Conducting an orchestra can seem like a mysterious art. Most everyone realizes there’s a lot more to it than arm waving, but what is it exactly? An April 6 video and text feature at The New York Times helped illuminate the craft with motion-capture graphics of New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert (below) conducting Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale interspersed with comments from the conductor himself. The motion-capture imagery (above) at times showed “trails” made by Gilbert’s hand and finger motions—he was conducting without a baton—and at other times depicted spatial relationships of sounds coming from the different instruments in the ensemble. “There is no way to really put your finger on what makes conducting great, even what makes conducting work,” Gilbert says. “There is a connection between the gesture, the physical presence, the aura that a conductor can project, and what the musicians produce.”
Family Reunions “I would recommend any of Dan’s pieces for children’s concerts. They are entertaining, high quality, and easy to produce, with a potpourri of interesting repertoire.” — Boston Symphony “The stage action made the music come to life, and the orchestra responded to your creativity with splendid performances.” — Philadelphia Orchestra
“The Lost Elephant was a hit that brought out the child in everyone.” — Butler Eagle
“You made me laugh so hard that I got a head ache. Nobody’s ever done that — Kenneth, age 11 before.”
Six family and pops shows to choose from. See clips and repertoire at
www.dankamin.com
Dan Kamin
Comecdeyrtos Con (412)563-0468 dan@dankamin.com
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Anyone with a job that involves traveling knows it can be tough to squeeze in family time. But on separate programs this spring, musicians from three families managed to reunite on stages in Connecticut, California, and Michigan. On April 12-15, Gerard Schwarz—the Seattle Symphony’s conductor laureate—led the Hartford Cellist/son Julian Schwarz and conductor/father Gerard Schwarz Symphony Orchestra in a program including Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, with Julian Schwarz, his 20-year-old son, as soloist. The following weekend, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performed the West Coast premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s Brooklyn Bridge-themed work Crane Palimpsest, featuring the composer on piano, guitars, and vocals, with Jeffrey Kahane, Gabriel’s father and LACO’s music director, on the podium. And for its May 3-6 concerts, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra performed Korngold’s Cello Concerto, with Frederick Zlotkin—brother of DSO Music Director Leonard Slatkin—as soloist. As far as we know, there were no arm-wrestling contests or time-outs during the Composer/son Gabriel Kahane and conductor/father concerts. Jeffrey Kahane
symphony
SUMMER 2012
Courtesy The New York Times
Kid Friendly… Conducting Deconstructed