A few times a month, Ludwig Van poses 60 questions to various artists who have made a mark on Toronto’s music scene. Each artist picks and chooses, with a minimum response of 20.
Steven Reineke has established himself as one of the world’s leading conductors of orchestral pops repertoire. He is the Music Director of the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Principal Pops Conductor of the Houston Symphony and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
On stage, he has collaborated with artists including Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Sutton Foster, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Wayne Brady, Peter Frampton, and Ben Folds.
You can catch Reineke conduct a program of music from John Williams with the TSO between Oct. 3–5 at Roy Thomson Hall. Full details here.
— — — — —
Default drink/cocktail of choice?
Perfect Manhattan on the rocks
Name your favourite concert hall/venue anywhere.
Carnegie Hall
Your favourite sound?
A baby laughing
Your least favourite sound?
A baby crying
Your favourite smells?
Bacon frying and fresh cut grass
If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you?
A beach in the Caribbean (I’ve been to many) or better yet to a beautiful beach in French Polynesia, perhaps Rangiroa. It might be number one on my list of places to visit.
The strangest place you’ve ever been to?
Snake Alley in Taipei, Taiwan
What did you major in as an undergraduate?
Trumpet Performance and Music Composition
The strangest talent that you possess?
Apparently, this would be the fact that when I hear music I also see it in my head visually and can write it down on paper for each instrument of the orchestra to play and reproduce.
The different career path that you could have gone on?
Geologist or National Park ranger
Your ancestry?
Bavarian and Austrian
Television show that you could tolerate re-runs of?
ANY Law and Order
Your major character flaw?
Stubbornness. I’m a creature of habit and too stuck in my ways.
The character flaw in others that you can’t abide?
Ignorance. Not stupidity, but rather intolerance to not even try to understand another person’s life or point of view because you don’t necessarily agree with it.
What is the best thing about your work?
Seeing and hearing audience members’ reactions in real time to what my collaborators and I are doing onstage.
What musical instrument do you secretly long to play?
The Uilleann pipes. You might have to Google what those are but I LOVE them!
What sport did you give up and why?
Soccer, because I was terrible at it.
What is the game that you’re best at?
Do crossword puzzles count as a game? I’m a crossword junkie.
If you had a motto, what would it be?
Love who you love.
The best way to die?
Happy!
#LUDWIGVAN
Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and reviews before anyone else finds out? Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for all the latest.
- SCRUTINY | Yannick Nézet-Séguin And The Philadelphia Orchestra Make A Triumphant Toronto Stop - April 19, 2024
- INTERVIEW | Artistic Director/Choreographer Eric Gauthier Brings His German-Based Company To Toronto - April 17, 2024
- CLASSICAL CHARTZ | Classical Music Top Ten Albums For The Week Of April 15 To 21 2024 - April 15, 2024
