00;00;10;09 - 00;00;34;08
Rob Lee
Welcome to the truth in this art. I'm your host, Rob Lee. Thanks for listening. And please continue to share, subscribe, review and let folks know about this great podcast. Today I'm in conversation with a violinist instructor and conductor from Richmond, Virginia. They are also the music director of the Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Please welcome Naima Barras.
00;00;34;20 - 00;00;36;22
Naima Burrs
Thank you so much, Rob. Thanks for having me.
00;00;37;03 - 00;00;44;26
Rob Lee
Thanks for coming on. Attention to detail is just perfect. Ten. Sometimes I'll just go on autopilot.
00;00;45;28 - 00;00;46;19
Naima Burrs
So good.
00;00;47;07 - 00;01;07;15
Rob Lee
So again, thank you for coming on. And this is is a treat to kind of step out outside of this kind of like I not talked to like visual artists and how to talk to radio people. Well, when you start getting into like classical music and people who actually have like refinement and culture in. Oh, okay. Yeah. I feel like I need to put a tie on right now.
00;01;07;18 - 00;01;26;14
Rob Lee
Oh, come on. I mean, you're over there with them, with their blazer and everything. Shout out to you. So before we get too, too deep into it, I want to get the story. What is the name of our story? You know, start off. Give us give us something where, you know, where did you grow up? What inspired you to pursue music?
00;01;26;14 - 00;01;29;19
Rob Lee
Earliest music experience, things of that nature. Okay.
00;01;30;05 - 00;01;55;08
Naima Burrs
Yeah. So you mentioned I'm from Richmond, Virginia. I grew up in, I guess I should say, in the public school system. So I started violin when I was in the fourth grade in elementary school. But I think my music, my earliest kind of exposure to music would definitely be through my mom, who is an opera singer, a soprano and a college professor as well.
00;01;55;09 - 00;02;22;19
Naima Burrs
So all of us, my siblings and I grew up going to rehearsals and hearing lessons and, you know, she definitely encouraged and influenced us kind of on our musical paths. Although my oldest brother is a lawyer, so he did some music things and then he is like mass on the. My younger brother is a jazz guitarist and a cool up and coming band as well.
00;02;22;19 - 00;02;48;15
Naima Burrs
So we definitely were influenced by my mom. My dad loved music and always encouraged it, but he wasn't an actual musician himself. So yeah, I grew up doing violin, started that. I started piano before violin. I just didn't like it at all. And I now today wish that I continued, especially as a conductor, because you need to do a little bit of that.
00;02;48;15 - 00;03;23;26
Naima Burrs
But violin really caught my eye and I always say, you know, it's really kind of a sign of how important public school music education is and the access for kids. Because, as I said, I grew up with my mother singing and I grew up going to orchestra rehearsals and, you know, opera rehearsals and all of these things. But it wasn't really until the violin was right in front of me when the string quartet from the symphony of our town, Richmond Symphony, came and visited the schools and shared with us the instruments of the string quartet.
00;03;24;03 - 00;03;47;16
Naima Burrs
And, you know, being around it all the time, for some reason, still the string quartet coming made it feel so much more tangible, like, I can actually do that. Like I was. This really close to it and it was geared towards me appreciating it in me having access to it. So as soon as I heard the violin, I really remember going home like, Mom, I want to play the violin.
00;03;48;16 - 00;04;09;18
Naima Burrs
I mean, she was ecstatic, of course, like, of course she wanted me to do that. So that's really where it started. And just having that experience from these professional musicians coming into the school and just introducing it to us in a way that was casual, but intimate in a way that we felt as though we could actually be a part of that.
00;04;11;12 - 00;04;38;00
Naima Burrs
I did. I kind of resisted a bit going into the music thing. I did it, you know, all through high school. But up until senior year, like, I was pretty good at math. I was always ahead in math and I thought I was going to be an engineer and that's what I was going to do. And I had a conversation with my orchestra teacher at high school, at the high school I went to at the time, mathematics governor school, regional governor school and Petersburg here.
00;04;39;06 - 00;04;57;18
Naima Burrs
And she mentioned we had a talk about, you know, it was at the end of senior year, we kind of had a talk about our plans, future plans, what we're going to do. And, you know, she asked me a bit, where are you? You know what are you going to do and go to college? I said, I'm an engineer, like I'm doing this.
00;04;57;18 - 00;05;18;13
Naima Burrs
And she, you know, she's just like, wait, hold on a second. And, you know, I remember this conversation with her was so, you know, meaningful at the time. But in retrospect, when you when you think about your mentors and you think about those moments, that really meant something to you as you're trying to mentor people and, you know, give them information that will help them.
00;05;19;15 - 00;05;39;00
Naima Burrs
She mentioned something to me that, you know, some people are artists and they have something that's very special to share with the world and they have a way of connecting with people. And it's kind of a talent and it's something that you should really hold close to you. So it's okay if you're passionate about being an engineer, if that's what your passion is.
00;05;39;12 - 00;06;05;25
Naima Burrs
It's not just that you want to make a lot of money, right? Are you passionate about doing that or are you afraid to be passionate about this thing that you know, that you have, you know, a deep calling for sure. And I remember leaving that meeting with her and I was like, I'm going to music school, okay? It was like a transformative conversation because, you know, my mom is a professional musician and just naturally as a teenager, you're kind of like, I don't know.
00;06;05;27 - 00;06;25;28
Naima Burrs
Like, I don't know if I want to do that because you already do that. And it's just but she kind of opened it up for me in a way that if you if you're passionate about this, don't be afraid of pursuing it, kind of. And so I ended up going to undergrad for violin, and I went on later to do my master's in violin as well.
00;06;25;28 - 00;07;04;01
Naima Burrs
And I will and always had an interest in conducting. So I had a wonderful first of all, in middle school, had an amazing conductor who was our strings teacher, an African-American woman, Kristi Jo Robinson, Miss Adams, now Christy Jo Adams and an incredible violinist, incredible conductor. And I was just so inspired by her, went to college, had an amazing mentor and conductor, a few days of music and Aaron Freeman in my time in undergrad, then Rebecca Burkhart out in Iowa.
00;07;04;01 - 00;07;31;23
Naima Burrs
So I had these teachers that I was focusing on violin, but I was always really inspired by my relationships and mentorship from these conductors that I had and did some studying there. So I just kind of decided to go for it, but I wanted to do my doctorate. It's like there's no better time than now, really. And my teacher at Catholic really took a chance because I had no deep conducting experience besides some courses.
00;07;32;17 - 00;07;54;27
Naima Burrs
But he, you know, I had a couple of videos and he thought that, you know, maybe I might be able to do something with it. So he said, yes, well, you know, let's get you started here. And that's kind of the short story of how I've kind of gotten to where, you know what I'm doing now. But a lot of layers there for sure.
00;07;55;24 - 00;08;16;29
Rob Lee
Some people there, their story is like an onion. Some is like a croissant or pleasant croissant. Yeah. You know, just layers. Just layers. Delicious, you know, butter layers. And and and I like one of the things that you said early on, you know, that you share that and thank you for sharing like that abbreviated abridged version of the story.
00;08;17;16 - 00;08;39;15
Rob Lee
But it's definitely that access piece. That's that's the thing that sticks out to me where I remember and I joke about it like, like I'm self-taught in this lane, you know, doing podcasting for 13 years. It's not like I had someone, I had people that I listen to, but it was kind of like, all right, what are the other things that I can compare this to?
00;08;39;15 - 00;09;05;01
Rob Lee
Public speaking, storytelling and crafting a show, presenting things of that nature. And now they're they're a thing. And I'm a person that's like trying to help people get their thing off and tell their stories and such. And one of the things that comes to mind is years ago, I just remember doing like as I joke about 4 hours of free radio and, and it was at a high school.
00;09;05;08 - 00;09;29;14
Rob Lee
And the purpose of it was showing, you know, the, the young folks that they had chosen that were they were coming through to see someone that's tangible, that's in a studio, no locked doors. And it's like, yo, I could I could do that. That's that was the point of it. And and I'm just like not recognizing that at the time, but seeing it now and kind of retrospect was like, Oh, no, no, no.
00;09;29;14 - 00;09;51;06
Rob Lee
Maybe a few podcasters, maybe a few people in radio kind of grew out of that. And, you know, speaking with folks afterwards who are in the industry, it's like, wow, you really have great breath control and just give me all of these technical things that is self-taught. You know? And you know, that thing that you touched on about having that access and having like the violin's right there, you know, and just seeing it and it's approachable.
00;09;51;06 - 00;09;54;08
Rob Lee
That's that's really cool, really powerful for sure.
00;09;54;08 - 00;10;19;09
Naima Burrs
It's right there. And yeah, I mean, 100%. And I think about so many kids that I mean, I grew up in a musical household. I grew up with a mom was that's her best to profession. I mean, like I said, I went to all these things, but it just shows you how important it is for us to kind of take it out of that kind of formal setting and to really just bring it to you for the purpose of showing you the kids like this is for you.
00;10;19;09 - 00;10;43;19
Naima Burrs
It's not. You're just kind of observing what's happening. But like, look at this, you're right here. You can touch it. You can you can feel it. You can hear it close on the vibrations, like you're right here in the room with it for the purpose of us sharing it really with you. And so I think of kids who don't have the experience of going to rehearsals from the age of three and whatever, tagging along with their mother.
00;10;43;19 - 00;10;57;04
Naima Burrs
You know that it's show. I mean, it's so important there and it's so important for someone who did, you know, was able to kind of go to rehearsals or whatever. It really the access is just important all around 100%.
00;10;58;00 - 00;11;22;10
Rob Lee
So it kind of is a natural segway to to this part of towards the end, we're talking about the conductor portion of before we go back in. So tell me about what is it about your personality that meshes so well with being a conductor? And yeah, so that's that's a thing I want to know have you because you know like people confuse me regular it's like oh you're definitely a Type A personality.
00;11;22;10 - 00;11;29;16
Rob Lee
Oh, you're so outgoing. I was like, I'm shy and weird and I look for places to hide in public spaces.
00;11;29;16 - 00;11;55;24
Naima Burrs
That's a good question. You know, I when it comes to music and this, I love the attention to detail. So I love picking things apart and putting them together. But I think most of all and for what I and the reason I enjoy it so much is just kind of the sense of community and everybody coming together to kind of work together to create this whole whatever it is.
00;11;55;24 - 00;12;14;25
Naima Burrs
Right. And whatever type of ensemble you're working with this community group group. It's a professional group. We're starting from where you where you are, whatever the group stars it and finding a way to improve it, to make it better, to make it the best that it can be. And so finding out was a piece of rehearsal for last week.
00;12;14;26 - 00;12;38;25
Naima Burrs
Petersburg Symphony, my principal bassoon came up to me. It's like, it's so wonderful that you are a patient person. And I said, Oh, what do you mean? It's like you are a patient, patient, patient. And I'm like, okay, like I take it, I take it 100% because, you know, I mean, that's part of it as well. Like having the personality where you want to work with people.
00;12;39;02 - 00;12;59;25
Naima Burrs
And it's not that you want to be a dictator. You want to just tell people how it's done. And this is my way and this is it's really coming in. And so many of my mentors that I look up to, really, you have, you know, trying to explain kind of what's important about conducting is finding a way to make people perform in the best way that they can.
00;12;59;25 - 00;13;28;12
Naima Burrs
And that's by having them feel comfortable to be, you know, comfortable to perform, comfortable to play their instruments and to produce the best sounds possible. And really just allowing that to happen and kind of bridging between sections and making sure that you're connecting people and kind of being that that person and in between. So I think I hope that that's kind of what I do with the ensembles that I work with because that's what I enjoy the most about it.
00;13;29;04 - 00;13;50;23
Rob Lee
So process, I don't even know how this even applies. But so just describe like your current process like any part, because you like to pull things apart, like things are falling into the details. So what is that current process for getting into the mindset of of making or conducting music? Let's let's talk about that a bit.
00;13;51;08 - 00;14;23;03
Naima Burrs
There's a lot that goes into so it's so interesting as a conductor versus a violinist because I still do a good deal of ironing and have students here that I teach violin and such. And, you know, the way in which we approach music as musicians is always really, like I said, kind of picking apart, figuring out the elements and what it's made up of, learning the historical parts, you know, where the composers from, what their influences are, where were they in their life when they wrote this specific thing?
00;14;23;03 - 00;14;56;12
Naima Burrs
Where were they in the world when they wrote this specific thing? Like just getting as much information as possible, which is something I teach the conducting students to really delve into the music and figure that stuff out too, so that your interpretation is informed by that. But also, you know, the violin students as well. But I think with conducting because we're standing in front of an ensemble and needing to know what everyone's doing at any given time, like the amount of analysis to understand the score beyond the historical side, right?
00;14;56;12 - 00;15;32;28
Naima Burrs
But just understanding like the form, you know as well as like queuing analysis, like entrances of whoever is playing and what time as well as like harmonic analysis, knowing the chords and knowing the way in which the piece is shaped that way. So many analyzes and so much time goes into understanding a score, and it's kind of one thing that can make it a little bit daunting, but that I like that my current teacher really kind of helps that when we're, you know, you're younger in the conducting world and you're studying and you're trying to just figure things out.
00;15;33;17 - 00;15;55;26
Naima Burrs
One thing is that he always reminds us is that it's kind of a lifelong quest. So things that you find in a score when you return to it, because most of the time you're playing repertoire, you're going to repeat it throughout your career. When you return to it, you'll find different things, right? So it's layers of experience that come when you return to something.
00;15;55;26 - 00;16;28;12
Naima Burrs
So you do your analysis and all of that. The phrase structure and all of those things probably won't change that much, though. Maybe you'll come up with some cool idea that you might approach or use when you're returning to it. But I think just the idea that it's always kind of going to be this layered experience. And my other teacher was talking about the fact that if you return to a score and you don't think, you know, five years later you return to a scoring, you don't think your markings are weird, like, why would you do that?
00;16;28;23 - 00;16;59;06
Naima Burrs
You know, then you haven't really developed much, right? You should always be evolving and always thinking like, Oh, would it do that there? That's funny. This is how I would do it, right? To show your growth, to show that, you know, your your opinion and your view of things is constantly changing. So, you know, I think that what we do with the scores in the moment, there's certain analysis that we do as conductors all the time just to know what's going on, to make sure when someone asks the question, you have the answer, all of that.
00;17;00;05 - 00;17;11;14
Naima Burrs
But I think there's also the larger scale of analysis that kind of happens in layers kind of in your lifetime or of your lifetime that makes it that makes it really interesting.
00;17;12;09 - 00;17;36;24
Rob Lee
That actually just created a new question I'm going to write down for a little later. But it caught my eye. It caught my attention. I'm always I'm always editing. I tell people whenever I'm looking down or looking away, it's like I'm being pensive. I'm in it. So I want to I want to get this one from you. I like hearing about kind of uncommon influences that make a person better at what they do.
00;17;36;24 - 00;17;53;15
Rob Lee
So like I've talked to people say, yeah, you know, I approach guitar and it makes me a better chef. I'm like, Sure, let's talk about that. That's really interesting. So do you have any, like, uncommon influences that make you a better, better violinist? I like that. That's the way it is. Or conductor. You tell me about that.
00;17;54;02 - 00;18;19;12
Naima Burrs
Um, I mean, I guess so. I think that's a really good question. Certain interests, I think, can help kind of inform us. I think one one that might be something that kind of can be a little bit related or not related but can kind of help. Is I'm obsessed with tennis and have been for a really long time.
00;18;19;12 - 00;18;45;04
Naima Burrs
And the idea there's this book called The Inner Game of Tennis and the idea of how much our minds kind of affect what we're doing and how much kind of our mental space in the way in which we think about things is really can make or break what we do. And I think that idea of, you know, being a tennis player versus being like a basketball player or you're on a team, right?
00;18;45;04 - 00;19;07;09
Naima Burrs
And everyone has a position and as a tennis player like, you know, is you like a you might have a doubles partner, right, or whatever, but if you're playing singles, what, what happens and what kind of affects the way in which the game turns out is really kind of focused on what you put out and how you kind of approach the game.
00;19;07;09 - 00;19;33;09
Naima Burrs
So this mindset and I don't get to play much now, but in high school, like very much so, I found that they were very closely related and I was doing violin and doing tennis heavily, like competing and doing a lot with violin in high school and just being able to go back and forth between the two. I didn't realize until a little later in life when my teacher recommended this book that, Oh, these are so closely, closely related.
00;19;34;04 - 00;19;46;10
Naima Burrs
And really just the way in which we think about ourselves and think about what we want to do and manifest kind of the lives that we want, I think is very much in line with with both of those. So maybe that.
00;19;46;27 - 00;20;09;05
Rob Lee
That's a very interesting observation and comparison. I like it. I like it in this this this aligns to, I think, a bit where you were talking about when you returned to music that you've done in the past and kind of seeing what they'd growth looks like some read that music whether it's classical even or even popular music is a time capsule or setting or setting of a mood.
00;20;10;07 - 00;20;14;19
Rob Lee
What does music represent to you? Hard hitting questions. Always hard hitting questions like.
00;20;14;19 - 00;20;33;29
Naima Burrs
These are these are things I want to think about probably forever. But it depends. That's a loaded question. It's something we talk about, though, like I teach music appreciation here at Virginia State as well, and approaching music, I guess in a way where we have this one assignment that we do where we're dealing with the elements of music.
00;20;33;29 - 00;20;51;28
Naima Burrs
So I'm teaching the kids like This is what rhythm is, this is meter, this is melody, this is harmony. Just basic, basic elements of music, literally foundational things. So that when we go through the time periods, we're able to hear the melody. And then what is that like? Now when we go to classical period, what's the melody like?
00;20;51;28 - 00;21;11;26
Naima Burrs
How do we compare them? And we kind of progress through time though, right? And I think part of what we talk about there is really music is no matter what the time period really is, probably what you're getting at too is music is always an art in general, is really a reflection of the time in which it's created, right?
00;21;12;00 - 00;21;33;16
Naima Burrs
So what people were doing in the Baroque period, the music suits their activities and the things that they're doing, they're in that time, right? Versus fast forward to now where we have lyricists and rappers and musicians and artists who are speaking about social awareness and racial issues and all of this. Right. It's a reflection of what we're what we're going through.
00;21;33;24 - 00;21;53;18
Naima Burrs
And I think finding a way one of the hardest things kind of is finding a bridge to make the music from a long time ago really relevant to the time in which where we're living now so that we're not having to, like, not do that and use it, but we're finding a way in which it can be relevant now.
00;21;53;18 - 00;22;24;26
Naima Burrs
So music, I mean, music represents and represents so much and represents for me an escape. It represents a challenge. It represents just love and appreciation. It represents so many of anything for me. I mean livelihood. It represents, you know, community. And it I mean, I could I could never label it as as one thing, but it represents a lot a lot of different things.
00;22;24;26 - 00;22;52;22
Naima Burrs
And being able to work with current musicians of the current time and to be able to study some music and learn about composers of the current time and how they approach music and how they're creating art to represent, you know, the times in which we're living now is, is even more, even more enjoyable and a real treat. So yeah, a lot, a lot of different things.
00;22;52;22 - 00;22;53;18
Naima Burrs
I think for me.
00;22;54;01 - 00;22;54;26
Rob Lee
I appreciate that.
00;22;55;15 - 00;22;55;26
Naima Burrs
Yeah.
00;22;56;11 - 00;23;21;02
Rob Lee
So this is the last real question is a two part question though, right? So imagine yourself in like let's say three years or what have you. What do you hope to be different about how you go about your work, your work as a conductor, your work as an artist, as a musician? And with that, what is the arc actually for for a conductor?
00;23;21;02 - 00;23;31;20
Rob Lee
Like what does that look like? Is it like two years and you move like where ultimately like where is like where is Naima at at the in that three year period?
00;23;31;20 - 00;24;10;08
Naima Burrs
That's a good question. But yeah, I mean, that's a that's a great question. First off, hopefully there's a lot of things that we're doing at Virginia State, you know, forming different programs and like, you know, really kind of refining things a new vision for the piece. So I'm new at U of are as conductor there so hopefully in a few years kind of seeing some of the fruits of the labor of really going hard and really kind of new direction in many different things.
00;24;10;14 - 00;24;35;26
Naima Burrs
Yeah, because right now it's like the grind of like a change of pace and really just like changing things completely around everywhere. So my world right now is very like, oh, like a lot of new beginnings at once. So hopefully the idea of being able to kind of settle in and say cool, we've created an amazing foundation and now we're both global.
00;24;35;26 - 00;25;01;15
Naima Burrs
Also, there's kind of there's kind of weird age things with conductors, like I think like 35 for many competitions and things is kind of the cutoff age. So in three years, hopefully I've done some competitions cause I'm 32. Beyond that, the arc of a conductor, I think it varies depending on what you want to do. Sure, I would love to be.
00;25;02;03 - 00;25;30;25
Naima Burrs
There's a lot that comes with being a music director in terms of board meetings and administrative things and you know, just a lot of that. And then as a guest conductor, there's there are other things, but being able to travel and work with an orchestra and leave that orchestra and go to another orchestra and being able to return if you're enjoyed or if you create a relationship like that, be able to see the world and work with ensembles of different cultures and all around.
00;25;31;16 - 00;26;17;16
Naima Burrs
I hope that that, you know, and three years I'll be doing some of that as well. So I don't know. For me, I'm a Gemini. So having take whatever you want from it, having I don't know how else to say, but having different experiences to kind of create one life is exciting for me. So it's not that I just want to just teach or it's not that I just want to music director or whatever, but being able to kind of create a life of things that I'm passionate about and kind of pastiche ing these things together, I think is the ultimate goal for me in just as many experiences, good experiences as possible.
00;26;17;16 - 00;26;23;08
Rob Lee
Thank you. So that's I, you know, as a fellow air sign, you know.
00;26;23;28 - 00;26;24;12
Naima Burrs
Thank you.
00;26;24;17 - 00;26;25;05
Rob Lee
Aquarius.
00;26;25;05 - 00;26;27;02
Naima Burrs
I get it. Okay. Okay.
00;26;27;02 - 00;26;35;02
Rob Lee
My brother's a Gemini. My brother's a Gemini as I am around the corner. Yeah, I guess that's. That's actually what I say. It's like, yeah, you get it, it's fine. You get.
00;26;35;02 - 00;26;36;21
Naima Burrs
It. Exactly.
00;26;36;21 - 00;26;48;04
Rob Lee
So I got, um, I got a couple rapid fire questions for you and. Yeah, please, please, I'm going to do the same thing. Going to do the same thing. You got to be part, you know, it's like, hydrate.
00;26;49;02 - 00;26;49;26
Naima Burrs
All right? Okay.
00;26;51;12 - 00;26;55;08
Rob Lee
Yeah. I don't know what this is. Some reverse eye on water is fine. It's the same thing.
00;26;55;20 - 00;26;56;07
Naima Burrs
That's saying.
00;26;57;05 - 00;26;59;28
Rob Lee
All right, so let's see. I've got five for you.
00;27;00;14 - 00;27;01;02
Naima Burrs
All right.
00;27;02;02 - 00;27;08;26
Rob Lee
Let's see. I'm going to save that one. I'll just say the music question for last. What's the last gift you received?
00;27;10;03 - 00;27;11;03
Naima Burrs
Last gift?
00;27;11;10 - 00;27;12;25
Rob Lee
Yes. Oh.
00;27;14;03 - 00;27;42;01
Naima Burrs
Oh. My percussionist for peace. Oh, made me a quilt. And it is so beautiful. She apparently is a quilt maker. She's made thousands of quilt, had no idea. It's sitting over here. It's all these beautiful musical instruments. It's orange on the inside. And she surprised me for kind of a late birthday present. But I think that is the last.
00;27;42;06 - 00;27;44;18
Naima Burrs
The last present. I've got it. Yes.
00;27;44;18 - 00;27;45;29
Rob Lee
That's really cool. That's really cool.
00;27;45;29 - 00;27;46;29
Naima Burrs
Really cool. Yeah.
00;27;47;10 - 00;28;19;16
Rob Lee
The last gift I received was this conversation. Oh, yeah. So after after a big performance of the concert, what have you won? Is the post-performance activity. What do you do that's regenerative? I would imagine it's a lot of energy being being expelled. I know when I get on stage and I'm just talking, act like I know something. I'm like I'm just a husk of a person afterwards.
00;28;19;26 - 00;28;24;01
Rob Lee
So what is the regenerative activity for you, man?
00;28;24;01 - 00;28;34;19
Naima Burrs
It's so interesting because, you know, after a big performance or something, I'm I'm exhausted, but I'm I'm I'm gone like the adrenaline.
00;28;34;19 - 00;28;35;19
Rob Lee
I don't know what it is.
00;28;35;19 - 00;28;58;19
Naima Burrs
And so it's really the next day that I'm like, right. But the same night of a performance, it's like, you know, I want to be around friends. I want to be around them. I want to talk to people that were there and hang out and, you know, grab a drink and just enjoy kind of that space because it's it's always a, you know, because, well, generally it's a a release.
00;28;58;19 - 00;29;35;05
Naima Burrs
Like it's, you know, so much work has been put into it and it's like this moment of wow. And then after it's kind of a bummer if you're just like, all right, oh yeah. I hope to always feel. And I don't I mean, I know there are conductors and people who I mean, they're performing every night. And it's just I hope to always feel a sense of like, wow, like, you know, after performances, I hope I never, never lose that because I think it's really a special feeling and it's something that's so specific to being an artist, like being able to see the product of the hard work and the, you know, just the energy
00;29;35;05 - 00;29;59;28
Naima Burrs
that you put into something. So for me, I like to to talk to people and hang out the next day. It's definitely let's go for a walk. Let's be honest, be a little silent. Let's go enjoy nature. And nature is always my go to. So we have a ton of trails in Virginia, so just enjoying the state parks and enjoying the river and those types of things just to kind of reboot.
00;30;00;09 - 00;30;13;26
Naima Burrs
And oftentimes like not listening to music and if I am listening to music, it's like not the music that I'm conducting or working on is definitely going to be different type of music 100%. So yeah.
00;30;14;15 - 00;30;29;00
Rob Lee
What is one of your nicknames? Ima Mine's Rob, which is really lacking bro. It's no work was done. It was just like, Yo, there's three letters, here's the first three. Enjoy.
00;30;29;20 - 00;30;37;29
Naima Burrs
I love it. I think my brother created that Ima and my grandma and my dad will call me AME. So Ima, our team is usually one of them.
00;30;38;16 - 00;30;41;01
Rob Lee
Hidden talent. Do you have a hidden talent?
00;30;41;01 - 00;30;54;28
Naima Burrs
Kim You know, I love to cook and so my family comes to me for that a lot. It's probably I'm into culinary things and like gourmet stuff.
00;30;54;28 - 00;30;58;21
Rob Lee
So yeah.
00;30;58;29 - 00;31;01;28
Naima Burrs
Maybe that would be maybe that would be it too.
00;31;02;04 - 00;31;07;13
Rob Lee
You can't leave with that. What I was saying. What a specialty. Maybe a souffle in and what's going on? Oh.
00;31;07;22 - 00;31;30;11
Naima Burrs
It depends. I have a it's funny, I have a weird diet now, but so I don't do dairy or gluten. So it's a little a little mixed. But we do a lot of fish and pastas and, you know, nothing fancy like, you know, crazy decorative plates or anything like that. But I do love to we do love to cook when we have time.
00;31;31;03 - 00;31;42;24
Rob Lee
Yeah. Lastly, so aside from like classical music and things of the sword, what music are you listening to? You said, you know, it's not the music that you're probably playing. So what music do you listen to?
00;31;42;24 - 00;32;19;14
Naima Burrs
Oh, I love Alex Isley, actually got to play on her last album. She's incredible. Arlen Lennox, Moonchild. I mean, there's so many people I love. I love so many different genres of music. And oftentimes I'm not I mean, sometimes I am like in the classical thing, I love to listen to opera. Leontyne Price If I'm in a certain mood, like that's all I want to hear is dramatic opera that just is blasting from my car on a Saturday errand run or something.
00;32;19;14 - 00;32;36;07
Naima Burrs
But I love music and I love on Spotify being able to choose an artist you like and then put it on that radio. So you're discovering, you know, discovering new artists all the time. But most of what I'm listening to, if I'm not studying, is going to be, you know, something a little bit different than the classical thing.
00;32;37;02 - 00;32;59;21
Rob Lee
Yeah, I was. I've been really into this. It's so ridiculous and very much a thing of my age. But I've been doing a deep dove into the soundtrack of Rocky four and and I'm appreciating like there's actually instruments playing. I was like, is horns these horns? This is very much like victory right here. I was like, Give me that.
00;32;59;21 - 00;33;02;06
Rob Lee
Give you all of it. And that's so cool.
00;33;02;06 - 00;33;08;09
Naima Burrs
Yeah. When you realize there's, like, an actual score, like, they're really playing like real instruments. Yeah.
00;33;08;18 - 00;33;28;25
Rob Lee
They are just going to, like, sweat to music. It's great. So with that being said, I want to thank you for coming onto this podcast and invite and encourage you to tell the fine folks where to check you out, where to check out all of the stuff that you're being. Boom, boom, boom. As you said, all the stuff that you're involved in, the floor is yours.
00;33;29;12 - 00;33;31;18
Rob Lee
Cool.
00;33;31;18 - 00;33;56;09
Naima Burrs
My Instagram is Naima verse just my name you can find me WWE nine members dot com as well so most of my information is there old interviews and pictures and blah blah blah. But the Instagram me keep up to date with the things that are happening currently. So that's probably the best two places to find me.
00;33;56;19 - 00;34;13;19
Rob Lee
So there you have it for now. Ambers I'm Rob Lee. Saying that there's a music culture in and around your neck of the woods. You just got to look for it.
