Arts, Etc.Music

Violinist brings love of strings

Paul Stein, a new member of the University of La Verne music department, gives individual violin lessons to students at ULV. He will be performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on Oct. 23. / photo by Jenna Campbell
Paul Stein, a new member of the University of La Verne music department, gives individual violin lessons to students at ULV. He will be performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on Oct. 23. / photo by Jenna Campbell

by Max Zänker
Staff Writer

When asked about music, a smile covers Paul Stein’s face.

“Music allows you to know your other side, makes you feel passionate and helps you to relax, as well as it stimulates your mental awareness.”

From this semester forth, Paul Stein will spread his passion for music at the University of La Verne, where he accepted the job of violin teacher.

“I am happy to be a new part of the fast-growing music department,” he said.

After 22 years with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, five years with the Denver Symphony and two years with the Santa Fe opera, Stein looks forward to his new occupation.

“Teaching broadens your musical horizon as every new student brings along his new style of playing and creates a new challenge,” Stein said. “Learning music is always a growing process and even I still learn.”

The 52-year-old violinist and violist has written several articles in the journals of American String Teacher and California Music Teacher. Stein focuses on early music education.

“Nowadays, children learn the violin at the age of four or five,” he said. “I don’t think that music is much easier to learn when you are younger.

“And the kids should have fun ­ there is no perfectionism in music. You can enjoy yourself without being perfect,” Stein added.

Especially for those young musicians, Stein runs “The Chamber Music Express,” where he combines music making with storytelling to melodic fairies about music.

“The children can relate those to their own experiences with practicing and maybe it makes training a little bit more convenient,” he said.

Stein first played his violin at the age of eight and immediately fell in love with.

“I was not interested in music till my public school offered it,” he said. “My mother was a Yiddish singer, but she didn’t pressure me. Fortunately, my father was not enough into sports to push me into a team, so I had free choices.”

Stein received a bachelor’s in music from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and graduated with a master’s of music from Yale University.

After graduating, Stein concentrated on playing in orchestras for 27 years.

“Orchestras are a great challenge,” he said. “When you play together with 100 people and make it sound like one unit, you can always get better.

“And if you do it for a living, you have to keep on improving,” he added.

For Stein, music has become such an important part of his life that he even considers it an addiction.

“I try to avoid listening to too much symphony music, because I always catch myself identifying myself with the orchestra and judging it,” he said.

Stein spends his free time hiking, reading and woodworking, but he never completely escapes music. It is “always around” him.

During his breaks, he likes listening to classic music.

“I also like a little bit of Radiohead, but nothing can give you those special moments a Milhaud composition offers in the middle of the night,” he said.

Stein also stresses the universality of music and the fact that great musicians can be found in all professions and walks of life.

“I also lately taught a rugby player on the violin,” he said. “He had problems with smooth and precise playing because of his big muscles, but he somehow found his passion and got in touch with his soft side.”

Stein offers his courses at ULV not only for music majors but for anyone who is interested in learning to play the violin.

“Music brings together a lot of disciplines,” he said. “It brings together art, psychology and engineering, especially symphonies, where you try to make all those voices fit together.”

Stein encourages and invites all students to “bring together [their] ear and intelligence skills [to] find their balance in music.”

Max Zänker
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Jenna Campbell
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