- [Announcer] On this episode of "Onstage at Curtis": (chiming music) - I didn't start studying the organ until I was almost 19.

I actually started, my entire childhood was entirely in instrumental music.

- [Announcer] In partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music, WHYY presents the following program.

(light instrumental music) - My name is Isabella Isza Wu, and I play the organ at the Curtis Institute of Music.

(light instrumental music) I was interning the summer before I went off to college at the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the local symphony in my hometown.

(light music) (audience laughing) (light organ music) and the second to last day I was there, we had a special luncheon welcoming our new organist, Greg Zelek, who had just graduated from Juilliard.

For some reason, we ended up sitting next to each other at the lunch, and he said, "Oh, if you ever get the chance, you should take organ lessons at Northwestern," where I was gonna go, and at the time, I was just, like, like, ha, ha, like, I'm about to start school, and, you know, my degree programs, so I didn't really think of it very seriously, but I looked him up later that night, 'cause I was a little curious, and I saw him playing the organ, and I was just mesmerized by how he could make something so musical come out of the pedalboard, because we also play with our feet, and from that point on, I was really interested in playing the organ.

And actually, the very next day, my friend got me into an organ practice room at the local university, and I actually have the video of me playing a organ for the first time, and I remember just falling in love with it right away.

(lively organ music) (audience laughing) (slow rhythmic organ music) And so when I went to Northwestern a few days later, I got onto campus, and the first thing I said was "Okay, how do I learn to play the organ?"

And I actually found that as a piano major, I could take, 'cause I was going for piano, I could take non-major lessons in organ, and so I started that in October, and continued.

(energetic organ music) Because I grew up in a musical household, I actually grew up hearing a lot of piano music, because I play piano, my mom plays piano, and my two younger siblings play piano, and my mom also taught piano, and so I heard piano music several hours in a day, in the house, and so it was just kind of a thing that I did.

(chiming organ music) I've always really loved music, even from an early age, and so I did a lot of it throughout middle school and high school, but when I was going into university, I actually wasn't sure I wanted to pursue it as my career, because I thought, for the longest time, that I wanted to go into, like, arts administration or arts business, (energetic piano music) and so when I went to Northwestern, I was actually enrolled in two programs, one in the piano performance program, and then a second one in communication studies.

(energetic piano music) While I was really busy in music, the first three summers while I was at Northwestern, I took internships in arts administration, arts education, and politics.

(serene piano music) By the end of each internship, I was completely drained by the continuous work in front of the computer, and so finally, by the third summer, I was like, "You know, I think I have to become a musician, because it's the only way I will not sit in front of a computer for hours on end."

(Isabella chuckles) (gentle piano music) (energetic piano music) Sometimes it's difficult when you have other friends, or, like, you know, you're in social groups, and they are not on a musician's schedule, so for me, particularly, as a church organist, I have a Sunday weekly commitment, I have certain hours that go with that, and so sometimes it's hard to plan, but on the flip side of that, I really love being able to dictate kind of when I work, even if it's, like, you know, 14 hours a day (laughs), or maybe not that much, but I do like having the flexibility to dictate when I practice, or teach, or prepare music, or do other administrative tasks.

(audience applauding) This performance was Max Reger's "Straf Mich Nicht," or it's translated as "Punish Me Not in Your Anger, Lord," and it was written as a chorale prelude, I think it was 1899, so almost in 1900.

We programmed this for our studio recital last year, and we all played pieces by Reger, and this one, I think Reger commented about this piece.

he wrote that it was "fiendishly difficult, it could not have turned out any easier because of my inclination for the mystical," and it's really quite a ghastly and difficult piece to play because you've just got, like, these running thirds all over the place, and all this fancy pedal work that you're doing, and if you look at the score, it's just incredibly dense, but it's also really satisfying music to play, and so that was a really wonderful project for me to undertake.

(gentle organ music) (dramatic organ music) (solemn organ music) (gentle organ music) (dramatic organ music) (serene organ music) (gentle organ music) (gentle organ music continues) (gentle organ music continues) (gentle organ music continues) (energetic organ music) (energetic organ music continues) (energetic organ music continues) (energetic organ music continues) Fun fact, I played percussion for three years when I was in high school, and they were some of the most fun times I've ever had as a musician, because I was in the percussion section, which is kind of well known for causing a lot of chaos at all times, and so I have several stories from that time, but all that to say is, like, we were a really good group of friends, just having fun, doing a lot of jam sessions in the band room when no one else was around.

(gentle instrumental music) (solemn instrumental music) At that time, I was a very serious violinist, too, so I was in the Wisconsin youth symphony orchestras for I think seven or eight years, and I was always, like, a violinist, and you know, played, and I had a few leadership positions in the orchestra between, like, concert master and principle second.

(solemn instrumental music) but being a musician, like, a professional one, really takes it to a different level, and sometimes, it can feel like you've removed the art from the work itself, because you're now a professional and you're doing this as your work.

(serene organ music) We have a special clothing item that organists wear.

I have these shoes, and these shoes are specifically designed for organ, they look a lot like character shoes.

They are usually made with a leather top and a suede sole, and what this allows for us to do is it gives us a little height in the heel so that we can pedal a little bit better, kind of like a tap dancer, so you can use both your toe and your heel, and you can go back and forth like this, or you can go like this, and so it's kind of like we're dancing on the organ.

(energetic organ music) But I think what really defines a good classical musician, or any artist, is the ability to tell a story.

I think you have really succeeded as a musician when you're able to connect with your audience and tell a story through your music.

(dramatic organ music) I think, for me, like, I really like connecting with people through music.

One of the things that I really gained from my high school music program was really appreciating everybody's experience with music, regardless of the level they're playing at, because everyone interacts with music on such a different level.

(dog barking) (birds chirping) (people chattering) I really love talking to people who enjoy music but don't really play music, because I think their insight into music is really pure.

You know, it's not tainted by, like, the hours of practicing that you put in, or, like, all the musician drama that happens, it's just, like, "Oh, I really like this artist," and, you know, "Their music makes me feel this way."

And sometimes they feel a little embarrassed because they know, like, I'm a professional musician, and they'll, like, make excuses for themselves, or, like, say, like, "I probably don't know that much," but I actually, I really value their opinion.

When I play music, of course, I enjoy hearing the feedback from my teachers and my peers, who, you know, understand organ music, but one thing I also really value is the comments from regular audience members who are hearing organ music.

(serene organ music) Listening to their feedback, it is really mind-opening for me, it's very refreshing.

Music has the power to evoke emotions and memories.

It can bring up feelings of joy, nostalgia, and sadness.

- If you care, always show the joy, because people always wanna to sit there in the big chair- - In musical memories, we invite audience members to reflect upon their own journeys through music.

What does this mean to them?

How does the music relate to their own lives?

And ultimately, how can music help us process our life experiences?

(audience cheering) This is the "Poem" by Dranishnokova for oboe and piano, and it was played by my good friend Oliver, and the funny story is we actually collaborated when I was a sophomore at Northwestern and Oliver was still a high-schooler, and that was the first time we met in Chicago.

I played for a couple of his auditions.

(audience applauding) We later met when I came to the Curtis Institute of Music again, and he had grown so much (laughs), and it was really lovely to see.

So it was really so fun to put this piece together with him, and also get back to playing some piano.

(solemn piano music) (solemn piano music continues) (wistful piano and oboe music) (wistful piano and oboe music continues) (wistful piano and oboe music continues) (wistful piano and oboe music continues) (wistful piano and oboe music continues) (energetic piano and oboe music) (energetic piano and oboe music continues) (wistful piano and oboe music) (energetic piano and oboe music) (wistful piano and oboe music) (serene piano music) (serene piano and oboe music) (brooding piano music) (spirited piano and oboe music) (spirited piano and oboe music continues) (brooding piano music) (dreamy piano and oboe music) (dreamy piano and oboe music continues) After graduation, I will be taking a gap year.

I have a couple of projects lined up, which I've actually been kind of building upon from year to year, but specifically, I'll be still performing, still teaching, but I have a couple larger-scale projects that I want to work on, especially focused on social media, as well as some compositions of my own that I would love to bring to the organ community.

For organists, we have like a couple different career paths that organists usually take.

The most common one is becoming a church organist, which I will definitely continue doing.

Another very common one is also teaching with that, there's a lot of teaching positions and accompanying positions as well.

And lastly, you can be with an institution or, like, have a performing career.

Three years from now, I hope to be continuing to perform and collaborating.

One of my big dreams is to create larger installations of organ concerts and have multi art forms within a existing concert space.

(dreamy instrumental music) (audience applauding) (energetic instrumental music)