Conductor takes a shine to stars of tomorrowYouth Orchestra of the Americas - July 25, 2002Posted: 2002-08-26 13:58:00 by T.J. Medrek
Thursday, July 25, 2002
The Boston Herald
Conductor Benjamin Zander is one of those busy people who prove that when you need something done, you're best off asking a busy person.
This spring, for example, Zander filled in on short notice for conductor Herbert Blomstedt for five concerts with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, sandwiched between a speaking engagement on a Mediterranean cruise and leading a New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic concert.
"It turned out to be an extraordinary experience," Zander said of the Israel engagement. "The most fun I've ever had conducting has been conducting that orchestra."
But with Zander, there's always more fun in store. He was speaking last week from his so-called "vacation" on an island off the Maine coast, his once-a-year, one-week getaway. Increasingly, that vacation was being interrupted by another late addition to his schedule: tonight's inaugural concert of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas at Jordan Hall. This group of 120 musicians between the ages of 14 and 24 hails from 20 countries throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Zander, best known locally as conductor of the Boston Philharmonic and internationally as musician and motivational speaker, will lead them in the music of Jon Deak, Beethoven and Mahler. The soloist in Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto is 17-year-old Argentine pianist Horacio Lavandera.
The YOA then plays a free concert tomorrow in Worcester before going to Washington, D.C., where on Tuesday it will be joined by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, with Zander and Leonard Slatkin sharing the podium at Wolf Trap. The orchestra then performs through Aug. 16 in Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina and Venezuela under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel, Christopher Wilkins (who prepared the orchestra before Zander's arrival Monday) and Carlos Prieto. Zander rejoins them briefly for two concerts in Brazil - an appearance squeezed in just before he leaves for engagements in New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.
"I think my involvement was in a sense inevitable, in that I have led the (New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic) orchestra on tours south of the border and visited most South American countries," Zander said. Besides, as director of that NEC youth orchestra for more than 30 years - and NEC is the YOA's major host institution - he has proven himself a natural to bring out the best in such an outfit.
But Zander was quick to give most of the credit for the creation of this boundary-breaking orchestra to his longtime NEC colleague, Mark Churchill.
"He's a remarkable man," Zander said, "and it's not fully understood by anybody what a number of different things he's generated" as dean of the conservatory's division of preparatory and continuing education.
In addition to Churchill's leadership, NEC has provided $110,000 in start-up funds for the project. There's also been some high-powered backing from tenor Placido Domingo, the YOA's artistic adviser, and President Bush and first lady Laura Bush, honorary chairpersons of the YOA Presidential Partners.
Zander's devotion to youth orchestras in general is heartfelt and strong. He said he even paid the members of the Israel Philharmonic an unusual compliment: "You are a world-class orchestra and you play like a youth orchestra." He said they were delighted, especially by his explanation: "They play with all their heart. They don't hold back and they don't question if you ask for something extra or different. They don't dig in and say, 'Wait a minute, we don't usually do it that way.' That is what a youth orchestra gives to the conductor who asks for it: the whole heart, without question. They do it with fun and flair and passion. And the No. 1 thing I give to them is permission for all of that.
"The other thing I give to them is that I don't accept anything less than I would accept from a great orchestra. I never say, 'That's good enough for a youth orchestra.' "
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