcript →
0:00Very sick. So what’s up everybody, I’m Maceo, I’m here with We Them Media at The Salon. What’s your name? I’m Cyrano Jeff Rosentrader. How old are you? I’m 18 years old. And where are you from? I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Okay, and what can you tell us about where we’re at, what’s going on? Well, currently we’re at the final salon of this season, Andrea Clearfield Salon. It’s a performing venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for all sorts of musical experiences, all kinds of music is here People like to say that this is where the best music in the city is and I’m inclined to agree with them I was first introduced to Andrea Clearfield’s salon about a year ago when she invited me to perform on a salon
0:52in memory of Manfred Fischbeck, who was a poet that Andrea Clearfield worked with in the past. So after I played at that salon, I enjoyed it so much that I so desperately wanted to return. And so I asked Dr. Clearfield if I could return to the salon, and fortunately she obliged me. And so here I am now, at this salon, and I’m so happy to be here, to be with this wonderful community that is loving of so many different kinds of music. You can find almost anything here. And they’re all so accepting and loving and wonderful and promoting new music in the city of Philadelphia, which is what I think the new music scene really needs. People who love it.
1:43So I’m so grateful to be here, and I’m so grateful to be interviewed by you, Maceo. Thank you very much.
1:53How long have you been playing music? What did you say? How long have you been playing music? I’ve been playing music for... I’ve been playing music ever since I was four, to be frank. I began playing the violin at the age of four, and then the piano at the age of five, and then I began composing, which I really love doing. I started doing that at the age of eight. I wrote my first serious piece then and for that, in that respect, music has really been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. And I’m so glad to have it in my life. I think it’s such a wonderful conduit for how we experience life, how we experience emotions and just the experience of life transferred into something that can be shared as a site for identity, a site for being.
2:43It’s just a wonderful thing to study and I’m so glad that music is a part of my life Are you a student now? Yes, I’m currently a student. I’m studying at the Juilliard School as a Kovner Fellow I’m studying composition, music composition with John Corleano and violin performance with Ronald Cokes That’s incredible man, congrats Thank you, thank you very much And what are you up to this summer? This summer, I’m going to be studying a whole bunch of music, being with my family, which I always love. I love being at home. I love being with my family. I’m also attending a festival in Vermont called the Yellow Barn Festival. Where in Vermont? It’s in a city called Putney, which I don’t know exactly where it is. But watch out, Vermont. What did you say? I said, but watch out, Vermont. Here you come.
3:34Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to the Yellow Barn Festival. They’re very supportive of new music. So that’s one of the reasons that I’m looking to go. Some of my music is going to be played there, and I’m so looking forward to it. And can I ask your family’s ethnic background? What’s your ethnic background? What did you say? Can I ask your ethnic background? Yes, I’m a multiracial person, although I’m a mixture of Puerto Rican and Chinese descent Yeah, we were not going to guess that one, I like that, that’s cool It’s okay, I get the question all the time, I love it when people ask
4:13Do you speak Spanish and Mandarin? What did you say? Do you speak Spanish and Mandarin? I speak Spanish, unfortunately I don’t speak Mandarin, I hope to learn one day, although right now I speak Spanish Okay, well, bienvenidos, welcome to our page I said, well, bienvenidos, welcome to our page Muchas gracias Oh yeah
