Bryce Leafman â19 Wins SF Symphony Position
Alum will work alongside his SFCM mentors
By Karen Meurer Bacellar
Bryce Leafman (PSD â19) played his final audition for Esa-Pekka Salonen on a Thursday in late February, hoping to join the Ńîšóĺú´ŤĂ˝ Francisco Symphony this fall. Mere hours later, he sat in Davies Hall and watched the orchestraâincluding his mentors and SFCM Percussion Co-Chairs, Principal Timpanist Ed Stephan and Principal Percussionist Jacob Nisslyâperform Carl Nielsenâs Symphony No. 5. When the concert ended, Leafman got a text from Stephan that read, âCome backstage.â He immediately did, not knowing he would be offered the Assistant Timpanist/Section Percussion Player position and that his life was about to change.
A Life-Changing Chance Meeting
Leafman had another life-changing moment in spring 2015 when he first met Stephan. The acclaimed timpanist taught a master class at Leafmanâs college in Boston. Leafman was so impressed, he applied and was accepted into a masterâs program to study with Stephan in Pittsburgh. But he wasnât ready to leave Boston and decided to stay there for his masterâs degree.
However, Leafman didnât forget Stephan. The following year, he spent a few transformative months with him at Aspen Music Festival.
âAfter my first summer with Ed, I realized that if Iâm going to study anywhere after [Boston], itâs going to be with Ed Stephan,â recalls Leafman. âEd is the most compelling and thoughtful musician. He challenges his students to think about percussion and timpaniâmusic, in generalâin different ways.â
âNo one talks about music the way Ed [Stephan] does.â â Bryce Leafman â19
He elaborates, âNo one talks about music the way Ed does...and everything [he] does comes from a very emotional level. His above all mantra is, âWhat experience do you want your listener to have? What emotion do you want your audience to feel?â And that trickles down to tangible things we can do with timpani [to achieve this], like what stick choice are you using and where are you hitting the instrument...but it all starts with what emotion you want to elicit from the audience.â
Leafman connected with Stephanâs perspective because he too got into this industryâand loves playing in an orchestra, specificallyâto take people on a musical journey.
When Stephan became the Principal Timpanist at Ńîšóĺú´ŤĂ˝ Francisco Symphony and later joined SFCM, Leafman knew thatâs where he had to be.
An Impactful Year at SFCM
While at SFCM, Stephan, Nissly, and faculty member Jack Van Geem helped Leafman truly find himself as a musician.
âAfter six years of studying, I had put myself in the box of execution,â explains Leafman. âWhat was missing was what I described as a musical voice. [My time at SFCM] helped me cultivate that.â
He recalls his first mock audition with Nissly.
âThe first thing Jake said to me [after I finished playing] was, âYou made a lot of nice sounds. But everything you did was vanillaâmaybe, a little French vanilla,â he jokes. âHe said, âWhere was the mint chocolate chip? Where was the Neapolitan when there needed to be Neapolitan?â I was very one trackâI call it the execution mind. There was a lot of room for improvement in my expressivity. Ed and Jake identified that immediately and sent me off in that direction.â
Working with Van Geem also helped Leafman evolve as a musician. âIâd take a solo to Jack that Iâd been playing for six yearsâone where I thought, âIâve got this downââand he would still point things out that I hadnât even considered. Heâs just on such a next level.â
Reflecting on Leafmanâs time in the SFCM percussion department, Stephan says, âBryce is a classic example of that coveted kind of person who naturally exudes their human qualities through their music making. As a student, he had the kind of eagerness to grow that a teacher craves working withâand grow he did! As a person, he carries a positivity that cannot help but lift the spirits of those around him.â
Over the course of a year, Leafman saw the effects of his time at SFCM on the audition circuit: He won Principal Percussion at the Billings Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, and he was one of four finalists for a position with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
But there was still more growth to come before Ńîšóĺú´ŤĂ˝ Francisco came calling.
The Road to Ńîšóĺú´ŤĂ˝ Francisco Symphony
Before studying with Stephan, Leafman had focused primarily on percussion. But at his mentorâs suggestion, Leafman worked more on timpani. By the time he began practicing for the Assistant Timpanist/Section Percussion Player positionâonly a few handfuls of orchestras in America have this dual roleâLeafman felt uniquely suited for it. Still, it was a long audition process.
âIf you count the time I started preparing for the preliminary round, it was a seven-month process,â says Leafman. With incoming music director Salonen finishing up his contract in London, the only window for the finals was in February of this year. The preliminary and semi-final rounds took place in November 2019. Leafman advanced to the final rounds and spent months prepping. He even co-rented a studio and instruments with a friend, so he could spend the entirety of January and February leading up to the audition practicing.
Leafman was one of six finalists. At the end of the round, the director of personnel said that he and another candidate were chosen for a super final round with Salonen.
âUp until then, the curtain was up,â says Leafman. Stephan, Nissly, and Tom Hemphillâanother percussionist who has been with the symphony for 46 yearsâwere behind the screen, blind to who was performing. But in this round, the screen came down. Leafman and the other candidate got the chance to engage with Salonen and play with Stephan, Nissly, and Hemphill. Afterwards, both players were told they would advance to one more roundâan orchestra round.
âI had never done an orchestra round before. So I called every musician I knew who had and got their advice,â says Leafman.
On the day of the fifth round, Leafman felt ready, but it was still a daunting moment, a moment he calls, âan out-of-body experience.â The symphony had cut their rehearsals short to offer Leafman the chance to audition with them. He played excerpt after excerpt, only repeating something once, and it was over in less than ten minutes.
A Future with the Symphony
After his audition, Leafman strolled to his favorite coffee shop and through the park to unwind. Then, he found himself back at the symphony watching his mentors perform a work he had just played an excerpt from during his audition. The irony did not escape him. Neither did the feeling that the symphony was the right place to be.
When Leafman went backstage after receiving that summoning text message, Stephan and Nissly were still in their tails. They took him to the director of personnel, who asked what he thought of the concert. He sang the orchestraâs praises. Then, she popped the life-changing question, âHow would you feel about playing with this orchestra?â Stunned, it took him a moment before he replied, âIt would be a dream come true.â
By that time, Stephan and Nissly were already in the room congratulating him, and the rest of the musicians were crowding outside waiting to welcome him to the family.
Reflecting on Leafman joining the orchestra, Stephan says, â[Bryce] is most certainly going to become a vital piece of the SFSâs ever-enduring polish and charisma. We could not be prouder of him, and of the work that his success is a reflection of in the SFCM percussion department.â
Find your mentors at SFCM.