With visions of lightsaber duels still fresh in everyone’s minds, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra stages a musical fight of its own during a series of Masterworks concerts at the Bushnell Thursday through Sunday, Jan. 21 to 24.
Three young conductors — Adam Kerry Boyles, Andrew Crust and Patrick Valentino — will compete for the newly created position of assistant conductor, by each leading the HSO through a large orchestral piece and a concerto movement (or two), with a different soloist: double bassist Edward Rozie Jr., percussionist Robert McEwan and violinist and concertmaster Leonid Sigal.
The Masterworks Series is called Battle of the Batons, and audience members will help determine who gets the job.
Boyles, who currently serves as Director of Orchestras at M.I.T. and also directs the Brookline Symphony Orchestra, will conduct Debussy’s Prélude a “L’apres-midi d’un faune” and two movements of Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto, featuring Rozie.
Crust, a Brahms specialist and new-music advocate from Montréal, Canada, leads the orchestra through Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances (from “Prince Igor”) and a movement of Sejourne’s Concerto for Vibraphone and Strings, with McEwan as the soloist.
And Valentino, a conductor from Salem, Mass., who directs the Boston New Music Initiative (and is also a respected composer), will conduct Mozart’s Overture to Die Zauberflöte (“The Magic Flute”) and Saint-Saens’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso Op. 28, featuring Sigal.
Audience members provide feedback after each concert. A rigorous off-stage evaluation by HSO bigwigs will lead to an announcement of the winner, who will probably serve between one and three years in the semi-permanent position, starting this spring.
The HSO created the position to help Music Director Carolyn Kuan and to bolster community and educational outreach efforts.
It’s also not unusual for an orchestra to engage an assistant conductor to handle duties that would otherwise fall to a guest conductor, says HSO director of artistic operations Stephen Collins, even when it comes to something like the HSO’s signature Masterworks Series.
“Instead of having a series of guest conductors, we minimize that to some extent by making an investment in one individual,” Collins says, “who adds value not only by conducting onstage, but who also interacts with donors and the community.”
The Battle arrives during a turbulent period for the HSO. Last week, the part-time musicians, who’ve been working without a contract for more than a year, rejected the management’s latest proposal to cut wages by $400,000 next year and from then on out. The musicians proposed cutting their own wages by $750,000 over four years, The Courant reported. Negotiations are ongoing.
Collins characterizes the new position as “expense-neutral.” “We have money set aside for guest conductors that will be directed toward this position,” he says. “A lot of folks are asking that question. It’s a real investment in the value of the orchestra.”
This week, in addition to the performances, each conductor will rehearse with the orchestra, go through numerous interviews and give preconcert lectures.
Early on, candidates ranked which orchestral pieces they wanted to conduct from the six already programmed.
Crust, who has auditioned for several similar positions, says the fact that the three candidates will actually perform in front of an audience, in succession, is unusual.
Under normal circumstances, “your live audition is really a rehearsal that attempts to emulate a performance,” Crust says. “But it’s never the same without an audience, so I think this process is going to be very telling.”
The Borodin and Sejourne pieces were Crust’s top choices. “I understand programming, but I also understand that when you’re a guest conductor or auditioning, the program is already set,” he says. “The good news is that I absolutely love all of this music, so it should be a good concert.”
“Usually, when you’re a finalist for a position … you won’t even do a concert,” Boyles says. “You’ll just do a rehearsal with an orchestra.”
As a composer, Valentino finds comfort in the analytical task of studying scores. “To have a relatively in-depth knowledge of all the instruments is a huge benefit,” he says. “[Conducting] scores end up looking very native to original scores you’ve produced yourself: the textures, knowing what to expect, idiomatic and non-idiomatic uses of instruments. These things come a little bit faster with a background in composition.”
Boyles, an accomplished singer, believes that his seemingly disparate interests in vocal performance and orchestral conducting “works better than people would think. … When I want to demonstrate something [to the orchestra], I can just sing. Not all conductors, even in the choral field, are as capable vocally to demonstrate what they want from a phrase or a sound. I can rely on that to get the job done pretty quickly.”
Landing the HSO job, Boyles says, would mean getting to contribute even more to the musical development of the region as a whole.
“I like the idea of contributing to a musical ecology,” Boyles says. “It would mean not only getting to work with a professional ensemble, but to continue to develop the region and to develop Hartford’s place in Connecticut. This is the second-largest orchestra in New England. Especially where the educational concerts are concerned, to contribute to its outreach would be really great for me personally.”
As part of his doctoral studies, Crust produced a performance edition of the symphonies of Johannes Brahms, based on the score markings of a conductor who worked with him during his lifetime. “People want to know how music was actually performed during Brahms’ time,” he says. “It’s something I’m interested in, and it seemed like a fantastic way to get my doctorate.”
What interests Crust most in the position is the educational component.
“The most important thing musicians can do today is educate and expose young people to music,” Crust says, “not only to fill seats but to show children the power of music. If I had that kind of exposure when I was young, I would have gotten interested in music even earlier.”
Crust also champions new music and living composers. “I’m an advocate for good music in any century,” he says, “and there’s certainly good music happening right now. It’s important to find and support people who are making music today. We have to make sure we give contemporary composers a voice.”
Before auditions, Valentino sticks to his normal routine. “I need to find quiet time, but that’s regardless of whether I’m conducting or not,” he says. “You owe it to the orchestra to be present 150 percent.” Some people meditate, disengage, slow down, he says, while others probably need to blast rock music in the car. “Some people probably don’t have to do anything. They just roll out of bed and do it.”
The Battle is unique, the candidates say, for allowing them not only to perform, but to do so over the course of multiple days.
“It is odd that we’re all sharing the program, and we’ve joked a bit behind the scenes that it’s a little like ‘The Hunger Games,’ but not in a bad way,” Boyles says. “We’ve chit-chatted about making faces at each other while it’s going on, or trying to ice one another. I think it will end up being fun.”
MASTERWORKS SERIES: BATTLE OF THE BATONS takes place at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave, Hartford, Thursday through Sunday, Jan. 21 to 24. Tickets are $33; 860-987-5900; hartfordsymphonyorchestra.org.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the wage cuts proposed by the HSO management and musicians.
