KS: Hi Isabelle.

IW: Hi Katya.

KS: Can I ask you some questions about your current role? Yeah, I guess your music career?

IW: Yeah.

KS: Okay, so first of all, What instruments do you play?

IW: I play the piano, but I really want to learn how to play the oboe, violin, and viola.

KS: That’s cool. Where do you take lessons?

IW: I take lessons in Deadwood with my teacher, Dr. Reed Smith.

KS: Have you ever had another teacher?

IW: I have not. I’ve stuck with him for the past eight years of my life.

KS: What has made you stay with him?

IW: He has a really good background and I trust him. And he always seems to know what’s best for me.

KS: Okay. So how did you start your music journey?

IW: Well, when I was younger, I always played with buttons. Whenever we would go on an elevator, I always had to be the one pressing the buttons really, with anything. Buttons are extremely press like to open or like do anything with I always had, I’ve always loved and so my moms like, well, you would like to piano and I was like, okay, and being an eight-year-old, I started going to lessons and well, here I am now.

KS: I know most kids are put into music lessons at some point. What kept you going?

IW: Probably just my love for it. It hasn’t always been that way though; I’ve been in and out piano I use. In my middle school years, I kind of despised it, because back then I was really focused on my skiing rather than music. Now both sports and music are pretty equal in my life. So I think just the love of it.

KS: What makes music different than your other activities like skiing and skating?

IW: I think that sports keep you in shape, while music is more about what you put into the piece and how you want to show it or portray it. Its like improv. You can do so many different things. It’s about how you feel and how it works. It shows a part of you.

KS: What is your favorite part of learning a new piece of music?

IW: learning a new piece of music is always really fun, especially when you get down a really cool part, and you’re like, oh my goodness, I have what it is, and you can’t, so it’s kind of a show-off kind of thing. It’s really fun. It’s always just so nice because when you get it- I don’t really know how to explain it because it’s just such a nice feeling.

KS: Is there any music that you learned recently, or anything really exciting?

IW: I’ve been invited to a few piano festivals. I haven’t gone to the last two that I was invited to due to my commitment to skiing. But I’m going to Russia this summer to play piano in a palace! It’s for strings, woodwinds, and like all the instruments. I’m doing that this summer- I’ll be playing with the Russian chamber ensemble. And with that, I’ll be playing Rachmaninoff Prelude in C sharp minor, Chopin’s Nocturne in F minor, along with a piano concerto by either Mendelssohn in D minor, or Mozart in D minor, and a few other pieces as well.

KS: That’s amazing. How did you get in? Did you get invited to that?

IW: My teacher gets invited, and he chooses about six to ten people to take along with him. Of course, it’s amazing experience, and I’m really excited to actually like, finally be going.

KS: Yeah, I’m excited for you. That’s amazing.

IW: Thank you.

KS: So where do you see music taking you in the future?

IW:  I want to be a conductor, which is leading an orchestra or like any type of musical ensemble. I really see that because I arrange pieces. I’ve written pieces, like for the piano, and stuff, and I really enjoy it. They’re terrible. By the way, they’re like very basic. I’m okay with that, though. But that’s where I see music taking me. I’m in the middle of arranging a bunch of Chopin stuff for the orchestra because Chopin is mainly known as a person who solely wrote piano pieces, which is true, and but he’s never been recognized for an orchestra. So I think that that’s going to be really interesting to see premiere next spring.

KS: That’s so exciting. Well, thank you so much for your time.

IW: Yeah, and this is fun. Yeah. I love talking to you.

KS: Thank you.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Katya Sjaastad

Isabelle Wolpert plays the piano in the Orchestra room.