Full Participation

This week with the KSO marks the audition of the final candidate for music director. We've seen good, we've seen bad, and we've seen ugly, but there's something different about this guy. I don't know if he's going to win the job or not, but he's my favorite because he chose music that allowed him to really hear the orchestra. 

Many pieces feature a section of the orchestra, or just the principals, but this program showcases the talents and skills of each and every individual of the orchestra. The first is a work by Adam Schoenberg called, "Finding Rothko". Mark Rothko, if you don't know, is a famous painter who gained notoriety from his paintings of solid colors. They may seem simple, but the point of the art is to make you think about how it affects your mind. Do you think, "I could have done that" when you see this painting?

...well, why didn't you?

Anyway, the piece is very contemporary and shows how music written as late as the early 2000s (like this one) can be as beautiful as anything ever written. Also on the program is the very famous Cello Concerto but Dvorak, and Elgar's Enigma Variations. I've made a lot of changes over the past month when it comes to people and relationships, and the Elgar helps me marinate on those decisions. The piece is dedicated to many of the people in Elgar's life that influenced him, and each movement has a completely different sound, depending on who the movement is dedicated to. Some people are in your life forever, and others for just a short time, but their influence should never be overlooked, and day by day I'm understanding this more and more. 

I'm very excited to present this program with my colleagues tonight and tomorrow night, and if you're in East Tennessee I hope you will come out to hear us! This week's conductor has done a great job of pulling the full participation of each member of the orchestra, and he has already impacted my musical career, even if he doesn't get the job (which I hope he does, by the way).