USC Trojan Family Magazine - Winter 1998: The Lipsett Proteges: Sheryl Staples '91

SHERYL STAPLES is the odd classical musician who balances a solo career with a career as an orchestral musician. She has performed as a soloist with over 40 orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra and the San Diego Symphony. And this fall, at 29, she became principal associate concertmaster with the New York Philharmonic, after serving for two years as associate concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra.
A native of Los Angeles, she began studying with Robert Lipsett as a 9-year-old. From the beginning, she and her mother both recognized something special in Lipsett, she says. “He knows just how far to push a student. He has to ability to push you to your limit but not beyond.” Lipsett never tries to shape his students with the same cookie cutter, she adds, recalling a dual performance of a Saint-Saëns piece by herself and fellow student Robert Chen, both of them teenagers at the time. “Robert was much more of a virtuoso at that age, and I was a bit more of a thoughtful player,” she says. “People couldn’t believe how differently we played it. Mr. Lipsett helped each one of us develop an interpretation.”




			SHERYL STAPLES is the odd classical musician who balances a solo career with a career as an orchestral musician. She has performed as a soloist with over 40 orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra and the San Diego Symphony. And this fall, at 29, she became principal associate concertmaster with the New York Philharmonic, after serving for two years as associate concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra. A native of Los Angeles, she began studying with Robert Lipsett as a 9-year-old. From the beginning, she and her mother both recognized something special in Lipsett, she says. “He knows just how far to push a student. He has to ability to push you to your limit but not beyond.” Lipsett never tries to shape his students with the same cookie cutter, she adds, recalling a dual performance of a Saint-Saëns piece by herself and fellow student Robert Chen, both of them teenagers at the time. “Robert was much more of a virtuoso at that age, and I was a bit more of a thoughtful player,” she says. “People couldn’t believe how differently we played it. Mr. Lipsett helped each one of us develop an interpretation.”
Related Stories Jennie Choi '99 Elisa Barston '91 Elizabeth Pitcairn '97 Sheryl Staples '91 Main Story: Robert Lipsett: Apotheosis of the Violin Related Links

	Photograph by Debra DiPaolo
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