Benjamin Zander

Probably a lot of you know the story of the two salesmen who went down to Africa in the 1900s. They were sent down to find if there was any opportunity for selling shoes, and they wrote telegrams back to Manchester. And one of them wrote, "Situation hopeless. Stop. They don't wear shoes." And the other one wrote, "Glorious opportunity. They don't have any shoes yet." (Laughter) Now, there's a similar situation in the classical music world, because there are some people who think that classical music is dying. And there are some of us who think you ain't seen nothing yet. And rather than go into statistics and trends, and tell you about all the orchestras that are closing, and the record companies that are folding, I thought we should do an experiment tonight -- an experiment. Actually, it's not really an experiment, because I know the outcome. But it's like an experiment. Now, before we -- (Laughter) -- before we start, I need to do two things. One is I want to remind you of what a seven-year-old child sounds like when he plays the piano. Maybe you have this child at home. He sounds something like this. (Piano) I see some of you recognize this child. Now, if he practices for a year and takes lessons, he's now eight and he sounds like this. (Piano) Then he practices for another year and takes lessons -- now he's nine. (Piano) Then he practices for another and takes lessons -- now he's 10. (Piano) At that point, they usually give up. (Laughter) (Applause) Now, if you'd waited, if you'd waited for one more year, you would have heard this. (Piano) Now, what happened was not maybe what you thought, which is, he suddenly became passionate, engaged, involved, got a new teacher, he hit puberty, or whatever it is. What actually happened was the impulses were reduced. You see, the first time, he was playing with an impulse on every note. (Piano) And the second, with an impulse every other note. (Piano) You can see it by looking at my head. (Laughter) The nine-year-old put an impulse on every four notes. (Piano) And the 10-year-old, on every eight notes. (Piano) And the 11-year-old, one impulse on the whole phrase. (Piano) I know -- I don't know how we got into this position. (Laughter) I didn't say, "I'm going to move my shoulder over, move my body." No, the music pushed me over, which is why I call it one-buttock playing. (Piano) It can be the other buttock. (Piano) You know, a gentleman was once watching a presentation I was doing, when I was working with a young pianist. He was the president of a corporation in Ohio. And I was working with this young pianist and I said, "The trouble with you is you're a two-buttock player. You should be a one-buttock player." And I moved his body like that, while he was playing. And suddenly, the music took off. It took flight. There was a gasp in the audience when they heard the difference. And then I got a letter from this gentleman. He said, "I was so moved. I went back and I transformed my entire company into a one-buttock company." (Laughter) Now, the other thing I wanted to do is to tell you about you. There are 1,600 people, I believe. My estimation is that probably 45 of you are absolutely passionate about classical music. You adore classical music. Your FM is always on that classical dial. And you have CDs in your car, and you go to the symphony. And your children are playing instruments. You can't imagine your life without classical music. That's the first group; it's quite a small group. Then there's another group, bigger group. These are the people who don't mind classical music. (Laughter) You know, you've come home from a long day, and you take a glass of wine, and you put your feet up. A little Vivaldi in the background doesn't do any harm. (Laughter) That's the second group. Now comes the third group. These are the people who never listen to classical music. It's just simply not part of your life. You might hear it like second-hand smoke at the airport, but -- (Laughter) -- and maybe a little bit of a
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Benjamin Zander
march from "Aida" when you come into the hall. But otherwise, you never hear it. That's probably the largest group of all. And then there's a very small group. These are the people who think they're tone-deaf. Amazing number of people think they're tone-deaf. Actually, I hear a lot, "My husband is tone-deaf." (Laughter) Actually, you cannot be tone-deaf. Nobody is tone-deaf. If you were tone-deaf, you couldn't change the gears on your car, in a stick shift car. You couldn't tell the difference between somebody from Texas and somebody from Rome. And the telephone. The telephone. If your mother calls on the miserable telephone, she calls and says, "Hello," you not only know who it is, you know what mood she's in. You have a fantastic ear. Everybody has a fantastic ear. So nobody is tone-deaf. But I tell you what. It doesn't work for me to go on with this thing, with such a wide gulf between those who understand, love and [are] passionate about classical music, and those who have no relationship to it at all. The tone-deaf people, they're no longer here. But even between those three categories, it's too wide a gulf. So I'm not going to go on until every single person in this room, downstairs and in Aspen, and everybody else looking, will come to love and understand classical music. So that's what we're going to do. Now, you notice that there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that this is going to work if you look at my face, right? It's one of the characteristics of a leader that he not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he's leading to realize whatever he's dreaming. Imagine if Martin Luther King had said, "I have a dream. Of course, I'm not sure they'll be up to it." (Laughter) All right. So I'm going to take a piece of Chopin. This is a beautiful prelude by Chopin. Some of you will know it. (Music) Do you know what I think probably happened in this room? When I started, you thought, "How beautiful that sounds." (Music) "I don't think we should go to the same place for our summer holidays next year." (Laughter) It's funny, isn't it? It's funny how those thoughts kind of waft into your head. And of course -- (Applause) -- and of course, if the piece is long and you've had a long day, you might actually drift off. Then your companion will dig you in the ribs and say, "Wake up! It's culture!" And then you feel even worse. But has it ever occurred to you that the reason you feel sleepy in classical music is not because of you, but because of us? Did anybody think while I was playing, "Why is he using so many impulses?" If I'd done this with my head you certainly would have thought it. (Music) And for the rest of your life, every time you hear classical music, you'll always be able to know if you hear those impulses. So let's see what's really going on here. We have a B. This is a B. The next note is a C. And the job of the C is to make the B sad. And it does, doesn't it? (Laughter) Composers know that. If they want sad music, they just play those two notes. (Music) But basically, it's just a B, with four sads. (Laughter) Now, it goes down to A. Now to G. And then to F. So we have B, A, G, F. And if we have B, A, G, F, what do we expect next? Oh, that might have been a fluke. Let's try it again. Ooh, the TED choir. (Laughter) And you notice nobody is tone-deaf, right? Nobody is. You know, every village in Bangladesh and every hamlet in China -- everybody knows: da, da, da, da -- da. Everybody knows, who's expecting that E. Now, Chopin didn't want to reach the E there, because what will have happened? It will be over, like Hamlet. Do you remember Hamlet? Act one, scene three, he finds out that his uncle killed his father.
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You remember, he keeps on going up to his uncle and almost killing him. And then he backs away, and he goes up to him again and almost kills him. And the critics, all of whom are sitting in the back row there, they have to have an opinion, so they say, "Hamlet is a procrastinator." (Laughter) Or they say, "Hamlet has an Oedipus complex." No, otherwise the play would be over, stupid. That's why Shakespeare puts all that stuff in Hamlet -- you know, Ophelia going mad and the play within the play, and Yorick's skull, and the gravediggers. That's in order to delay -- until act five, he can kill him. It's the same with the Chopin. He's just about to reach the E, and he says, "Oops, better go back up and do it again." So he does it again. Now, he gets excited. (Piano) That's excitement, you don't have to worry about it. Now, he gets to F-sharp, and finally he goes down to E, but it's the wrong chord -because the chord he's looking for is this one, (Piano) and instead he does ... (Piano) Now, we call that a deceptive cadence, because it deceives us. I always tell my students, "If you have a deceptive cadence, be sure to raise your eyebrows. Then everybody will know." (Laughter) (Applause) Right. So, he gets to E, but it's the wrong chord. Now, he tries E again. That chord doesn't work. Now, he tries the E again. That chord doesn't work. Now, he tries E again, and that doesn't work. And then finally ... (Piano) There was a gentleman in the front row who went, "Mmm." It's the same gesture he makes when he comes home after a long day, turns off the key in his car and says, "Aah, I'm home." Because we all know where home is. So this is a piece which goes from away to home. And I'm going to play it all the way through and you're going to follow. B, C, B, C, B, C, B -- down to A, down to G, down to F. Almost goes to E, but otherwise the play would be over. He goes back up to B. He gets very excited. Goes to F-sharp. Goes to E. It's the wrong chord. It's the wrong chord. It's the wrong chord. And finally goes to E, and it's home. And what you're going to see is one-buttock playing. (Laughter) Because for me, to join the B to the E, I have to stop thinking about every single note along the way, and start thinking about the long, long line from B to E. You know, we were just in South Africa, and you can't go to South Africa without thinking of Mandela in jail for 27 years. What was he thinking about? Lunch? No, he was thinking about the vision for South Africa and for human beings. That's what kept -- this is about vision. This is about the long line. Like the bird who flies over the field and doesn't care about the fences underneath, all right? So now, you're going to follow the line all the way from B to E. And I've one last request before I play this piece all the way through. Would you think of somebody who you adore, who's no longer there? A beloved grandmother, a lover -- somebody in your life who you love with all your heart, but that person is no longer with you. Bring that person into your mind, and at the same time follow the line all the way from B to E, and you'll hear everything that Chopin had to say. (Music) (Applause) Now, you may be wondering, you may be wondering why I'm clapping. Well, I did this at a school in Boston with about 70 seventh graders, 12-year-olds. And I did exactly what I did with you, and I told them and explained them and the whole thing. And at the end, they went crazy, clapping. They were clapping. I was clapping. They were clapping. Finally, I said, "Why am I clapping?" And one of the little kids said, "Because we were listening." (Laughter) Think of it. 1,600 people, busy people, involved in all sorts of different things, listening, understanding and being moved by a piece by Chopin. Now that is something. Now, am I sure that every single person followed that, understood it, was moved by it? Of course, I can't be sure. But I tell you what happened to me.

Benjamin Zander
I was in Ireland during the Troubles, 10 years ago, and I was working with some Catholic and Protestant kids on conflict resolution. And I did this with them -- a risky thing to do, because they were street kids. And one of them came to me the next morning and he said, "You know, I've never listened to classical music in my life, but when you played that shopping piece ... " (Laughter) He said, "My brother was shot last year and I didn't cry for him. But last night, when you played that piece, he was the one I was thinking about. And I felt the tears streaming down my face. And you know, it felt really good to cry for my brother." So I made up my mind at that moment that classical music is for everybody. Everybody. Now, how would you walk -- because you know, my profession, the music profession doesn't see it that way. They say three percent of the population likes classical music. If only we could move it to four percent, our problems would be over. I say, "How would you walk? How would you talk? How would you be? If you thought, three percent of the population likes classical music, if only we could move it to four percent. How would you walk? How would you talk? How would you be? If you thought, everybody loves classical music -- they just haven't found out about it yet." (Laughter) See, these are totally different worlds. Now, I had an amazing experience. I was 45 years old, I'd been conducting for 20 years, and I suddenly had a realization. The conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound. My picture appears on the front of the CD -- (Laughter) -- but the conductor doesn't make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful. And that changed everything for me. It was totally life changing. People in my orchestra came up to me and said, "Ben, what happened?" That's what happened. I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people. And of course, I wanted to know whether I was doing that. And you know how you find out? You look at their eyes. If their eyes are shining, you know you're doing it. You could light up a village with this guy's eyes. (Laughter) Right. So if the eyes are shining, you know you're doing it. If the eyes are not shining, you get to ask a question. And this is the question: who am I being, that my players' eyes are not shining? We can do that with our children, too. Who am I being, that my children's eyes are not shining? That's a totally different world. Now, we're all about to end this magical, on-the-mountain week, and we're going back into the world. And I say, it's appropriate for us to ask the question, who are we being as we go back out into the world? And you know, I have a definition of success. For me, it's very simple. It's not about wealth and fame and power. It's about how many shining eyes I have around me. So now, I have one last thought, which is that it really makes a difference what we say -- the words that come out of our mouth. I learned this from a woman who survived Auschwitz, one of the rare survivors. She went to Auschwitz when she was 15 years old, and her brother was eight, and the parents were lost. And she told me this, she said, "We were in the train going to Auschwitz, and I looked down and saw my brother's shoes were missing. And I said, 'Why are you so stupid, can't you keep your things together for goodness' sake?' " The way an elder sister might speak to a younger brother. Unfortunately, it was the last thing she ever said to him, because she never saw him again. He did not survive. And so when she came out of Auschwitz, she made a vow. She told me this. She said, "I walked out of Auschwitz into life and I made a vow. And the vow was, I will never say anything that couldn't stand as the last thing I ever say." Now, can we do that? No. And we'll make ourselves wrong and others wrong. But it is a possibility to live into. Thank you. (Applause) Shining eyes, shining eyes. Thank you, thank you. (Music)

Benjamin Zander
Muchos de ustedes conocern probablemente la historia de los dos vendedores que viajaron a frica en los primeros aos del siglo XX. Los mandaron para ver si era factible vender zapatos. Y desde all enviaron telegramas a Manchester. Uno de ellos escribi: "Ninguna posibilidad. Stop. No usan zapatos". Y el otro escribi: "Magnfica oportunidad. Todava no tienen zapatos". (Risas) En el mundo de la msica clsica la situacin es similar porque algunos piensan que la msica clsica est agonizando. Y otros pensamos que todava no han visto nada. Y en vez de analizar estadsticas y tendencias y hablarles de todas las orquestas que dejan de tocar y las empresas discogrficas que cierran, pens que esta noche era mejor hacer un experimento -- un experimento. En realidad, no es un experimento porque s el resultado. Pero es como un experimento. Ahora, antes... (Risas) ... antes de comenzar debo hacer dos cosas. Una es recordarles cmo un chico de siete aos suena cuando toca el piano. Tal vez tengan a este chico en casa. Suena un poco as. (Piano) Veo que algunos reconocen a este chico. Ahora, si practica durante un ao y toma clases, tiene ocho y suena as. (Piano) Practica otro ao y toma clases; ya tiene nueve (Piano) Practica un ao ms y toma clases; ya tiene diez. (Piano) Aqu en general dejan. (Risas) (Aplausos) Ahora, si hubieran esperado, si hubieran esperado un ao ms habran escuchado esto: (Piano) Lo que pas no fue quizs lo que pensaron, o sea, que de repente se entusiasm, se comprometi, se dedic ms, cambi de profesor, lleg a la pubertad o lo que sea. Lo que pas en realidad, es que se redujeron los acentos. Vern, la primera vez tocaba con un acento en cada nota. (Piano) Y la segunda con un acento nota por medio. (Piano) Pueden verlo observando mi cabeza. (Risas) El de nueve aos, el de nueve aos pone un acento cada cuatro notas. (Piano) Y el de diez aos cada ocho notas. (Piano) Y el de once aos, un acento en toda la frase. (Piano) Lo s -- No s cmo llegamos a esta posicin. (Risas) No pens: voy a mover el hombro as, mover el cuerpo. No, la msica me empuj, por eso lo llamo tocar con un solo glteo. (Piano) Puede ser el otro glteo. (Piano) Saben, una vez un seor asisti a una presentacin que hice cuando trabajaba con un joven pianista. Era presidente de una empresa de Ohio. Y yo estaba trabajando con este joven pianista y dije: "El problema es que tocas con los dos glteos. Deberas tocar con un solo glteo". Y mov su cuerpo as mientras tocaba. Y de pronto la msica despeg. Levant vuelo. El pblico suspir asombrado al or la diferencia. Y despus recib una carta de este hombre. Deca: "Me conmovi. Volv y transform toda mi empresa en una empresa de un solo glteo". (Risas) La otra cosa que quera hacer es hablarles de ustedes. Habr unas 1.600 personas, creo. Mi clculo es que probablemente 45 de ustedes sienten absoluta pasin por la msica clsica. Adoran la msica clsica. Tienen la FM siempre en el dial clsico. Y tienen CDs en el auto y van al concierto. Y sus hijos tocan instrumentos. No se imaginan la vida sin msica clsica. Ese es el primer grupo; es un grupo muy pequeo. Despus est el otro grupo, ms grande. Esta es la gente a la que no les molesta la msica clsica. (Risas) Ya saben, llegas a casa despus de un largo da y tomas una copa de vino y pones los pies en alto. Un poco de Vivaldi como fondo no hace dao. (Risas) Ese es el segundo grupo. Ahora viene el tercer grupo. La gente que nunca escucha msica clsica. Simlpemente no forma parte de su vida. Quizs la escuchan como fumadores pasivos en el aeropuerto, pero -- (Risas) -- y quiz una pequea parte de una marcha de Aida al entrar en la sala. Pero, fuera de eso, nunca escuchan. Ese es probablemente el grupo ms grande.

Benjamin Zander
Y despus hay un grupo muy pequeo. Son los que creen que no tienen sentido musical. Montones de personas creen que no tienen sentido musical. Ciertamente, escucho mucho decir: "Mi marido no tiene odo para la msica". (Risas) Pero, a decir verdad, es se puede no tener sentido musical. Todos lo tenemos. Si no tuviramos sentido musical, no podramos hacer los cambios en el auto, con palanca manual. No podramos distinguir entre alguien de Texas y alguien de Roma. Y el telfono. El telfono. Si llama su madre por el pobre telfono, llama y dice "Hola", no slo saben quin es, tambin saben de qu humor est. Tienen un odo fantstico. Todo el mundo tiene un odo fantstico. O sea que a nadie le falta sentido musical. Pero les digo algo. Para m no est bien seguir con esta cosa con semejante abismo entre los que entienden, aman y sienten pasin por la msica clsica, y los que no se relacionan con ella para nada. Los que no tienen odo, ya no estn aqu. Pero aun entre esas tres categoras, el abismo es demasiado grande. O sea que no me ir de aqu que el ltimo en esta sala, abajo y en Aspen, y todos los que estn mirando lleguen a amar y entender la msica clsica. As que esto es lo que haremos. Ahora, se dan cuenta de que no tengo la ms mnima duda de que esto funcionar si miran mi cara, cierto? Es una de las caractersticas de un lder que no dude ni un momento de la capacidad de aquellos a quien lidera de ver cualquier cosa que l suea. Imaginen si Martin Luther King hubiera dicho; "Yo tengo un sueo. Por supuesto, no s si van a poder entenderlo." (Risas) Est bien. Tomar entonces una pieza de Chopin. Es un bello preludio de Chopin. Algunos lo conocen. (Msica) Saben qu me parece que ocurri probablemente en esta sala? Cuando empec, pensaron, "Qu lindo suena" (Msica) "No creo que debamos ir al mismo lugar de vacaciones el verano que viene". (Risas) Es gracioso, no? Es gracioso cmo esos pensamientos nos dan vueltas en la cabeza. Y por supuesto -- (Aplausos) -- y por supuesto, si la pieza es larga y tuvieron un largo da, pueden llegar a desconectarse. Entonces, su acompaante les dar un codazo en las costillas para decir: "Despierta, es cultura! Y entonces se sentirn peor. Pero, alguna vez pensaron que la razn por la que sienten somnolencia con la msica clsica no es por ustedes, sino por nosotros? Alguien pens, mientras yo tocaba, "Por qu usa tantos acentos?" Si hubiera hecho esto con mi cabeza, seguro lo habran pensado. (Msica) Y por el resto de su vida, cada vez que escuchen msica clsica siempre podrn saber si escuchan esos acentos. Entonces, veamos lo que est pasando aqu realmente. Tenemos un SI. Esto es un SI. La siguiente nota es DO. Y el trabajo del DO es hacer triste al SI. Y lo consigue, no? (Risas) Los compositores lo saben. Si quieren msica triste simplemente tocan esas dos notas. (Msica) Pero bsicamente es slo un SI, con cuatro tristes. (Risas) Ahora, baja a LA. Ahora a SOL y luego a FA. Entonces tenemos SI, LA, SOL, FA. Y si tenemos SI, LA, SOL, FA, que esperamos despus? Oh, eso pudo haber sido casual. Probemos de nuevo. Oooh, el coro TED. (Risas) Y notan que no hay nadie sin odo musical, cierto? Nadie. Miren, cada aldea de Bangladesh y cada aldea en China. Todos saben: da, da, da, da - da. Todos saben quin espera ese MI. Pero Chopin no quera llegar a ese MI ah, porque, qu habra pasado? Terminara, como Hamlet. Recuerdan Hamlet? Acto I, Escena 3: descubre que fue su to quien mat a su padre. Recuerdan que despus aborda a su to y casi lo mata. Y despus retrocede y vuelve a abordarlo y casi lo mata. Y los crticos, todos sentados en la ltima fila, deben tener una opinin, entonces dicen, "A Hamlet le falta decisin". (Risas) O decir, "Hamlet tiene un complejo de Edipo". No, tonto, es que si no la obra terminara. Por eso Shakespeare pone todas esas cosas en Hamlet. Ya saben, Ofelia que enloquece y
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la obra dentro de la obra, y la calavera de Yorick, y los sepultureros. Es para dilatar -- recin en el Acto V puede matarlo. Lo mismo con Chopin. Est a punto de alcanzar MI, y dice, "No, mejor volver atrs y repetirlo". Y lo repite. Ahora se entusiasma -- esto es entusiasmo, no tienen que preocuparse. Ahora llega a FA y finalmente baja a MI, pero es el acorde equivocado. Porque el acorde que busca es ste, y en cambio hace... esto es lo que llamamos una cadencia engaosa porque nos engaa. Siempre digo a mis alumnos, "Si hay una cadencia engaosa asegurense de alzar las cejas para que todos lo sepan". (Risas) (Aplausos) Bien. Entonces llega al MI, pero es el acorde equivocado. Intenta MI de nuevo. Ese acorde no funciona. Vuelve a probar el MI. Ese acorde no resulta. Ahora, vuelve a probar MI de nuevo y no funciona. Y entonces, finalmente... En la primera fila un seor dijo: "Mmm". Es el mismo gesto que hace cuando llega a su casa despus de un largo da, apaga el motor del auto y dice, "Ah, estoy en casa". Porque todos sabemos cundo llegamos a casa. Esta es, pues, una pieza que llega de lejos a casa. Y voy a tocar todo el camino de nuevo y ustedes van a seguirlo. SI, DO, SI, DO, SI, DO, SI -- hasta LA, hasta SOL, hasta FA. Casi llega al MI, pero no porque la obra se acabara. Sube otra vez a SI. Se entusiasma. Va al FA agudo. Va a MI. No es el acorde justo. No es el acorde justo. No es el acorde justo. Y finalmente va al MI, y llega a casa. Y as vern tocar con un glteo. (Risas) Porque para poder unir al SI con el MI, Debo dejar de pensar en cada nota individual en el camino y pensar en la larga, larga lnea del SI al MI. Miren, estbamos en Sudfrica, y no se puede ir all sin pensar en Mandela en la crcel por 27 aos. En qu pensaba? El almuerzo? No, pensaba en la visin para Sudfrica y para los seres humanos. Eso lo mantuvo -- esto se refiere a esa visin; de eso se trata la larga lnea. Como el pjaro que vuela sobre el campo sin preocuparse por los cercos abajo, verdad? Entonces ahora van a seguir la lnea por todo el camino de SI a MI. Y tengo un ltimo pedido antes de tocar esta pieza completa. Podran pensar en alguien que adoran, que ya no est? Una abuela muy querida, un amante, alguien en sus vidas a quien amen con todo el corazn, pero esa persona ya no est con ustedes. Traigan esa persona a su mente y al mismo tiempo sigan la lnea por todo el camino de SI a MI, y oirn todo lo que Chopin tena para decir. (Msica) (Aplausos) Ahora, se preguntarn quizs, se preguntarn quizs por qu aplaudo. Bueno, hice esto en una escuela en Boston con unos 70 chicos de 12 aos. Hice exactamente lo mismo que con ustedes, y les dije y les expliqu y todo lo dems. Y al final, enloquecidos, aplaudieron. Aplaudan. Yo aplauda. Ellos aplaudan. Finalmente, dije, "Por qu aplaudo?" Y uno de los chicos dijo, "Porque estbamos escuchando". (Risas) Pinsenlo. 1.600 personas, personas ocupadas, que hacen miles de cosas distintas. Escuchando, entendiendo y emocionndose con una pieza de Chopin. Eso es un logro. Ahora, estoy seguro de que cada persona lo sigui, lo entendi y se emocion. Por supuesto, no puedo estar seguro. Pero les dir qu me pas a m. Estaba en Irlanda durante los Disturbios 10 aos atrs, y trabajaba con chicos catlicos y protestantes en resolucin de conflictos. Esto lo hice con ellos. Algo riesgoso de hacer porque eran chicos de la calle. Y uno de ellos vino a la maana siguiente y me dijo, "No haba escuchado msica clsica en toda mi vida, pero cuando toc esa pieza de "shopping" (Risas) Dijo, "A mi hermano lo mataron el ao pasado y no llor por l. Pero anoche, cuando toc esa pieza, yo pens en l. Y sent cmo me caan las lgrimas por la cara. Y realmente me hizo muy bien llorar por mi hermano". Por eso decid en ese momento que la msica clsica es para todos. Todos.

Benjamin Zander
Ahora, cmo caminaran -- porque miren, mi profesin, la profesin de la msica no se ve as. Dicen el 3 porciento de la poblacin ama la msica clsica. Si pudiramos subirlo al 4 porciento se acabaran nuestros problemas. Yo digo, "Cmo caminaran? Cmo hablaran? Cmo seran si pensaran que el 3 porciento de la poblacin gusta de la msica clsica? Si tan slo pudiramos llevarlo al 4 porciento. Cmo caminaran? Cmo hablaran? Cmo seran si pensaran que todos aman la msica clsica -- todava no lo han descubierto". (Risas) Se trata de mundos totalmente distintos. Tuve una experiencia increble. Tena 45 aos, llevaba 20 aos dirigiendo y de golpe tuve una revelacin. El director de una orquesta no emite sonido. Mi foto aparece en la tapa del CD -- (Risas) -- pero el director no emite un sonido. Su poder depende de su habilidad para hacer poderosos a otros. Y eso cambi todo para m. Fue decisivo en mi vida. Los de mi orquesta venan y me decan, "Ben, qu pas?" Esto es lo que pas. Descubr que mi tarea era despertar posibilidades en otros. Y por supuesto, quera saber si lo estaba haciendo. Y saben cmo se descubre? Mirndolos a los ojos. Si sus ojos estn brillando, sabes que lo ests logrando . Podras iluminar un pueblo con los ojos de ese tipo. (Risas) Cierto. Si los ojos brillan, sabes que lo ests logrando. Si los ojos no brillan, hay que hacer una pregunta. Y la pregunta es: Quin estoy siendo que los ojos de mis msicos no brillan? Podemos hacerlo con nuestros hijos tambin. Quin estoy siendo que los ojos de mis hijos no brillan? Es un mundo totalmente distinto. Estamos a punto de terminar esta semana mgica en la montaa, y vamos a volver al mundo. Y digo, es apropiado que nos hagamos la pregunta: Quines estamos siendo ahora que volvemos al mundo? Y, saben, yo tengo una definicin del xito. Para m es muy simple. No se trata de riqueza y fama y poder. Se trata de cuntos ojos brillantes hay a mi alrededor. Y ahora tengo una ltima reflexin, y es que realmente marca una diferencia aquello que decimos. Las palabras que salen de nuestra boca. Lo aprend de una mujer que sobrevivi a Auschwitz, una de las pocas sobrevivientes. Fue a Auschwitz cuando tena 15 aos, y el hermano tena ocho, y sus padres desaparecidos. Y me cont esto, me dijo, "bamos en el tren rumbo a Auschwitz y mir hacia abajo y vi que a mi hermano le faltaban los zapatos. Y le dije: "Eres tan tonto que ni siquiera puedes conservar tus cosas por el amor de Dios?" -- como cualquier hermana mayor puede hablarle a un hermano menor. Por desgracia, fue lo ltimo que le dijo porque no volvi a verlo nunca. l no sobrevivi. Y cuando sali de Auschwitz, hizo una promesa. Me dijo esto. Dijo: "Sal de Auschwitz a la vida e hice una promesa. Y la promesa fue, nunca dir nada que no pueda quedar como lo ltimo que dije". Podemos hacerlo? No. Y nos lastimaremos y lastimaremos. Pero es una posibilidad a adoptar en la vida. Gracias. (Aplausos) Ojos brillantes, ojos brillantes. Gracias, gracias. (Msica)