Profile of a Pianist – Edith Hirshtal – as part of the video series by GeoBeats. Profile of a Pianist – Edith Hirshtal Hi, my name is Edith Hirshtal. I’m a pianist who has retired from twenty years as a university professor. I’m a concert artist, and I’m a teacher. I grew up in a small town, and I happened to hear someone play the piano, and I said “That’s what I want to do,” and I was seven years-old. My parents were from the old-country, and they were very strict; and, I found that I had to be a certain way. But, when I heard music, I felt all kinds of emotions, and that really drew me to wanting to do that because, at the piano, I could be angry, I could be a child, I could be as happy and carefree as possible, I could be desperately sad, I could cry. All those things were really important to me, and I was even rewarded for that, can you imagine? When I was ten, I was taken to Philadelphia to study, and I heard Andre Watts play, and he was, maybe, a few years older than I was. And, his playing was so moving and so inspiring that, I would have to say that, probably, he, more than anyone, was my first inspiration. Other than that, my most fortunate things were being able to study with people like Leon Fleitcher, who is my mentor. I got my Artist Diploma with him at Peabody Conservatory. Julliard Del Marcus, Harvey Widean at Temple University, playing my debut recital at Carnegie Hall, and hearing my students after they’ve worked, for years with me or not with me, and hearing them come into their own and not be just mere copies of someone else, including myself, but really finding their own voice. I think those are the most beautiful moments that I’ve had. I can’t say why someone should be interested in music, but I can give you some thoughts. Number one: music is the only art – there are no words, there’s nothing else; there’s just you and whatever it is that you play. And, it speaks. It allows you to communicate; it’s a language. And it’s something that uses so – playing the piano, especially – that uses so many parts of the brain, that it’s a fascinating way of learning many new skills that are transferrable, by the way.