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Five questions with Philip Hill

Philip Hill is the new principal bassoon of the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale and bassoonist of West Texas Winds. 

Philip Hill is the new principal bassoon of the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale and bassoonist of West Texas Winds. 

Courtesy photo

Philip Hill is the new principal bassoon of the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale and bassoonist of West Texas Winds. Philip recently finished his master’s degree in music performance at the University of Arizona. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music education at East Carolina University, which is close to his hometown of Chesapeake, Virginia. His family ties remain in the Washington, D.C., area. Besides his musical career, he enjoys soccer, cooking, podcasts and working out. 

Hill can next be seen on Oct. 7 with the MOSC performing “A Symphonic Night at the Movies” Oz with Orchestra at the  Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center. Visit MOSC.org for tickets.

 

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MRT: What’s been your proudest achievement in the arts/music?

Hill: My proudest is also my most humbling achievement, and that is winning this position with MOSC and West Texas Winds. As a young classical musician in the 21st century who did not go to any conservatory, I am very fortunate to have won this position. Not many people my age, let alone musicians, can say they earned all their degrees in the amount of time projected and immediately won a position in their own career field. I am humbled to be a part of this musical scene at such an early stage of my career. 

 

MRT: What would you say is your best quality and why?

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Hill: My ability to relate to people, see their perspectives regardless of whether it conflicts with my morals and make an adaptation if I have to. This is a quality in me that I realized needed work a few years ago. I used to be very stubborn to the point that I didn’t value my peers’ musical ideas. I quickly realized this would hold me back from being a reasonable and rational musician. 

In performing arts there is so much to coordinate between people and their varying ideas that it does not leave much time for us to be at odds with our opinions. Although a healthy debate every now and then and diversity is good for the mind, it is important that we all come together to achieve the same goal, which is performing great music by great composers. 

 

MRT: What is the best thing you cook?

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Hill: I’m not sure if I have a “best thing,” but I always look forward to making oven-baked salmon. Cooking is one of my favorite necessities and leisures. My kitchen creations range from raw salads (with as many different kinds of vegetables as possible) to omelets to whatever great-looking cut of meat was at the store that week. 

 

MRT: Your not-so-secret indulgence.

Hill: Listening to podcasts. Indulge is an understatement when it comes to the amount of time I spend listening to podcasts, and my family and friends know good and well about this, so it is far from a secret. They probably could not count how frequently I start a sentence with “so I was listening to this podcast the other day, and...” Podcasting is a great medium for sharing ideas because of its lack of censorship. Excessive censorship and suppression of ideas has become a big problem in modern media, but podcasts may be a hidden solution for this. 

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MRT: What book do you always recommend?

Hill: I often recommend people read “The Power of Posture” by Naudi Aguilar. Naudi Aguilar is the CEO and founder of Functional Patterns, a holistic movement and training program. They argue that they are the most progressive training program in the world, and their results shown on their website and social media prove that. Their philosophy on health prioritizes posture and the way a person moves, the way they breathe, and addresses any stressors they deal with. Only after this do they incorporate exercise, but this exercise respects the way a human is naturally designed to move. His book outlines the muscles that should be active or relaxed to help facilitate a better functioning body and lower stress. 

 

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