August 17, 2025 • 46 mins
In this powerful episode of The Joseph Bonner Show, we explore the enduring legacy of Robert Downey Jr.—from his early breakout roles in Chaplin, Less Than Zero, and Weird Science, to his transformative comeback through Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, and Avengers: Endgame. Host Joseph Bonner reflects on Downey’s journey of resilience, reinvention, and purpose, offering listeners a deeper look at the man behind the performances. Then, in a rare and intimate interview, world-class clarinetist and Artistic Director of The Kancheli Project, Julian Milkis, joins the show to discuss his musical mission, the emotional depth of Giya Kancheli’s compositions, and the power of classical music to heal and inspire across cultures. This episode is a celebration of artistry, perseverance, and the human spirit—from Hollywood to the concert hall.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Joseph Bonner Show.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Where is this?
Speaker 1 (00:03):
The Joseph Bonner Show is a unique show designed to
provide comfort and support to the international community.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's gonna make you feel bad.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Joseph Bonner is an experience mentor, live coach and certified
mental health first aid responders.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
An amazing guy.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Get ready to feel inspired, get ready to feel like
you can make a difference, and get ready to feel
Joseph Bonner Show starts now.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
So we honor the lives that teach us how to rise,
how to rebuild, and how to lead with purpose. Today
we reflect on the legacy of a man whose story
is not defined by fame, but by fortitude. A man
who walked through fire and came out not unscathed, but transformed.
This is the legacy of Robert Downey Junior. Robert Downey
(00:51):
Junior was born into the world of film. His father,
Robert Downey Sr. Was a filmmaker known for pushing boundaries,
and his mother, Elsie, was an actress. Acting wasn't just
a career path, it was the family language. Downey's first
role came at age five in his father's film Pound.
By the nineteen eighties, he was appearing in films like
(01:13):
Weird Science and Less Than Zero, where he played a
drug addicted rich kid, a role that would eerily mirror
his own struggles in years to come. In nineteen ninety two,
he earned critical acclaim for portraying Charlie Chaplin in Chaplain,
a performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination. It
was a masterclass in nuance and a glimpse of the
(01:34):
depth he could bring to the screen. But behind the
talent was a man battling addiction, and the years that
followed were marked by arrests, rehab and professional setbacks. He
was dropped from projects, written off by studios, and labeled
a liability between nineteen ninety six. In two thousand and one,
Downey's life was a revolving door of courtrooms and treatment centers.
(01:57):
He was incarcerated, he was fired from Ali McBeal despite
winning a Golden Globe for his role. The industry had
turned its back, but Downey made a decision not just
to get clean, but to rebuild. He committed to sobriety,
embraced therapy, and surrounded himself with people who believed in
(02:20):
his potential. He didn't ask for pity, He asked for
a chance. That chance came in two thousand and eight
when director John Favreau cast him as Tony Stark in
Iron Man. It was a gamble. Marvel was still finding
its footing and Downey was still earning back trust. But
what happened next was unprecedented. Ironman wasn't just a hit.
(02:40):
It launched the Marvel cinematic universe. Downey's portrayal of Stark,
a brilliant, flawed, self made man, resonated deeply. It was
more than acting, it was reflection. He reprised the role
in Iron Man two, Ironman three, The Avengers, Avengers, Age
of Ultron, Infinity War, and End Game. Each performance layered
(03:01):
with wit, vulnerability, and growth. But Downey didn't stop there.
He starred in Sherlock Holmes and its sequel, bringing a
fresh cerebral energy to the legendary detective. He appeared in
Tropic Thunder, earning another Oscar nomination for a role that
challenged Hollywood norms. He produced films, supported emerging talent, and
(03:23):
used his platform to advocate for environmental innovation and mental
health awareness. Robert Downey Junior's legacy isn't just cinematic. It's personal.
It's about resilience. It's about accountability. It's about choosing to
rise when the world expects you to fall. He didn't
just rebuild his career, he redefined it. He became a mentor,
a philanthropist, and a voice for those navigating recovery. He
(03:47):
showed that redemption isn't a headline, it's a daily choice.
His journey reminds us that the most powerful stories are
not the ones where everything goes right, but the ones
where someone refuses to give up. So what do we
take from Robert Downey Junior's legacy That talent means nothing
without discipline, that failure is not final, that the road
(04:09):
coming back is hard but worth it, That leadership is earned,
not inherited, and that the most meaningful impact comes when
you use your story to help others. Heal to anyone
listening who feels like they've lost their way, remember that
your past is a chapter, not a conclusion. That you
can rebuild, and that you can rise above and achieve
(04:32):
great things if you don't give up. Because the legacy
of Robert Downey Jr. Is not about being perfect, It's
about being persistent. It's about choosing growth over guilt and
purpose over pity. This is the Joseph Bonner Show. Stay inspired,
stay bold, and never stop believing in the power of
your next chapter. We are going to take a quick
commercial break, but when we come back, we are going
(04:53):
to interview Julian Milkis, world class clarinetists and artistic director
of the Kanshley Project.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
All Right, you guys, and for the part of the
show that you know that I enjoy the most is
when we get a chance to invite uh, someone out
there doing some amazing things and in a week to
join their legacy and learn and be inspired. And so,
without further ado, for all of you out there listening
and all of you watching today, I would like to
(05:46):
invite on the show, sir Julian because he is a
clarinetis and a cultural ambassador, and he was born in
a family of musicians, thrown into this from birth. But
the things that he's doing with his music and his
story is nothing but inspiring. So we want to just
give you a nice wal walk to the show. Thank
(06:07):
you so much for joining us.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Again, thank you so much for having me, for inviting me.
It's a pleasure and I'm honored with Julian.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I'm just curious because I know that again, you grew
up in a family of musicians, so obviously you are
a musician, and you followed some of the greatest musicians
of our time. Can you tell us a little bit
about what it was like growing up with music and
how that shaped your life?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You know, I literally I had no choice. From the
day I was born. I was surrounded by music. My
father was a violinist and my mom was a pianist.
So I heard music literally from the minute I was
brought from the you know, birthplace, from the hospital. And
(06:58):
there was a story in the family that before I
could talk, I would sing all the time the second
theme from the Beethoven Violin Concerto. I would just stay
in my crib, jump and sing that melody all day long.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Wow, I guess I was predestined. But you know, nobody
really asked me what I wanted to do since I
was I started. I was five years old and I
started on piano, and my first teacher was my mom.
And at the end of that first year, she said,
(07:38):
there are two possibilities. One I'll have a heart attack. Second,
I'll kill him. Oh that's me. Wow, Because so then
they got me a teacher and she survived for a year.
She said, this kid is uncontrollable. And then I got
(08:01):
switched to another really wonderful teacher. So I was with
her for several years. But at at the age of eleven,
I switched to clarinet, and it was I loved it
because you didn't have to practice as much as on piano.
At eleven, you really have to work hard on piano,
(08:23):
you're already accomplished it. You have to And on clarinet,
it was like, so I could play ball with kids,
and that's what really interested me. You know, I love soccer.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Okay, So, so as you started off with the piano,
I mean I mean as I mean, five is a
pretty young age, and so was it with the piano
that you just kind of it just wasn't your thing,
Like it just wasn't your Instagram. And when you and
when you got the clarinet, you're kind of like, this
is what I want to do? Is that kind of how?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Well not right away? No, I still, I mean, I
absolutely love piano. It's the most important because it's like
an orchestra. You know, we other musicians we read music horizontally.
They read music vertically. Because to left hand and right hand,
(09:18):
and it's like an orchestra. And I believe that's why
ninety of great conductors are pianists, so also they think
differently pianist. So, I mean, most of my love, most
of my life, the people I was friends with were pianists,
(09:41):
pianists or conductors.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Yeah, okay, that makes it. So when did you start
playing professionally? Like what was when was that transition? Did
that happen through high school?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Well, it depends what you mean by professionally. I started concertizing.
I was about fourteen years old, not too early. I
was never like Mozart, you know, people of his caliber
who started at five and Mostard was composing symphonies at five,
(10:14):
so it was a genius right away. I was just
a kid, you know, playing music and yeah, practicing some
No big hopes were meant for me. So I really
started working really hard when I made the decision that
that's what I want to do and if I don't
(10:36):
work my butt off, nothing is going to happen. And
I mean I was like late teenager and I really
started to just live with music twenty four hours a day.
When I moved to New York and I practiced for
(10:58):
two Well, I was blessed to have like probably the
best clarnet teacher in the world. It was Liam Russian.
Benny Goodman also took lessons from him. He was really
amazing and he taught me the discipline, the work ethic,
how to work, how to use your brain. Just to
(11:22):
practice for hours. It doesn't do much if you don't
know how to do it smart. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Yeah, And you know I had a few questions too, too,
within regards to your work with Benny Goodman. Now I
think all of us are wondering, why how did you
become Benny Goodman student and what did you learn through
that mentorship?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Ah, well, it goes. I was I won a competition
in New York, and I was getting ready for my
debut at Carnegie Hall, and I went to my I
was doing my master's degree at Juilliard and I just
went for my regular lesson and my teacher said, you know,
I went to a concert and Benny Goodman was there
(12:05):
and he really didn't behave well. He didn't like the
clarinetis and he walked out in the middle of performance
and everybody could see it. And I said, oh, I
didn't know Benny Goodman lives in New York. He said,
of course, he lives in New York. And at my debut,
I was playing a very major composition commissioned by Benny
(12:28):
Goodman and he recorded it and performed it with Bella Bartet,
very famous Hungarian composer, and I said, I would love
to play that piece for him because I'm playing it
in concert. And my teacher said, forget about it. He's
not friendly, he doesn't like colleagues, and he's just he's
(12:51):
like god. But I was so pushe I was young,
you know, and I said I want to play for
him anyways, that he won't even talk to you, what
are you talking about? But then then he said, yeah,
you're impossible. Here's his number. You'll be disappointed, but that's
your choice. So I called him in a couple of
(13:13):
days and he never answered the phone. It was his secretary.
Oh answered the phone, and she asked me what I wanted,
and I said, you know, I'm a young clarinetist. I
want a competition playing in Carnegie Hall, you know the
usual stuff. And I would love to play for Benny
Goodman because I'm playing one of his signature pieces. And
(13:37):
she said, well, I'll give him a message if he
decides he'll give you a call. And I thought, he's
never calling me, And literally, within fifteen minutes, he called
me and we had a conversation and I was scared.
I mean I was shaking. It's like Jesus Christ calling you.
(14:00):
And so he asked me what I was playing and
then I said, I'm playing prompts and he said, do
you think I can only be helpful with bartak? So
I mean, what do you answer to that? Then he said, okay,
what are you doing tomorrow? And it was tomorrow was Monday,
(14:20):
and Monday was my busiest day at Juilliard lectures classes
and I said, oh nothing, I'm free, okay, so come
over to my place. Let's say ten in the morning.
I said, okay. He gave me the address and he
(14:42):
said that concierge will let me in. So right away
I called my teacher and I said, Liam, I'm playing
for Benny tomorrow. He said right, And I was known
I had the reputation of a practical joker. Wouldn't buy
it and said, really, it's true. It took me about
(15:04):
fifteen minutes to to really make him understand that it's happening.
Then he said, okay, meeting Bennie and playing for him,
it's better than winning a million dollar lottery. He said
he doesn't teach. He doesn't. I mean, he's very unfriendly.
And he said, okay, you gotta do this. You cannot
(15:28):
be late. If you're late for one minute, you will
not have a lesson. Because Bennie was all school, he
said you gotta shave. I shaved at that time once
a week. And then he said, you cannot wear jeans,
you cannot wear sneakers. You have to wear a nice suit,
a tie, and if you have a hat. Benny loves hes.
(15:52):
But make sure you're there at ten. So I'm they're
shaving in a suit, tie and had their hat. So
I show up at his door exactly at ten. I
knock on the door and the door opens. He was
like a big sized guy and he is ten in
(16:13):
the morning, is wearing a suit, a red vest. I
can see clarinet in the distance. And he looked at
the watch like this and appreciatively but like hmm. Then
looked at me and said, nice hat. So whatever my
teacher told me worked exactly. So he said, come on in.
(16:39):
So I came in. He said that the sofa on
the sofa there, I said, okay, play. So I put
together my clarinet and I can't produce a sound because
I'm freaking out. I'm so nervous, and it goes Julian,
are you nervous? And I came out with the phrase,
(17:02):
I think that saved me. I said, mister Goodman, if
you were me and I were you, would you be nervous?
And he loved it and he smiled and said I
think so. And then he went, okay, you warm up.
I'll go have a coffee and come back. And he
gave me about fifteen minutes and he came back and
(17:23):
I was already playing, and I got my control of
my nerves. So I started, you know, playing, and it
was very long. It was about four hours. And after
a while, he picked up his clarinet and he started
showing me, you know, things he wanted to. He wasn't
really great with words, but instead of explaining, he would play.
(17:49):
And then throughout the time I was with him, I
could hear this magical sound and it affected my playing
because he really changed my sound, my way of playing.
So as far as did he teach me something on
a clarinet. No, not really, because I was already accomplished
(18:10):
by that time, but musically and the way you think
and open minds, yes, definitely. And I mean he taught
me some great things like never ever play the same
piece the same way. He said, it has to be
in classical like in jazz, it has to be improvisational.
(18:33):
And it was absolutely right. And another thing is that
always respect what the composer wanted. It's composer first, your
interpretation second. So it stuck with me. And then after Carnegie,
he one day, at that time there were no answering machines,
(18:58):
so he said, or just started. I didn't have one.
So he calls and he said, I'm calling you for
a couple of days. You're never home. Where are you?
And I said, mister Goodman, I'm At that time, New
York Times would come out four times a day if
you remember, you don't remember, and I would go in
(19:22):
the morning, afternoon, evening, and late night. They were all
different editions, and look for the review. I know there
was a critic and I told Annie, you know, he said,
remember this for the rest of your life. If you
get a great review, don't let it go. To your head.
(19:44):
If you get destroyed. Always remember they don't understand anything.
So I think it helped.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Yeah, So you know, it definitely seems like he gave
you some insight on being balanced.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Grace. Also, he was very harsh. I mean, the biggest
compliment they had from him throughout, you know, almost three years,
he would say, oh, that wasn't too bad, was it?
And then I knew this is really good. And if
(20:22):
you if you didn't like it, he wouldn't say it,
would just go yeah the smirk, oh his face.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Man, well it's it sounds like he's had a he
had a profound impact on your artistry and always that
reship I think is so important I think for other
artists and for individual you know, for we have a
lot of entertainers and artists who listen to this show,
and I think it's so important for him to understand
just the impact that positive mentoring can have on careers.
(20:55):
And it seems like you are, you're experienced, well illustrated.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah. And also at first it was just playing before
my debut at Carnegie. We saw each other sometimes three
four times a week a lot, and it was playing
and you know, learning, and after a while He would
(21:21):
sometimes call and said, well, what are you doing now?
And when he called, it said nothing, you know, I'm free.
He said, why don't you come over, and then goes,
you don't have to bring clarinet. So I would go
over to his place. He was very lonely. He was
very reserved, you know, he didn't have too many friends.
And he really was like a godlike figure, and he
(21:45):
just wanted to talk. So we would talk about music. Well,
he mainly talked. I listened, but he talked about, you know,
practicing and how he does it. And at that time
and we met, he was seventy four years old, and
the amount of work he put in is unbelievable. He
(22:08):
would still practice three to four hours every single day.
And he was such a perfectionist. Like his daughter told me,
sometimes he would have a triumphant concert like radio Music Hall,
and he would be followed by fans, like hundreds of
(22:28):
fans home, and he would come home and he was
so distraught and upset. He would lock himself in a
room and wouldn't come out for like for days. Why
he played one wrong note. That's the kind of perfectionist
he was.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Ah, that's it's yeah, it sounds like there's a there's
a deeper story there. And I think one of the
things that you'll find with individuals who are just so
talented and get it at their craft, it is a
very but can who can who can really understand their
experiences except them? And then plus and also this factors
(23:11):
to their question too. When you're that talented and you're
that good, you get a lot of haters, you get
a lot of you're surrounded by a lot of jealousy
as well, and you are so it's.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Yeah, but you know, music approach and practicing is very
much like sports. I met in Florida several years ago.
Uh he was an assistant coach for Boston Celtics and
for Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan. And I asked him.
(23:47):
I said, mister Rogers, you're probably sick of people asking
you that, but I'm a huge fan of Michael Jordan.
How was he as a player? As a person? And
he said he was a killer. So after they would
win a championship and people would go party and drink champagne,
(24:10):
he would be next day in the gym at seven am,
practicing four hours. He said, nobody practiced so much. So
that's why he was so great. And people in music
like Yasha Haifez and like Benny Goodman Rostropovic, they were
(24:34):
like that. So it's very close to sport a great
sportsmen or you know, great tennis players.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
Absolutely, I want to talk a little bit about the
Conchelli project because I know that you're a part of
that and it has a mission. Can you tell us
more about that?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Well before he was actually a couple of days ago
he would have turned ninety, and he he is very celebrated, amazing,
amazing composer, and it's the I have to say, it's
the biggest influence in my life as a musician and
as a human being. And the first time I heard
(25:17):
his music, I was driving to my concert from New
York to Boston. And at that time, you know, there
were you know, cassette players and radio and I was
playing with the radio and suddenly I heard the music
that I got off the highway. I stopped and I
sat there totally mesmerized because it was so unusual and
(25:41):
so beautiful. And I listened to the end and I said,
I think it was a symphony of Giek and Chelei
performed by Boston Symphony and I wrote the name down.
I never heard his name. And when I came to
New York came back, I went to Tower Records, remember
(26:01):
that the Kneel Lincoln Center. Unfortunately no more. And I
went to a manage and said, do you have any
CDs of Geek and Chili? He said sure, yeah, So
I bought all the CDs and I started listening and
I became his groupie. And of course at that time
(26:22):
there was no Internet, so I would ask around and
look for articles, go to library, watch for new releases.
And nine years later, I'm at the festival in Germany
and there's a reception of the Castle and I asked
(26:45):
the director of the festival, who is that man sitting
in a corner there that doesn't smile and a very
beautiful woman and he said, oh, that's Giek and Chili
and his wife, And literally my heart dropped, and I said,
can you please introduce me to him? I adore his music,
(27:09):
so he introduced us and he's just a wonderful man,
but like his music, is very quiet. He says maybe
three words a minute, and very in very quiet ways.
And I spoke to his wonderful wife and maybe we
spend an hour and a half and then I said,
(27:29):
mister Conchelli, I'm playing at this festival a day after tomorrow.
I would love to invite you. And he said, Julian,
you're a lovely young man. I hate clarinet. That's how
we got acquainted. So I played the concert and it
(27:53):
was one of the really good concerts. And then I
see after the concert that he could he come towards me,
and I like, I'm scared. So he comes to me
and I see as little tears in his eyes and
he hugged me and just said two words, now I understand,
(28:20):
and then they goes, can I see you late tonight?
After the reception we stayed at the same hotel. I said, yes,
of course. So I come down to the lobby and
he's there and he has a score with him and
he said, you know, I wrote this composition for Krona's quartet,
(28:40):
very famous quartet. And then he said they played great,
but something didn't click. Then he said, I rewrote this
piece for younger Barrick. It's a wonderful jazz saxophone player
from Norway. He said, he played great, it was didn't
(29:01):
click and he said, when I heard you today. I thought,
this is for you, and he said, do you mind
if I arranged if I make a version for clarinet.
And I was like, oh my god. You know it's
like God himself offers you his work. I said, of course,
(29:22):
please yes, and he said, okay, I'll work on it
and i'll send you the score. And I got the
score within a month he sent me by mail. I
opened the score. My heart was pumping, and I started
working on it. And after about I don't know, maybe
a week or more, I called him and I said,
(29:45):
mister Canchelli, I worked my butt off it for a week.
It's unplayable. It's unplayable on clarinet. And he said, oh,
you're a very talented man. Think of something, and I
started thinking. The reason, I'll explain, all of Cancilli's music
(30:07):
is very quiet, very long phrases, and there's no place
to breathe. You know, as a wind player, you know
you gotta breathe. And there's such a technique it's called
circlar breeding on wind instruments when you play and it's
(30:28):
continuous playing. But it's easy when you play technique or
where it's more or less loud because when it's so
quiet and it's let's say one note that you have
to hold for a minute, intonation changes and when you
do the circular thing, the sound changes and you can
(30:50):
hear this. And I started thinking, how how do I
do this? And it took me a long time. I
started just walking on the street and breathing like that,
and my entire day I would just breathe like this,
and it clicked. I was flying from New York to Seoul,
(31:13):
South Korea, which is a fourteen hour flight, and I
had some master classes there and the usual question that
young clarinet is asked, double staccata that's very fast, and
circlear breathing. And I always said double tonguing, yes, sure,
(31:36):
I'll teach you. But circle breathing, I don't know how
to do it. It's not my generation. And then I
flew on a plane and for fourteen hours I did this,
and suddenly it clicked. I knew how it works. And
I arrived in Seoul and they brought me from masterclass
(31:59):
and the usual uessians double tonguing, circle breathing, and I said,
both fine, circle breathing, yeah, not that difficult, And without
ever playing it on clarinet I just started playing, so
of course it took many years to perfect it, but
the idea I knew how to do it, and with
(32:22):
his music I sort of came up with my own technique.
When it's when you play his really long phrases, very
when it's four pianos, you breathe. Instead of one big
circular breath, you do a series of small things like
(32:45):
and then the phrase there's no break and the nation
stays the same. And I, over the years I perfected it,
so it's like my thing. Ah. And I was supposed
to go to Holland with the orchestra in Holland and
play Aaron Copland's Concerto, which is actually commissioned by Benny Goodman.
(33:07):
And I called the conductor and I said, my estra,
can we please change the concerto? He said, are you
out of your mind? It's already published their articles. You
know it's advertised you're playing cope and said please, I
beg you. He said what I want to change it to?
(33:29):
And I said, can CHERI? It's called night Prayers? He said. I.
Of course I heard of the of this composer, but
I never heard his music. And I said it's so
godlike that you'll thank me for the rest of your life.
That we did the premiere and he said, I'll go
talk to the management and I said, look, if they
(33:51):
have a problem with it, tell them I decline my fee.
I'll come on my own. And he said, I'm ridiculous.
You're not a millionaire to do that. So he went
and they in the management. They knew him because we
were playing in Runningen and can Celli lived in Belgium.
(34:11):
In unfair, it's not far. He actually he drove to
We did like five cities, but that was the first time,
and the first rehearsal I'll never forget because you know,
there's an orchestra and one thing I learned on my own,
but another thing you don't know how it'll work out
(34:33):
with the group of people. So we started rehearsal and
it's so quiet you can almost not hear it. It's
like smallest sound. And then I see the conductor's face changed.
It's like his eyes are widening. And when I had
(34:54):
a break, I turned my head and I see half
of the orchestra were in tears. And it's not easy
to make that orchestral musicians because you know, for them,
they're you know, all wonderful musicians, but for them it's
a job. You know, they come to work, they rehearse,
(35:17):
so the better orchestra, but it's still a job. And
that they were so moved, it was for me it
was I knew it that I was right from the
first time I heard his music. And at the premiere
was a full house and when we finished, there was
a minute of dead silence, and you know, a minute
(35:41):
of silence on stage is like eternity. And then they
it was like a bomb exploded. So and it's it
became my signature piece and I played it.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
How has that experienced shaped your you are approach to
music today?
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Ah, to music in general? I guess it did. I
have to figure out. I never thought of that, you know,
but just playing his music it made me think. And
also at first we had a very working relationship. He
(36:25):
was also like he had very selected group of people
he was close to, and the rest it was like,
you know, a lot of people play his music. But
we just had a working relationship, that's all. And with
time it started changing. And then I realized that I
(36:49):
became like a part of his family. And I say,
you know, I was blessed. I had, you know, fantastic
friends and have fantastic friends, and you know, wonderful love
life and music, and I mean it's a long life, right,
(37:13):
And I never loved anyone as much as I love
this man as a musician and as a human being.
And he was just something so unusual. And again he
never spoke much, but every word he said, it's like
(37:35):
you know, reading a Bible. So and I was, you know,
throughout the year and the last year I was, you know,
near his bed when he was dying. And so I
mean he's you know, in my heart every day of
my life.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Well, thank you for sharing that. I appreciate just the
depth of emotion and and and care that you speak
with as you as you remember this and speak on
these wonderful experiences. And I think these are really core values.
I think that truly we're instilled in you, even at
a young age, through your music and and no doubt
(38:18):
this carries on today as a performer today and as
someone who continues to use music to to express themselves
and to encourage others. How do you feel music and
its role to bridging gaps and healing? How important is
(38:38):
that today with everything happening in the world.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Right now, Oh God, that's I think it's more important
than ever. But can music save the world? I don't
think so, unfortunately.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
But can your However, granted, I don't believe music can
save the word. I don't think anybody at this point
believes that music is the key to saving the world.
But I do believe though, that it's a it's a
fantastic escape, and it's a fantastic way to destress, to
(39:14):
kind of reconnect with ourselves and even reconnect with the
world in various ways. And I believe that you have
experiences that will illustrate that throughout your life. I guess
my question is today, do you still feel that your
music is impactful? And that is it's it's having the
impact of people that you wanted to have.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
I think so. I think so. And uh, it's for
first of all, it's really it's healing. It's like again
back to Concila, I played his music in over twenty countries,
and you know, people with such different temperaments like Mexican,
(39:54):
Germany and Ukraine and the United States, I mean all
different and different religions and just different personalities. And now
it's planned for Africa and Arab countries. It's phenomenal and
(40:17):
the reaction is always the same. After every concert, without exception,
a big chunk of the audience are in tears. And
it's not tears of depression. It's tears of gratitude and
healing and appreciation. And so often it happened that I
(40:38):
played and I was crying on stage myself. And three
days ago the movie about Accially premiered in Toronto because
the movie company is from there, and of course I went.
I was there and after the end of the audience
was stunned. The movie is fantastic and it's called he
(41:00):
created the name. It's called Gia can Chili. I used
to hate clarinet. And at the end we were asked
to go on stage, the producer, the movie director and myself,
and there were questions asked and I started crying again.
(41:22):
After so many years, it touches you and people in
the audience where I could see there was sitting with
eyes closed, and so many people just cried because just
amazement of what you experience.
Speaker 4 (41:40):
Absolutely, but thank you so much for sharing that, Sir
Julian mil because you are not only a clarinets and
a cultural ambassador. Your music continues to inspire as well
as the comfort and help with healing in this crazy
world living, and we want to thank you so much
for that. Now I do have this question because I
(42:01):
know a lot of people are gonna want to hear
pieces of your work and connect with you. So how
would we do that? How would we reach out to you?
Are you on social media? Do you have shows that
we can you know, you know, check out and come
see you at.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Uh my agent better bluns for that with all this,
but she knows, and she will she will send everything
to you. Okay, well for.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Those of you guys who are listening at home, if
his agent.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
But of course that tons of stuff on YouTube, hundreds
of videos, and of course a lot on Google. So
if people are interested in my art, please look it up.
Speaker 4 (42:48):
Yeah, absolutely absolutely. If you again, if you do have
shows coming up, then please definitely have your agent let
us know and reach out to us so that we
can let our audience know, because obviously you want to
support you and you want to support the work that
you're doing. And if we can do that even in
live obviously that's even better than just you know, hopping
(43:08):
on on Google and listening to it. But we appreciate you.
Thank you for taking the time to be on today's show.
Before we let you go, do you have any partying
words of advice for musicians out there who are maybe
just starting out in their careers and kind of looking
to make an impact as well.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Yes, yes, one advice important. You should only be in music,
especially like a traveling musician like I am, when you're
not staged in one city or part of the orchestra,
then you can have a normal life. Our life is
definitely not normal. If you can do without music, do
(43:51):
it because it's such an impossibly difficult life with work,
and it's not just playing and rehearsing after every concert.
Well I speak of you know for myself, and I'm
sure a lot of musicians will agree. You come home
and you go to bed and music plays. You know
(44:13):
what just happened on stage and something that you didn't like.
It upsets you and you think this I would do differently,
and it's just it's just there. So you should only
do this if you absolutely cannot live without music, if
it's no matter what, even if you don't make much money,
(44:36):
but if you feel you're going you will not live
a full life. You will die without music. Do it, yes,
and then it'll it'll turn out okay if you love
it so much. Of course, you gotta have talent and
you really have to work hard. And it's also it's very,
(45:00):
very difficult to get to the top, but it's more
difficult to stay there because young kids grow up and
technically they always get better. I mean the young musicians.
Young clarinet is sometimes I listened to and I said, Jesus,
how do they do that? So you have to really
(45:27):
bring your heart, put your heart on the table, and
no breaks. That's my advice.
Speaker 4 (45:37):
Well, and it's very candid, very honest, and I think
for those out there who are contemplating this as a career,
no matter where they are, I think that frankness is
appreciated because it is a life of deep and calculated sacrifice.
So very very well said, very honest.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
Also, I have to add, you have to be honest
on stage. You have to be honest in music because
audience can hear a lie if it's fake. You have
to be honest to yourself, to music and to the audience.
It's very important.
Speaker 4 (46:17):
Absolutely well, we appreciate that. We appreciate that advice, and
we thank you again for taking the time to join
us on today's segment.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
We thank you so much, thank you so much for
inviting me, and it was a pleasure. Really, there's a
pleasure as well.
Speaker 4 (46:31):
Before we let you guys go at home, we don't
want you to go anywhere just yet. We got some
bills to pay. So stay tuned and listen to a
word from our partners.
The Joseph Bonner Show.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Where is this?
Speaker 1 (00:03):
The Joseph Bonner Show is a unique show designed to
provide comfort and support to the international community.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's gonna make you feel bad.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Joseph Bonner is an experience mentor, live coach and certified
mental health first aid responders.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
An amazing guy.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Get ready to feel inspired, get ready to feel like
you can make a difference, and get ready to feel
Joseph Bonner Show starts now.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
So we honor the lives that teach us how to rise,
how to rebuild, and how to lead with purpose. Today
we reflect on the legacy of a man whose story
is not defined by fame, but by fortitude. A man
who walked through fire and came out not unscathed, but transformed.
This is the legacy of Robert Downey Junior. Robert Downey
(00:51):
Junior was born into the world of film. His father,
Robert Downey Sr. Was a filmmaker known for pushing boundaries,
and his mother, Elsie, was an actress. Acting wasn't just
a career path, it was the family language. Downey's first
role came at age five in his father's film Pound.
By the nineteen eighties, he was appearing in films like
(01:13):
Weird Science and Less Than Zero, where he played a
drug addicted rich kid, a role that would eerily mirror
his own struggles in years to come. In nineteen ninety two,
he earned critical acclaim for portraying Charlie Chaplin in Chaplain,
a performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination. It
was a masterclass in nuance and a glimpse of the
(01:34):
depth he could bring to the screen. But behind the
talent was a man battling addiction, and the years that
followed were marked by arrests, rehab and professional setbacks. He
was dropped from projects, written off by studios, and labeled
a liability between nineteen ninety six. In two thousand and one,
Downey's life was a revolving door of courtrooms and treatment centers.
(01:57):
He was incarcerated, he was fired from Ali McBeal despite
winning a Golden Globe for his role. The industry had
turned its back, but Downey made a decision not just
to get clean, but to rebuild. He committed to sobriety,
embraced therapy, and surrounded himself with people who believed in
(02:20):
his potential. He didn't ask for pity, He asked for
a chance. That chance came in two thousand and eight
when director John Favreau cast him as Tony Stark in
Iron Man. It was a gamble. Marvel was still finding
its footing and Downey was still earning back trust. But
what happened next was unprecedented. Ironman wasn't just a hit.
(02:40):
It launched the Marvel cinematic universe. Downey's portrayal of Stark,
a brilliant, flawed, self made man, resonated deeply. It was
more than acting, it was reflection. He reprised the role
in Iron Man two, Ironman three, The Avengers, Avengers, Age
of Ultron, Infinity War, and End Game. Each performance layered
(03:01):
with wit, vulnerability, and growth. But Downey didn't stop there.
He starred in Sherlock Holmes and its sequel, bringing a
fresh cerebral energy to the legendary detective. He appeared in
Tropic Thunder, earning another Oscar nomination for a role that
challenged Hollywood norms. He produced films, supported emerging talent, and
(03:23):
used his platform to advocate for environmental innovation and mental
health awareness. Robert Downey Junior's legacy isn't just cinematic. It's personal.
It's about resilience. It's about accountability. It's about choosing to
rise when the world expects you to fall. He didn't
just rebuild his career, he redefined it. He became a mentor,
a philanthropist, and a voice for those navigating recovery. He
(03:47):
showed that redemption isn't a headline, it's a daily choice.
His journey reminds us that the most powerful stories are
not the ones where everything goes right, but the ones
where someone refuses to give up. So what do we
take from Robert Downey Junior's legacy That talent means nothing
without discipline, that failure is not final, that the road
(04:09):
coming back is hard but worth it, That leadership is earned,
not inherited, and that the most meaningful impact comes when
you use your story to help others. Heal to anyone
listening who feels like they've lost their way, remember that
your past is a chapter, not a conclusion. That you
can rebuild, and that you can rise above and achieve
(04:32):
great things if you don't give up. Because the legacy
of Robert Downey Jr. Is not about being perfect, It's
about being persistent. It's about choosing growth over guilt and
purpose over pity. This is the Joseph Bonner Show. Stay inspired,
stay bold, and never stop believing in the power of
your next chapter. We are going to take a quick
commercial break, but when we come back, we are going
(04:53):
to interview Julian Milkis, world class clarinetists and artistic director
of the Kanshley Project.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
All Right, you guys, and for the part of the
show that you know that I enjoy the most is
when we get a chance to invite uh, someone out
there doing some amazing things and in a week to
join their legacy and learn and be inspired. And so,
without further ado, for all of you out there listening
and all of you watching today, I would like to
(05:46):
invite on the show, sir Julian because he is a
clarinetis and a cultural ambassador, and he was born in
a family of musicians, thrown into this from birth. But
the things that he's doing with his music and his
story is nothing but inspiring. So we want to just
give you a nice wal walk to the show. Thank
(06:07):
you so much for joining us.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Again, thank you so much for having me, for inviting me.
It's a pleasure and I'm honored with Julian.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I'm just curious because I know that again, you grew
up in a family of musicians, so obviously you are
a musician, and you followed some of the greatest musicians
of our time. Can you tell us a little bit
about what it was like growing up with music and
how that shaped your life?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You know, I literally I had no choice. From the
day I was born. I was surrounded by music. My
father was a violinist and my mom was a pianist.
So I heard music literally from the minute I was
brought from the you know, birthplace, from the hospital. And
(06:58):
there was a story in the family that before I
could talk, I would sing all the time the second
theme from the Beethoven Violin Concerto. I would just stay
in my crib, jump and sing that melody all day long.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Wow, I guess I was predestined. But you know, nobody
really asked me what I wanted to do since I
was I started. I was five years old and I
started on piano, and my first teacher was my mom.
And at the end of that first year, she said,
(07:38):
there are two possibilities. One I'll have a heart attack. Second,
I'll kill him. Oh that's me. Wow, Because so then
they got me a teacher and she survived for a year.
She said, this kid is uncontrollable. And then I got
(08:01):
switched to another really wonderful teacher. So I was with
her for several years. But at at the age of eleven,
I switched to clarinet, and it was I loved it
because you didn't have to practice as much as on piano.
At eleven, you really have to work hard on piano,
(08:23):
you're already accomplished it. You have to And on clarinet,
it was like, so I could play ball with kids,
and that's what really interested me. You know, I love soccer.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Okay, So, so as you started off with the piano,
I mean I mean as I mean, five is a
pretty young age, and so was it with the piano
that you just kind of it just wasn't your thing,
Like it just wasn't your Instagram. And when you and
when you got the clarinet, you're kind of like, this
is what I want to do? Is that kind of how?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Well not right away? No, I still, I mean, I
absolutely love piano. It's the most important because it's like
an orchestra. You know, we other musicians we read music horizontally.
They read music vertically. Because to left hand and right hand,
(09:18):
and it's like an orchestra. And I believe that's why
ninety of great conductors are pianists, so also they think
differently pianist. So, I mean, most of my love, most
of my life, the people I was friends with were pianists,
(09:41):
pianists or conductors.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Yeah, okay, that makes it. So when did you start
playing professionally? Like what was when was that transition? Did
that happen through high school?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Well, it depends what you mean by professionally. I started concertizing.
I was about fourteen years old, not too early. I
was never like Mozart, you know, people of his caliber
who started at five and Mostard was composing symphonies at five,
(10:14):
so it was a genius right away. I was just
a kid, you know, playing music and yeah, practicing some
No big hopes were meant for me. So I really
started working really hard when I made the decision that
that's what I want to do and if I don't
(10:36):
work my butt off, nothing is going to happen. And
I mean I was like late teenager and I really
started to just live with music twenty four hours a day.
When I moved to New York and I practiced for
(10:58):
two Well, I was blessed to have like probably the
best clarnet teacher in the world. It was Liam Russian.
Benny Goodman also took lessons from him. He was really
amazing and he taught me the discipline, the work ethic,
how to work, how to use your brain. Just to
(11:22):
practice for hours. It doesn't do much if you don't
know how to do it smart. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Yeah, And you know I had a few questions too, too,
within regards to your work with Benny Goodman. Now I
think all of us are wondering, why how did you
become Benny Goodman student and what did you learn through
that mentorship?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Ah, well, it goes. I was I won a competition
in New York, and I was getting ready for my
debut at Carnegie Hall, and I went to my I
was doing my master's degree at Juilliard and I just
went for my regular lesson and my teacher said, you know,
I went to a concert and Benny Goodman was there
(12:05):
and he really didn't behave well. He didn't like the
clarinetis and he walked out in the middle of performance
and everybody could see it. And I said, oh, I
didn't know Benny Goodman lives in New York. He said,
of course, he lives in New York. And at my debut,
I was playing a very major composition commissioned by Benny
(12:28):
Goodman and he recorded it and performed it with Bella Bartet,
very famous Hungarian composer, and I said, I would love
to play that piece for him because I'm playing it
in concert. And my teacher said, forget about it. He's
not friendly, he doesn't like colleagues, and he's just he's
(12:51):
like god. But I was so pushe I was young,
you know, and I said I want to play for
him anyways, that he won't even talk to you, what
are you talking about? But then then he said, yeah,
you're impossible. Here's his number. You'll be disappointed, but that's
your choice. So I called him in a couple of
(13:13):
days and he never answered the phone. It was his secretary.
Oh answered the phone, and she asked me what I wanted,
and I said, you know, I'm a young clarinetist. I
want a competition playing in Carnegie Hall, you know the
usual stuff. And I would love to play for Benny
Goodman because I'm playing one of his signature pieces. And
(13:37):
she said, well, I'll give him a message if he
decides he'll give you a call. And I thought, he's
never calling me, And literally, within fifteen minutes, he called
me and we had a conversation and I was scared.
I mean I was shaking. It's like Jesus Christ calling you.
(14:00):
And so he asked me what I was playing and
then I said, I'm playing prompts and he said, do
you think I can only be helpful with bartak? So
I mean, what do you answer to that? Then he said, okay,
what are you doing tomorrow? And it was tomorrow was Monday,
(14:20):
and Monday was my busiest day at Juilliard lectures classes
and I said, oh nothing, I'm free, okay, so come
over to my place. Let's say ten in the morning.
I said, okay. He gave me the address and he
(14:42):
said that concierge will let me in. So right away
I called my teacher and I said, Liam, I'm playing
for Benny tomorrow. He said right, And I was known
I had the reputation of a practical joker. Wouldn't buy
it and said, really, it's true. It took me about
(15:04):
fifteen minutes to to really make him understand that it's happening.
Then he said, okay, meeting Bennie and playing for him,
it's better than winning a million dollar lottery. He said
he doesn't teach. He doesn't. I mean, he's very unfriendly.
And he said, okay, you gotta do this. You cannot
(15:28):
be late. If you're late for one minute, you will
not have a lesson. Because Bennie was all school, he
said you gotta shave. I shaved at that time once
a week. And then he said, you cannot wear jeans,
you cannot wear sneakers. You have to wear a nice suit,
a tie, and if you have a hat. Benny loves hes.
(15:52):
But make sure you're there at ten. So I'm they're
shaving in a suit, tie and had their hat. So
I show up at his door exactly at ten. I
knock on the door and the door opens. He was
like a big sized guy and he is ten in
(16:13):
the morning, is wearing a suit, a red vest. I
can see clarinet in the distance. And he looked at
the watch like this and appreciatively but like hmm. Then
looked at me and said, nice hat. So whatever my
teacher told me worked exactly. So he said, come on in.
(16:39):
So I came in. He said that the sofa on
the sofa there, I said, okay, play. So I put
together my clarinet and I can't produce a sound because
I'm freaking out. I'm so nervous, and it goes Julian,
are you nervous? And I came out with the phrase,
(17:02):
I think that saved me. I said, mister Goodman, if
you were me and I were you, would you be nervous?
And he loved it and he smiled and said I
think so. And then he went, okay, you warm up.
I'll go have a coffee and come back. And he
gave me about fifteen minutes and he came back and
(17:23):
I was already playing, and I got my control of
my nerves. So I started, you know, playing, and it
was very long. It was about four hours. And after
a while, he picked up his clarinet and he started
showing me, you know, things he wanted to. He wasn't
really great with words, but instead of explaining, he would play.
(17:49):
And then throughout the time I was with him, I
could hear this magical sound and it affected my playing
because he really changed my sound, my way of playing.
So as far as did he teach me something on
a clarinet. No, not really, because I was already accomplished
(18:10):
by that time, but musically and the way you think
and open minds, yes, definitely. And I mean he taught
me some great things like never ever play the same
piece the same way. He said, it has to be
in classical like in jazz, it has to be improvisational.
(18:33):
And it was absolutely right. And another thing is that
always respect what the composer wanted. It's composer first, your
interpretation second. So it stuck with me. And then after Carnegie,
he one day, at that time there were no answering machines,
(18:58):
so he said, or just started. I didn't have one.
So he calls and he said, I'm calling you for
a couple of days. You're never home. Where are you?
And I said, mister Goodman, I'm At that time, New
York Times would come out four times a day if
you remember, you don't remember, and I would go in
(19:22):
the morning, afternoon, evening, and late night. They were all
different editions, and look for the review. I know there
was a critic and I told Annie, you know, he said,
remember this for the rest of your life. If you
get a great review, don't let it go. To your head.
(19:44):
If you get destroyed. Always remember they don't understand anything.
So I think it helped.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Yeah, So you know, it definitely seems like he gave
you some insight on being balanced.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Grace. Also, he was very harsh. I mean, the biggest
compliment they had from him throughout, you know, almost three years,
he would say, oh, that wasn't too bad, was it?
And then I knew this is really good. And if
(20:22):
you if you didn't like it, he wouldn't say it,
would just go yeah the smirk, oh his face.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Man, well it's it sounds like he's had a he
had a profound impact on your artistry and always that
reship I think is so important I think for other
artists and for individual you know, for we have a
lot of entertainers and artists who listen to this show,
and I think it's so important for him to understand
just the impact that positive mentoring can have on careers.
(20:55):
And it seems like you are, you're experienced, well illustrated.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah. And also at first it was just playing before
my debut at Carnegie. We saw each other sometimes three
four times a week a lot, and it was playing
and you know, learning, and after a while He would
(21:21):
sometimes call and said, well, what are you doing now?
And when he called, it said nothing, you know, I'm free.
He said, why don't you come over, and then goes,
you don't have to bring clarinet. So I would go
over to his place. He was very lonely. He was
very reserved, you know, he didn't have too many friends.
And he really was like a godlike figure, and he
(21:45):
just wanted to talk. So we would talk about music. Well,
he mainly talked. I listened, but he talked about, you know,
practicing and how he does it. And at that time
and we met, he was seventy four years old, and
the amount of work he put in is unbelievable. He
(22:08):
would still practice three to four hours every single day.
And he was such a perfectionist. Like his daughter told me,
sometimes he would have a triumphant concert like radio Music Hall,
and he would be followed by fans, like hundreds of
(22:28):
fans home, and he would come home and he was
so distraught and upset. He would lock himself in a
room and wouldn't come out for like for days. Why
he played one wrong note. That's the kind of perfectionist
he was.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Ah, that's it's yeah, it sounds like there's a there's
a deeper story there. And I think one of the
things that you'll find with individuals who are just so
talented and get it at their craft, it is a
very but can who can who can really understand their
experiences except them? And then plus and also this factors
(23:11):
to their question too. When you're that talented and you're
that good, you get a lot of haters, you get
a lot of you're surrounded by a lot of jealousy
as well, and you are so it's.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Yeah, but you know, music approach and practicing is very
much like sports. I met in Florida several years ago.
Uh he was an assistant coach for Boston Celtics and
for Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan. And I asked him.
(23:47):
I said, mister Rogers, you're probably sick of people asking
you that, but I'm a huge fan of Michael Jordan.
How was he as a player? As a person? And
he said he was a killer. So after they would
win a championship and people would go party and drink champagne,
(24:10):
he would be next day in the gym at seven am,
practicing four hours. He said, nobody practiced so much. So
that's why he was so great. And people in music
like Yasha Haifez and like Benny Goodman Rostropovic, they were
(24:34):
like that. So it's very close to sport a great
sportsmen or you know, great tennis players.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
Absolutely, I want to talk a little bit about the
Conchelli project because I know that you're a part of
that and it has a mission. Can you tell us
more about that?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Well before he was actually a couple of days ago
he would have turned ninety, and he he is very celebrated, amazing,
amazing composer, and it's the I have to say, it's
the biggest influence in my life as a musician and
as a human being. And the first time I heard
(25:17):
his music, I was driving to my concert from New
York to Boston. And at that time, you know, there
were you know, cassette players and radio and I was
playing with the radio and suddenly I heard the music
that I got off the highway. I stopped and I
sat there totally mesmerized because it was so unusual and
(25:41):
so beautiful. And I listened to the end and I said,
I think it was a symphony of Giek and Chelei
performed by Boston Symphony and I wrote the name down.
I never heard his name. And when I came to
New York came back, I went to Tower Records, remember
(26:01):
that the Kneel Lincoln Center. Unfortunately no more. And I
went to a manage and said, do you have any
CDs of Geek and Chili? He said sure, yeah, So
I bought all the CDs and I started listening and
I became his groupie. And of course at that time
(26:22):
there was no Internet, so I would ask around and
look for articles, go to library, watch for new releases.
And nine years later, I'm at the festival in Germany
and there's a reception of the Castle and I asked
(26:45):
the director of the festival, who is that man sitting
in a corner there that doesn't smile and a very
beautiful woman and he said, oh, that's Giek and Chili
and his wife, And literally my heart dropped, and I said,
can you please introduce me to him? I adore his music,
(27:09):
so he introduced us and he's just a wonderful man,
but like his music, is very quiet. He says maybe
three words a minute, and very in very quiet ways.
And I spoke to his wonderful wife and maybe we
spend an hour and a half and then I said,
(27:29):
mister Conchelli, I'm playing at this festival a day after tomorrow.
I would love to invite you. And he said, Julian,
you're a lovely young man. I hate clarinet. That's how
we got acquainted. So I played the concert and it
(27:53):
was one of the really good concerts. And then I
see after the concert that he could he come towards me,
and I like, I'm scared. So he comes to me
and I see as little tears in his eyes and
he hugged me and just said two words, now I understand,
(28:20):
and then they goes, can I see you late tonight?
After the reception we stayed at the same hotel. I said, yes,
of course. So I come down to the lobby and
he's there and he has a score with him and
he said, you know, I wrote this composition for Krona's quartet,
(28:40):
very famous quartet. And then he said they played great,
but something didn't click. Then he said, I rewrote this
piece for younger Barrick. It's a wonderful jazz saxophone player
from Norway. He said, he played great, it was didn't
(29:01):
click and he said, when I heard you today. I thought,
this is for you, and he said, do you mind
if I arranged if I make a version for clarinet.
And I was like, oh my god. You know it's
like God himself offers you his work. I said, of course,
(29:22):
please yes, and he said, okay, I'll work on it
and i'll send you the score. And I got the
score within a month he sent me by mail. I
opened the score. My heart was pumping, and I started
working on it. And after about I don't know, maybe
a week or more, I called him and I said,
(29:45):
mister Canchelli, I worked my butt off it for a week.
It's unplayable. It's unplayable on clarinet. And he said, oh,
you're a very talented man. Think of something, and I
started thinking. The reason, I'll explain, all of Cancilli's music
(30:07):
is very quiet, very long phrases, and there's no place
to breathe. You know, as a wind player, you know
you gotta breathe. And there's such a technique it's called
circlar breeding on wind instruments when you play and it's
(30:28):
continuous playing. But it's easy when you play technique or
where it's more or less loud because when it's so
quiet and it's let's say one note that you have
to hold for a minute, intonation changes and when you
do the circular thing, the sound changes and you can
(30:50):
hear this. And I started thinking, how how do I
do this? And it took me a long time. I
started just walking on the street and breathing like that,
and my entire day I would just breathe like this,
and it clicked. I was flying from New York to Seoul,
(31:13):
South Korea, which is a fourteen hour flight, and I
had some master classes there and the usual question that
young clarinet is asked, double staccata that's very fast, and
circlear breathing. And I always said double tonguing, yes, sure,
(31:36):
I'll teach you. But circle breathing, I don't know how
to do it. It's not my generation. And then I
flew on a plane and for fourteen hours I did this,
and suddenly it clicked. I knew how it works. And
I arrived in Seoul and they brought me from masterclass
(31:59):
and the usual uessians double tonguing, circle breathing, and I said,
both fine, circle breathing, yeah, not that difficult, And without
ever playing it on clarinet I just started playing, so
of course it took many years to perfect it, but
the idea I knew how to do it, and with
(32:22):
his music I sort of came up with my own technique.
When it's when you play his really long phrases, very
when it's four pianos, you breathe. Instead of one big
circular breath, you do a series of small things like
(32:45):
and then the phrase there's no break and the nation
stays the same. And I, over the years I perfected it,
so it's like my thing. Ah. And I was supposed
to go to Holland with the orchestra in Holland and
play Aaron Copland's Concerto, which is actually commissioned by Benny Goodman.
(33:07):
And I called the conductor and I said, my estra,
can we please change the concerto? He said, are you
out of your mind? It's already published their articles. You
know it's advertised you're playing cope and said please, I
beg you. He said what I want to change it to?
(33:29):
And I said, can CHERI? It's called night Prayers? He said. I.
Of course I heard of the of this composer, but
I never heard his music. And I said it's so
godlike that you'll thank me for the rest of your life.
That we did the premiere and he said, I'll go
talk to the management and I said, look, if they
(33:51):
have a problem with it, tell them I decline my fee.
I'll come on my own. And he said, I'm ridiculous.
You're not a millionaire to do that. So he went
and they in the management. They knew him because we
were playing in Runningen and can Celli lived in Belgium.
(34:11):
In unfair, it's not far. He actually he drove to
We did like five cities, but that was the first time,
and the first rehearsal I'll never forget because you know,
there's an orchestra and one thing I learned on my own,
but another thing you don't know how it'll work out
(34:33):
with the group of people. So we started rehearsal and
it's so quiet you can almost not hear it. It's
like smallest sound. And then I see the conductor's face changed.
It's like his eyes are widening. And when I had
(34:54):
a break, I turned my head and I see half
of the orchestra were in tears. And it's not easy
to make that orchestral musicians because you know, for them,
they're you know, all wonderful musicians, but for them it's
a job. You know, they come to work, they rehearse,
(35:17):
so the better orchestra, but it's still a job. And
that they were so moved, it was for me it
was I knew it that I was right from the
first time I heard his music. And at the premiere
was a full house and when we finished, there was
a minute of dead silence, and you know, a minute
(35:41):
of silence on stage is like eternity. And then they
it was like a bomb exploded. So and it's it
became my signature piece and I played it.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
How has that experienced shaped your you are approach to
music today?
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Ah, to music in general? I guess it did. I
have to figure out. I never thought of that, you know,
but just playing his music it made me think. And
also at first we had a very working relationship. He
(36:25):
was also like he had very selected group of people
he was close to, and the rest it was like,
you know, a lot of people play his music. But
we just had a working relationship, that's all. And with
time it started changing. And then I realized that I
(36:49):
became like a part of his family. And I say,
you know, I was blessed. I had, you know, fantastic
friends and have fantastic friends, and you know, wonderful love
life and music, and I mean it's a long life, right,
(37:13):
And I never loved anyone as much as I love
this man as a musician and as a human being.
And he was just something so unusual. And again he
never spoke much, but every word he said, it's like
(37:35):
you know, reading a Bible. So and I was, you know,
throughout the year and the last year I was, you know,
near his bed when he was dying. And so I
mean he's you know, in my heart every day of
my life.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Well, thank you for sharing that. I appreciate just the
depth of emotion and and and care that you speak
with as you as you remember this and speak on
these wonderful experiences. And I think these are really core values.
I think that truly we're instilled in you, even at
a young age, through your music and and no doubt
(38:18):
this carries on today as a performer today and as
someone who continues to use music to to express themselves
and to encourage others. How do you feel music and
its role to bridging gaps and healing? How important is
(38:38):
that today with everything happening in the world.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Right now, Oh God, that's I think it's more important
than ever. But can music save the world? I don't
think so, unfortunately.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
But can your However, granted, I don't believe music can
save the word. I don't think anybody at this point
believes that music is the key to saving the world.
But I do believe though, that it's a it's a
fantastic escape, and it's a fantastic way to destress, to
(39:14):
kind of reconnect with ourselves and even reconnect with the
world in various ways. And I believe that you have
experiences that will illustrate that throughout your life. I guess
my question is today, do you still feel that your
music is impactful? And that is it's it's having the
impact of people that you wanted to have.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
I think so. I think so. And uh, it's for
first of all, it's really it's healing. It's like again
back to Concila, I played his music in over twenty countries,
and you know, people with such different temperaments like Mexican,
(39:54):
Germany and Ukraine and the United States, I mean all
different and different religions and just different personalities. And now
it's planned for Africa and Arab countries. It's phenomenal and
(40:17):
the reaction is always the same. After every concert, without exception,
a big chunk of the audience are in tears. And
it's not tears of depression. It's tears of gratitude and
healing and appreciation. And so often it happened that I
(40:38):
played and I was crying on stage myself. And three
days ago the movie about Accially premiered in Toronto because
the movie company is from there, and of course I went.
I was there and after the end of the audience
was stunned. The movie is fantastic and it's called he
(41:00):
created the name. It's called Gia can Chili. I used
to hate clarinet. And at the end we were asked
to go on stage, the producer, the movie director and myself,
and there were questions asked and I started crying again.
(41:22):
After so many years, it touches you and people in
the audience where I could see there was sitting with
eyes closed, and so many people just cried because just
amazement of what you experience.
Speaker 4 (41:40):
Absolutely, but thank you so much for sharing that, Sir
Julian mil because you are not only a clarinets and
a cultural ambassador. Your music continues to inspire as well
as the comfort and help with healing in this crazy
world living, and we want to thank you so much
for that. Now I do have this question because I
(42:01):
know a lot of people are gonna want to hear
pieces of your work and connect with you. So how
would we do that? How would we reach out to you?
Are you on social media? Do you have shows that
we can you know, you know, check out and come
see you at.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Uh my agent better bluns for that with all this,
but she knows, and she will she will send everything
to you. Okay, well for.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Those of you guys who are listening at home, if
his agent.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
But of course that tons of stuff on YouTube, hundreds
of videos, and of course a lot on Google. So
if people are interested in my art, please look it up.
Speaker 4 (42:48):
Yeah, absolutely absolutely. If you again, if you do have
shows coming up, then please definitely have your agent let
us know and reach out to us so that we
can let our audience know, because obviously you want to
support you and you want to support the work that
you're doing. And if we can do that even in
live obviously that's even better than just you know, hopping
(43:08):
on on Google and listening to it. But we appreciate you.
Thank you for taking the time to be on today's show.
Before we let you go, do you have any partying
words of advice for musicians out there who are maybe
just starting out in their careers and kind of looking
to make an impact as well.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Yes, yes, one advice important. You should only be in music,
especially like a traveling musician like I am, when you're
not staged in one city or part of the orchestra,
then you can have a normal life. Our life is
definitely not normal. If you can do without music, do
(43:51):
it because it's such an impossibly difficult life with work,
and it's not just playing and rehearsing after every concert.
Well I speak of you know for myself, and I'm
sure a lot of musicians will agree. You come home
and you go to bed and music plays. You know
(44:13):
what just happened on stage and something that you didn't like.
It upsets you and you think this I would do differently,
and it's just it's just there. So you should only
do this if you absolutely cannot live without music, if
it's no matter what, even if you don't make much money,
(44:36):
but if you feel you're going you will not live
a full life. You will die without music. Do it, yes,
and then it'll it'll turn out okay if you love
it so much. Of course, you gotta have talent and
you really have to work hard. And it's also it's very,
(45:00):
very difficult to get to the top, but it's more
difficult to stay there because young kids grow up and
technically they always get better. I mean the young musicians.
Young clarinet is sometimes I listened to and I said, Jesus,
how do they do that? So you have to really
(45:27):
bring your heart, put your heart on the table, and
no breaks. That's my advice.
Speaker 4 (45:37):
Well, and it's very candid, very honest, and I think
for those out there who are contemplating this as a career,
no matter where they are, I think that frankness is
appreciated because it is a life of deep and calculated sacrifice.
So very very well said, very honest.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
Also, I have to add, you have to be honest
on stage. You have to be honest in music because
audience can hear a lie if it's fake. You have
to be honest to yourself, to music and to the audience.
It's very important.
Speaker 4 (46:17):
Absolutely well, we appreciate that. We appreciate that advice, and
we thank you again for taking the time to join
us on today's segment.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
We thank you so much, thank you so much for
inviting me, and it was a pleasure. Really, there's a
pleasure as well.
Speaker 4 (46:31):
Before we let you guys go at home, we don't
want you to go anywhere just yet. We got some
bills to pay. So stay tuned and listen to a
word from our partners.
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