In partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music, WHYY presents the following program.

[upbeat music] My name is Maxence Dauriat.

I'm from France.

And I play percussion while studying at the Curtis Institute of Music.

I think two things inspired me to become a classical musician.

The first thing has to be my parents.

They both play piano and so I grew up listening to them, you know, hearing them, watching them play.

And I think the second thing is when I was four or five, I watched a rock concert and there was this drum set player and I was just fascinated by the drum set player.

And so I went to my parents and I said, "Hey, I really want to play the drum set."

And they took me to the music school and the teacher here was teaching drum set and percussion.

And eventually I ended up dropping drum set and I became a percussionist.

[Music] Drum set is really the drum set, you know, the one you see in the pop, rock or jazz bands.

And then the percussionist is the one that's going to play all the other instruments.

So the hand percussion, the timpani, all the instruments you see in the orchestra.

Timpani, xylophone, snare drum and then all the traditional music instruments.

So djembe, congas, bongos, all of that.

Practicing as a child was fun, mostly.

My parents are musicians, but they weren't too involved.

You know, they gave me a lot of space.

And for me, the main focus was school.

And then music was just, you know, when I have time, when it's possible, just fun.

(piano music) My family's reaction to, you know, me wanting to be a professional was very supportive.

Although I didn't practice much as a child, and so when I was 16 I went to my parents who are musicians, and I told them I want to become a professional You know they they gave me a fair warning.

They said to me well you have a lot to catch up on It's not gonna be easy They've just been so supportive to me my parents even my brother my grandparents my aunt my uncles everyone is really being supportive of me.

I remember when I got in Curtis two years ago my mom told me when you were 16 and you talked to us about becoming a professional I would have never thought that you would end up in such a prestigious school and yeah I think I feel really grateful and lucky to have my family who's always here for me I can always count on them.

My friends reaction to me wanting to be a musician was very chill you know it was very okay you want to do this just go for it.

I've had the same group of friends for more than 10 years now I've had them through middle school high school and none of them is a musician none of them is a professional musician they know not much about classical music but they've always been here for me and they've always supported me and I think year after year they you know they listen to me more and more and they discovered how I played and I think now they're really proud of me and I'm really proud of them as soon as I can I I just go to friends and I spend time with them I I just I'm just really grateful to have them with me.

I picked this performance of the Steve Reich "Mallet Sextet" because I play with my studio mates, Tay, Xiong, Frank, Zach, and Christian McCooley, a pianist, joined us.

And also I would like to say hi to Ruben.

He's not in this video, but he's part of this studio and he's a great musician and human being.

And I really like this performance because these are my studio mates.

I spend a lot of time with them.

I see them every And so we have this special bond between us.

And on top of that, this is the Mahler Sechsett.

I think it really shows you what a percussion instrument can sound like and all the different sounds they can have.

And I love Steve Rice's music so much.

He's a great composer and I hope you'll like his music as much as I do.

[Music] The qualities that make a great musician, I think for myself, what I try to do is get back to this daily discipline of try to be humble and learn, and do that every day.

I think the goal for me is that when I'm 40, 50, 60, I'm still playing my instrument, enjoying and being humble and learn.

And I think if I hold on to this for the rest of my life, then maybe there will be moments on stage where I'll be a great musician, or I'll do, you know, great music making.

Curtis was the first school I auditioned to.

And I don't think I really realized what was happening when I got the email.

I got an email from my teacher, Dawn, and it was very simple.

It was just like, "Hey, we liked your audition.

We have a spot for you.

You should come."

And I was happy, but I didn't realize.

And then six months later, I'm in the plane.

It's only the second time in my life I'm in a plane.

And I don't really know what's going to happen.

And then little by little, I discovered the teachers, the students, the rooms, the instruments, the concerts, and everything is just top level.

I would say a regular day at Curtis starts with practicing, hopefully.

Sometimes you have to start with classes or rehearsals.

But I like to get up in the morning, eat something and then go to my instrument.

That's kind of my routine.

Over the day, hopefully you get to do six to five hours of practicing.

That's the right length for me.

Some people do less, some people do more.

For me, six to five hours is enough to do everything I have to do, but not at the same time feel like I'm exhausted and it's too much.

And then once you did that, practicing, classes, rehearsals, then hopefully you get to play jazz, jam, sing, play songs, or read a book, watch a movie, go for a walk, something non-musical.

Sometimes it gets very busy at Curtis, so you don't always get the time to do these extra things, but a regular day should be, you know, practicing, rehearsals, and then something else, whatever you want.

I perform all kinds of repertoire.

I think as a percussionist, you get to play a lot in orchestra.

So that's music from the 18th century to today, pretty much.

And sometimes you have a more rhythmic role in the orchestra, and sometimes, you know, there's already something happening.

There's a melody for the violin or the oboe, and the percussion is just this little sparkle you put on top of it so you get an extra color or an extra, yeah, an extra little thing, you know?

Definitely learning vocal is important.

You don't really know to have technique and to know how to sing, but I remember I had a teacher that would always tell me, "What you can't play, try to sing it."

And often if you can't play it, it means you can't sing it in the first place.

So sing it so you know how you want to play it and what you want to play, and then go to your instrument.

Then there's also chamber music, so that's a smaller group than orchestra, and more recent music, just like solo repertoire.

So chamber and solo, more recent music from 1950 to today.

And then also every once in a while I play songs or jazz, and I think I enjoy everything.

I think I really enjoy as much as possible being a versatile musician and having the possibility of just doing everything.

I picked this third performance because I did on stage what I do every day in my practice room, which is I picked a song and I just improvised.

I just harmonized it and I just played it the way I wanted to play it at the moment, you know, so I picked "When You Wish Upon A Star."

And I had prepared a little bit, but not too much, so there was like a place for improv.

And I was very happy doing it, but I wasn't sure that people would enjoy it.

And actually, they really did.

[music] [applause] [music] [applause] I think for my overall career, Curtis means a few years of incredible experience after incredible experience after incredible experience.

It's just like this continuous flow of concerts, lessons, masterclasses.

It's really incredible, like it's really a special place.

But then I also think that it means I met all these people and they're my friends and I play with them.

And actually for my professional life, they'll be my network.

They'll be the people I'll be working with.

And so it's not only concrete opportunities of playing, but also kind of guaranteed opportunities of playing later by the people you met and that became your friends, but also your colleagues.

After graduation, I have different options.

I can keep studying or trying to enter the professional life.

That could mean getting in an orchestra or trying to launch a solo career or chamber group.

I don't really know.

There are many options and I like all of them.

Hopefully just many concerts, many opportunities to share music with people.

I would tell my younger self, you're going to be okay.

Take care of your friends, take good care of your family, and take care of yourself.

And keep breathing, and it's going to be okay.

And I would tell my future self, keep asking questions, keep the curiosity.

It's annoying, it's exhausting, it's restless, but it's who you are.

And as long as you keep asking these questions, and as long as you keep thinking and doing, then it's going to be okay.

[Music] Take one, we're going to go all the way through.

There's going to be four.

Two from the left, two from the right.

Repeat it a couple times.

He's just going to stay here.

You're going to be your...uh... [Music]