- When I tell people where I work
their eyes get big and they freak out.
So, that's probably the most unmitigated best part
of being it, is just telling people what you do.
(upbeat orchestral music)
- Hello, I'm Alex Jacobsen.
And I play bass with the National Symphony Orchestra.
The moment when I decided
that I wanted to be a professional orchestra musician,
I was a freshman in high school,
and I was playing Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony.
At the end of the show, the audience exploded
and the sudden, and totally unexpected for me,
outpouring of screaming and applause almost made me cry.
I was so touched and I just decided right then and there
I'm going to do this for the rest of my life.
(somber bass music)
The biggest challenge of my career in a nutshell has been
to stop sulking when things don't go my way.
in fact, I used to do it so much that I was once caught
by Noseda, our music director.
I was just being a sourpuss on stage and like,
not really trying that hard
because things weren't going my way.
And Noseda looks at me,
and he doesn't really make an expression.
He just sort of makes eye contact.
And I was like, "Wow, Alex, you suck.
"Why did you do that?
"Why are you acting like this?"
So that moment of embarrassment,
of humiliation in front of Noseda,
whose respect I greatly desire,
really painted a clear picture in my mind
of what I need to do when I'm on stage.
That's to go with it.
I remember my audition for the NSO very, very well.
One of the greatest moments of my life
was when Jim Hewitt came backstage
to the seven finalists and said,
"We are pleased that the committee has decided
"to fill both spots,
"and the spots go to Charlie and Alex."
I feel good every time I think about that moment.
Music is a really amazing thing.
And you can get a huge amount of value out of music.
If you do it a little bit, or if you do it a lot,
or if it's the only thing you do.
And if you want to be a pro, you need to do it all the time.
It needs to be a lifestyle.
It can't just be something that you're like,
"Oh, I'm pretty good."
'Cause pretty good is not good.
You need to be sick.
So be prepared to jump into the deep end
if you want to be a professional musician.
This charming young man is my very old cat, Baggy.
His real name is Bagheera from The Jungle Book,
but Baggy is sort of a more fitting name
'cause he's kinda baggy.
And of course, one of the coolest things
in my apartment is this bookshelf that I made myself.
Obviously, it used to be a bass case.
This very base case flew my bass
all around the country for a decade,
until finally one day, my bass came back with a hole in it.
And when that happened, this happened.
The one thing I wish everyone knew about bass players
is that no, they don't wish they played the flute.
My favorite NSO moment
without a doubt is playing Pines of Rome
with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.
(dramatic orchestral music)
It was the last performance that he gave before he died.
The Maestro started to waver and collapse
in the middle of the third movement
during a really beautiful clarinet solo.
And actually, the Maestro had to sit down
on the podium because he was about to pass out.
And the whole orchestra stopped playing,
and the whole hall was totally silent,
and the clarinetist stopped playing.
But then the Maestro looked up and glared
at the clarinetist as if to say, "Don't you dare stop."
And the clarinetist has kept going.
And we started playing the fourth movement.
And when it got to the fourth movement,
when you can see the armies coming over the mountains
the Maestro stood up for the last couple bars
and brought us home.
And that was the last thing that he did on the podium.
Ever.
And I'll never forget that for as long as I live.