Musical Times
Musicians Who Used Perseverance To Be A Success
Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg is a professional violinist who plays a major part in the orchestra music industry. Although she had to persevere through many complications, she eventually got through her dreams of becoming a world famous musician. Nadja had started off playing violin at the age of twelve, only after pressurized by her mother. Over the years, she stuck playing violin however she was open with other options. Eventually, she chose the violin and went to college to pursue music as a profession. When she was 20, she felt other violinists at her class, were much better than her. She eventually quit playing violin for nine months mainly because of self-doubt. During the break, anxiety attacks and fear were one of Nadja's many complications. As she got out of focus from playing violin, she started doubting her existence and forgot her main objective of life. Slowly and steadily she was helped by her teacher to overcome the self-esteem and ultimately entered a violin competition to get back on the track from her adversity. She started balancing between the stress of distress and eustress. She practiced for hours that turned into days and eventually weeks to carry out her passion, eagerness and zeal to reach her dream. She was disciplined and consistent at her playing and was clamorous to win. She picked up the pieces of her musical past and was stronger than ever to return to her dream. Nadja used resilience to come back on her feet and show the world what she is really made of; she showed steady persistence in her learning violin, firm determination to reach the top in spite of self-difficulties,. After all her practicing, she won the international competition because of her choice, talent, and determination to endure.
Yo Yo Ma
Throughout all his life, Yo Yo Ma has been one of the most superlative cellist of the century and attained many achievements despite obstacles he had been through. Ma was born on October 7th, 1955 in Paris, France. Born in a musically talented family, he was destined to accel. At the age of three, Ma started violin lessons and eventually showed more interest with the cello at the age of four. During those times, he had been through a lot of pressure from his parents to be the best and it became hard to keep up. When he was seven, he moved to New York and learned to become a child prodigy who would soon live as a success. Ma had attended Juilliard School in New York City to become more musically advanced. Not long after graduating, his career had come to a stop because of his severe case of scoliosis. Scoliosis is an abnormal curve of the spine, which made Ma wear a body cast for six months. It was a slow and hard time for Ma to recover because he could not play at all after surgery. But decisive about his recuperation, he booked many concerts years before knowing that he was going to make it. He had used his resiliency as his hope of overcoming a difficulty. After persevering through several obstacles, Yo Yo Ma is still a major success and one of the most known musicians in the world today.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most famous musicians known for his immortal masterpieces in composing, and performing. He was born on January 27th, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. At a very little age, it was evident that he was musically talented. He started with playing clavier, violin, and organ. Soon, he started accompanying his father and sister to perform all over Europe, at the age of four. He played several performances as a child and composed his first piece, Allegro. Gradually he followed his father’s footsteps by composing and teaching music. During his teenage years he met famous composer Bach, who was also a talented musician. Mozart was influenced by Bach’s creativity and musical thought process. Mozart’s father was retired soon after Mozart was born and when his mother got sick during a trip to Paris and eventually died, the entire family was experienced poverty and uncertainty. Mozart got distracted from his musical creations and could not spend much needed time to progress his career. During that time, his musical compositions had a direct influence from his hardship and struggle of life. As he was only focused on his music, he could express real emotions throughout his immortal pieces. Many years after, he could perform again and had to work even harder to earn money for his family. He tried many times by performing operas and writing new classical music, but everybody thought he was only an average composer. Mozart didn’t get demotivated, but had continuous faith, passion and love for music and continued his works. Eventually he excelled to make his best pieces. He resumed his performances and started tour to reach bigger audience and eventually became a huge success. He chose to show resiliency and proved that he was a triumphant.
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney was a former musician in one of the most influential bands of the 20th century, and became one of the most popular soloist of all time. When McCartney played with the Beatles, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, also being a solo performer, but both groups had difficulties to face. Paul McCartney was born on June 18th, 1942 in Liverpool, England and was raised with a working-class family. At the age of fourteen his mother had died with complications of surgery. A little later he taught himself how to play the Spanish guitar, trumpet, and piano. He started performing for church. At a church festival, he had met John Lennon and joined his band, the Quarrymen, as they bonded over their mother’s deaths. Them and a couple other musicians led to the creation of the Beatles. They first started out in Hamburg, Germany by playing original songs in nightclubs. Going back, when McCartney started playing solo he started out as the first one out of his band to release a solo album and collaborated with many wide-known artists. Similar to the Beatles, they faced many rejections from agents and companies because they thought their band was childish and petty. However, they made a huge comeback and sold many concert tickets and tours all over the world. Relative to the group band, his solo career reached an all time-low when the assassination of his longtime best friend John Lennon died, he stopped touring and thought he had quit music for good. But song by song he eventually changed his mixed emotions about music. He entered the musical world with resolve and perseverance to get back up. Throughout both careers, Paul McCartney had shown persistence and the capability to be resilient by writing and performing music today.