And then there are the cases like pianist and new UNC music Professor Thomas Otten, who began taking lessons when he was 10 years old and who, by age 17, won a national competition to play with the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Today, the California native is an acclaimed pianist who has won both national and international competitions and has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall and at music festivals across the United States and Germany.
His next concert will be Sunday in Hill Hall auditorium as part of the William S. Newman Artists Series.
"When I was around 10 years old, I got a toy xylophone," Otten said. "I would bash around on it forever, playing the same eight notes, and I eventually decided that it was very limiting. I wanted to take lessons to expand my range."
When he convinced his parents that his interest in the piano wasn't something that would vanish in six months, Otten had his first lesson with a German teacher and never looked back.
After moving back to the United States at the age of 13, Otten continued playing the piano throughout high school and graduated from the University of Maryland as a music major. He went on to graduate school at the University of Southern California.
It was while working as a teacher's assistant at USC that he discovered a second love -- teaching. "Applying to be a TA had been a kind of practical thing, but I really enjoyed doing it," Otten said. "Up until then I had been thinking, 'OK, I'll just be a performer,' but the truth is you can do both."
After graduate school, Otten continued to participate in competitions while based out of Los Angeles. He also held a variety of performing gigs, including traveling as a touring artist for the California Arts Council and as an artistic ambassador for the United States in the Caribbean in 1991. "In the real world you're probably not going to make a living playing concerts," he said. "The more things you can do the more marketable you are."
Otten spent the last five years as a music professor at Kent State University in Ohio, but the Midwest's cold weather didn't suit the self-proclaimed "California boy," and he began looking for positions in a warmer climate.
He said the UNC professorship post offered that warmer climate, along with other benefits, like an quality faculty and a nationally reputed music department.
Department of Music Chairman James Ketch said Otten was selected for the position from a pool of more than 100 applicants. "He's a very dedicated artist," Ketch said. "He's thoroughly engaged in the process of music-making and teaching music-making. We're thrilled to have him."
All of Otten's classes this year are applied instruction, meaning he works one-on-one with piano majors. Each day he brings into the studio both his tools as a teacher and his experiences as a professional pianist.
"I think students respond to you better when they know that you've walked the walk," he said. "I have great sympathy for my students when they are having problems because I've been challenged myself and continue to be."
In addition to teaching, Otten said, he will continue to give concerts like the upcoming performance in Hill Hall.
"I want to continue growing as a musician and a teacher," Otten said. "They're two very different things but both very rewarding. I feel that I have the best of both worlds."
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