Meet Linda Binder

We were lucky to catch up with Linda Binder recently and have shared our conversation below.

Linda, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

My purpose in life is to be the best version of myself. I find enrichment and joy in that pursuit through music performance. There’s a broad skill set necessary to be a musician. There are the technical skills related to one’s instrument but its also important to relate well to your colleagues, be reliable, attentive, understand your audience, maintain your health, strength, and energy, etc. All those factors have helped me grow as a person, enabled many interesting experiences, and brought joy.

My understanding of what it means to be a musician has evolved from my start in a public school music program in 5th grade. My parents weren’t musicians, so I’m very grateful to have been introduced to the violin at school in Nebraska. As a kid, playing violin was just another extra curricular, along with Girl Scouts, and ballet lessons, but a light went on in my brain for music when I was in middle school thanks to a teacher.

My parents signed me up for weekly private lessons with a man with eclectic musical interests. The basement of his home contained many instruments hanging on the walls, and he encouraged me to try them out to experience the different sounds. What a surprise, to discover the mandolin and learn that it was tuned just like a violin! Soon, I was playing my own mandolin, splitting my lesson time between violin and mandolin. My teacher’s main instrument was actually zither! In my lessons we began playing German folk tunes on mandolin and zither, and I began joining him at his weekly gig at a German restaurant in Omaha. The combination of the instruments was really beautiful and I felt the appreciation of the audience. I had absolutely no performance anxiety. I just loved performing music…and making a little bit of money at it. Very exciting!

When I entered high school I decided to prepare for a career in music. My teacher advised me to study with an actual violinist! He called the concert master of the Omaha Symphony to secure a lesson time, and then fired me as his pupil so I could be well prepared for music school. I was very upset, but quickly learned that my education up to that point had been lacking in terms of violin fundamentals. My high school years were spent learning the standard classical music repertoire, and saving money to buy a better violin.

In music school I envisioned my future as a member of a professional symphony orchestra’s string section, but the type of music I play has evolved throughout my life by paying attention to what I’m truly attracted to. This has lead to going off the path I was initially on. Going “off the path” enabled me to really find myself. It has sometimes meant ignoring the advice of my elders/mentors/teachers. It took time, too long really, to listen to my instincts about what is right for me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I currently perform regularly with several ensembles in the Milwaukee / Chicago area, mainly on violin, and mandolin.

I play violin with singer songwriter Steve Smith in the duo Smith & Binder, (https://smithbinderjazz.com) performing jazz standards and vintage pop music, as well as originals by Steve Smith. I play mandolin and mandola ( a lower pitched version of the mandolin) with The Lake Mandolin Quartet ( https://www.facebook.com/LakeMandolinQuartet) and The Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra which I directed for six years (https://www.milwaukeemandolinorchestra.org/info), and I perform Brazilian choro music in Chicago, and with Milwaukee based choro group Toco Rio with guitarist Jeff Binder, and percussionist Ben Hogan.(https://www.facebook.com/TocoRioMusic ) I love improvising, both in traditional jazz and free improvisation, and have performed and recorded freely improvised music on the viola d’amore, and waterphone in the duo PaVda (https://fieldstone.bandcamp.com/album/pavda)with renowned musician, artist, and instrument maker Hal Rammel (https://www.halrammel.com)

In recent years I’ve had the opportunity to perform on classical mandolin with the Chicago Symphony at Symphony Hall in Chicago under Riccardo Muti, and at NYC’s Carnegie Hall, and with the Milwaukee Symphony under Asher Fisch, as well as performing chamber music at the Metropolitan Art Museum and Barge Music in NYC. A few weeks ago I played mandolin in Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, and I’ve premiered contemporary music with the Milwaukee based ensemble Present Music. (https://www.presentmusic.org)

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I was definitely fortunate to have been exposed to people who helped me discover my interests. Moving forward on those interests, and taking a somewhat untraditional path in my profession came in part to listening to my instincts and acting on them, despite sometimes getting contrary advice. During music school some of my previous teachers advised me to “stop messing around on mandolin”, “stop this jazz nonsense”, “stick to classical music” etc. Going against the advice of mostly well-meaning elders was hard at times but its been important to me to pay attention to who I am, and what I love. I’d encourage folks on any path to balance the advice you receive with a deep understanding of, and faith in yourself.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

There are a couple of sayings I love. One is “Every day you make yourself who you are.”, and the other is “If you don’t go, you don’t know”. Those little sayings have many times inspired me to make good daily decisions, and to get out the door to experience the unknown! In spite of having success with those ideas, I found myself a few years ago struggling to muster energy to do the things I normally enjoyed. No energy, weight gain, thinning hair….I chalked it up to the effects of the pandemic, and to aging, but finally went to a doctor and was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Receiving that diagnosis was a shock. Getting on the medication I needed was a revelation. It’s important to make good decisions for yourself, but sometimes you need an expert and some lab tests!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://lindabinder.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travels_with_mandolin/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/linda.binder/

Image Credits

Paul Gaudynski, Seville Media, Alan Friedman, FOTO LEIKO