{"id":108940,"date":"2024-10-28T15:23:19","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T19:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=108940"},"modified":"2024-10-29T08:00:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T12:00:02","slug":"interview-american-composer-john-adams-talks-toronto-compositions-conducting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/10\/28\/interview-american-composer-john-adams-talks-toronto-compositions-conducting\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | American Composer John Adams Talks Toronto, Compositions & Conducting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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American composer\/conductor John Adams (Photo: Musacchio-Ianniello-Pasqualini)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When John Adams returns to the city to conduct the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on November 6 and 9, it will be the third time he\u2019s worked with the ensemble.<\/p>\n

The American composer made his TSO debut in 2011 at the invitation of Peter Oundjian. John and conductor Peter Oundjian, the TSO\u2019s Music Director from 2004 to 2018 and now conductor emeritus, have a longstanding friendship.<\/p>\n

Oundjian\u2019s initial invitation saw Adams come to Toronto for the then-annual New Creations Festival, an initiative of Peter\u2019s. John conducted his City Noir, a TSO co-commission. \u201cIt’s a wonderful orchestra,\u201d he says of his experience. He came back for the same festival in 2014, with his own music as a focal point, including the Canadian premiere of his 1996 piece\u00a0Slonimsky\u2019s Earbox. \u201cI was able to do a substantial work of my own. Peter has been a supporter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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American composer\/conductor John Adams (Photo: Musacchio-Ianniello-Pasqualini)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

John Adams, Composer<\/h2>\n

Now in his 70s, Adams\u2019 path to becoming one of the most prominent composers of the modern era found its first spark in his own persistence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a little kid, that was the great era of early Leonard Bernstein,\u201d he recalls. \u201cMy parents didn’t want to get a television, because they thought I’d stop reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

That meant that he had to sneak to the neighbour\u2019s next door to watch TV, and that\u2019s where he first saw Bernstein\u2019s famous Young People\u2019s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic. When he told his parents, both of whom were musicians, it convinced his mother to finally take the plunge and get a TV set of their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was an inspiration,\u201d he said of the concerts, where he heard American popular songs played alongside the music of traditional classical composers. \u201cThat influenced me greatly; I was ten years old at the time.\u201d It was 1956, the 200th anniversary of Mozart\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in a very small town in New Hampshire,\u201d he says. He remembers reading a biography of Mozart\u2019s written for children. That\u2019s essentially what inspired him to become a composer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very lucky in that there was a community orchestra in the town where I grew up,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

That community orchestra is where he began taking music lessons and even got his start conducting at a summer music camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time I got to college, I had […] experience in conducting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studies at Harvard followed. There were two student orchestras at the university at the time, one of which was conducted by a student who got the job via an audition. Adams was able to earn that position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started conducting at a relatively early age.\u201d Still, student orchestras don\u2019t necessarily prepare you for life in a professional environment, as he recalls. \u201cWhen I think back to my first experiences with professional orchestras, I wince.\u201d<\/p>\n

He calls the art of conducting \u201cextremely mysterious\u201d. \u201cIt’s as much a social skill as it is a musical skill,\u201d he says. That\u2019s particularly true when you consider that the time spent rehearsing with professional orchestras is limited.<\/p>\n

As a conductor, it means maintaining focus. \u201cYou have to get right to work. Musicians really don’t like to talk too much, other than saying the essential things.\u201d However, as he points out, it\u2019s still necessary to establish a connection of some kind. \u201cWe’ve come a long way from the era of Fritz Reiner and Toscanini… the autocrats.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s aware of the realities that face orchestral musicians, which can vary by location. \u201cI’ve been very spoiled throughout my adult career, because I get to work with the very best orchestras,\u201d Adams says. He notes the long hours and precarious job security faced by many versatile and talented musicians in various parts of the world.<\/p>\n