Change is as good as a rest

Can you believe that it was four years ago that the orchestra's Music Director Search was coming to a close? FOUR YEARS!!! What was great about that season (aside from yours truly getting the nod) was that audiences got to sample a whole variety of styles and personalities on the podium. It was great for the orchestra too as they were able see fresh new approaches to music making.

Since my arrival, I've wanted to keep that same freshness and provide the orchestra, whenever possible, the opportunity to work with someone new. This next Masterworks concert "Spring at Last" brings to the stage an excellent conductor from Taiwan named Apo Hsu. I've known and admired her work for quite some time. It's still unusual to see female conductors on stage, but I think that is a prejudice that we all need to see past--she's really good.

So why am I not leading the orchestra? I need to hear the orchestra in performance. Sure I know what they sound like up close and personal, but I have no idea what they sound like out in the hall. What a violin is to a vibrating string, so is a concert hall for an orchestra. The hall is very much an instrument in and of itself, and this gives me insight to how I can rehearse in the future to maximize the strengths and minimize the weakness of Sinclair Auditorium. Now that we are out of the Paramount indefinitely, patron satisfaction is all the more important. Knowing that parking and access is difficult, not to mention limited amenities, I want to experience one of our concerts from the audiences point of view so I can see for myself some of the challenges we will be grappling with for the next few years to come.

For the orchestra, working with a fresh new face gives them a fresh new outlook, and reinforces the reality that there is more than one way to "skin a cat" musically speaking. I get a chance to view someone else's work and hopefully learn something, and if they are REALLY good, it makes me step up to the plate and re-double my efforts. After all, what message would that send to the community if I were upstaged? This keeps me on my toes and keeps me hungry.

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