0:10Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: I’m 18 years old.
0:12Maceo: And where are you from?
0:13Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
0:16Maceo: Okay, and what can you tell us about where we’re at and what’s going on?
0:19Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: 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 in memory of Manfred Fischbeck, who was a poet that Andrea Clearfield worked with in the past.
1:01Maceo: And also --
1:02Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: 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. So I’m so grateful to be here, and I’m so grateful to be interviewed by you, Maceo. Thank you very much. Thank you.
1:53Maceo: How long have you been playing music? What did you say? How long have you been playing music?
1:57Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: I’ve been playing music for -- I’ve been playing music ever since I was 4, to be frank. I began playing the violin at the age of 4 and then the piano at the age of 5. And then I began composing, which I really love doing. I started doing that at the age of 8. 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. It’s just a wonderful thing to study, and I’m so glad that music is a part of my life.
2:47Maceo: Are you a student now?
2:50Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: 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 Corigliano and violin performance with Ronald Copes.
3:03Maceo: Okay, that’s, that’s incredible, man. Congrats.
3:05Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: Thank you. Thank you very much.
3:07Maceo: And what are you up to this summer?
3:08Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: This summer I’m going to be studying a whole bunch of music, being with my family, which I always love. I 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. It’s a --
3:23Maceo: Where in Vermont?
3:24Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: It’s in a city called Putney, uh, which I don’t know exactly where it is. Uh, I suppose --
3:30Maceo: Watch out, Vermont!
3:31Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: What did you say?
3:31Maceo: I said, but watch out, Vermont, here you come!
3:34Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: I -- well, thank you very much, I appreciate that. Um, yeah, I’m really looking forward to the Yellow Barn Festival. They’re very supportive of new music, um, so that’s one of the reasons that I’m looking to going. Some of my music is going to be played there And I’m so looking forward to it.
3:49Maceo: And can I ask, like, your family’s ethnic background? Like, what’s your ethnic background?
3:53Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: What did you say?
3:55Maceo: Like, can I ask your ethnic background?
3:56Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: Yes, uh, I’m a multiracial person, um, although I’m a mixture of Puerto Rican and Chinese descent.
4:06Maceo: Yeah, we weren’t -- we were not gonna guess that one. I like that. That’s cool.
4:09Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: Yeah, it’s okay. I get the question all the time. I love it when people ask.
4:13Maceo: So you speak Spanish and Mandarin?
4:15Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: What did you say?
4:16Maceo: You speak Spanish and Mandarin?
4:17Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: I speak Spanish. Unfortunately, I don’t speak Mandarin. I hope to learn one day, although right now I speak Spanish.
4:23Maceo: Okay. Well, bienvenidos. Welcome to our page. Huh? I said, well, bienvenidos. Welcome to our page.
4:29Cyrano Jet Rosenstrader: Muchas gracias.
4:30Maceo: Oh yeah.
