Photo Courtesy of Shamser Dhanoa
South Orange resident Martin Steinberg plays his cello in the South Mountain Reservation.
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — When he moved to South Orange 31 years ago, Martin Steinberg was a journalist on the rise, working out of the Associated Press’ New York bureau with an eye on becoming a foreign correspondent. But as much as he relished the idea of reporting from overseas, he loved his family more, which is why he decided to put down roots in New Jersey.
In return, Steinberg said his family helped him rediscover something he cherishes to this day — his passion for music.
“I went to music lessons with my daughter Emily, so she was playing the violin and I was playing the violin,” Steinberg told the News-Record in a March 12 phone interview. “And then, for a surprise birthday present, my wife Wilma and my daughter Emily and my son Ari decided to get my cello fixed.
“So we gave our daughter the gift of music and my son, who played the clarinet and is growing up on the piano, and on the other hand they gave it back to me,” he said.
Steinberg said he had hardly picked up the cello since entering college, but once the repaired instrument was given to him nearly 25 years ago he started playing as if little time had passed. And though he still works in journalism as a copyeditor, today his free time is dedicated almost entirely to giving music lessons out of his South Orange home and performing in venues as prestigious as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.
On March 21 he will perform his latest show, “Russian Nights, Romantic Nocturnes,” with pianist Karen Delavan in the Watchung Arts Center at 8 p.m.
For “Russian Nights, Romantic Nocturnes,” Steinberg will be playing both iconic and lesser-known romantic pieces from Tchaikovsky, Arensky, Glazunov, Borodin and Rachmaninoff that he said he hopes classical music aficionados will appreciate. At the same time, he said one does not have to be an orchestral fan to enjoy his concert.
“One of the things that I like to do, and I hope this concert will help it, is to make classical music more approachable to ordinary people,” Steinberg said. “It is not as intimidating as it seems to be.”
Indeed, Steinberg encourages any chamber music novices to listen to a piece three times so they can get to know it. By doing so, he said the music will enter their souls and become “haunting” to them. What gives classical music the power to resonate so emotionally with listeners cannot be explained, he said. It simply has to be felt.
“They are sweeping melodies that transport you to another level,” Steinberg said, describing what makes his upcoming concert pieces romantic. “It will really just turn you on so much. It is mystical, really.”
And Steinberg should know better than most about the power of orchestral music, having fostered an interest of it in numerous students since he started giving lessons in 1995. In fact, he called classical music one of the most “joyous” things in the world, with an ability to make performers feel as good playing it as audiences feel listening to it. That is why he said teaching has always been rewarding to him.
Just as rewarding to him is the experience performing as part of an orchestra. Through the years Steinberg has been a part of a few chamber groups, including his current position as principal cellist with the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra. He said he has found performing with others in that time, especially in smaller ensembles, to be a fun, collaborative experience.
“It is sort of like playing on a team,” Steinberg said. “Everybody chips in and does their share, and it all comes together. It is an amazing thing that that could happen. It is like fitting pieces of a very sophisticated jigsaw puzzle together and creating this amazing patchwork quilt of beauty.”
It is also an experience that can be had at any age, Steinberg said. He himself had started a family and blossoming career before he got back to playing the cello, yet in the years since he has performed countless shows and even started Romanza Music, his award-winning chamber music group that plays at private parties. He urged anyone interested to pick up an instrument and follow their dreams.
Steinberg did, and with his own concert at the Watchung Arts Center on the horizon, he said he is proud of what he has been able to achieve.
“The level that I have reached now, I never really dreamed of doing that,” Steinberg said. “I always loved music, but I never thought I would be able to play some pretty sophisticated concertos.
“The overall accomplishment is just the fact that I have been able to do it and the fact that I love it so much,” he said.
The Saturday, March 21, concert will begin at 8 p.m. at the Watchung Arts Center, 18 Stirling Road, Watchung. A dessert reception will follow the performance. For ticket information, contact the Watchung Arts Center at 908-753-0190 or at www.watchungarts.org.