Last week we ended the Jacksonville Symphony’s Masterworks series with three performances of Mahler’s soul-stirring Second Symphony. It was a thrilling way to end an ambitious season. Throughout the week’s rehearsals, I was inspired by just how much fun the musicians were having playing this great music: at his best Mahler seems to understand exactly what it means to be human, with all the emotional ups and downs. It was my first time conducting the piece, making the week that little bit more intense. The first time conducting a work is especially challenging, particularly if it’s one you’ve loved for years and that everyone knows well. No matter how much you’ve studied, nothing prepares you for the surprise of feeling and hearing the piece unfold

Continue readingJumping off a cliff – the first time with a masterpiece

One of the questions I’m asked most often is why the string sections of the Jacksonville Symphony sometimes change where they sit between pieces in a concert. Loyal symphony goers will remember that when I arrived in Jacksonville, we adopted two new positions for the string instruments. Your previous music director, Fabio Mechetti, preferred the common arrangement of first violins, second violins, violas, cellos and basses fanning from the left to right of the stage. Now we have two seatings: the first only slightly different from Fabio’s, with the violas on the outside (where the cellos previously sat) which I like for 20th century repertoire. I’m told this was how the orchestra sat during Roger Nierenberg’s time. The second seating is completely different: the first

Continue readingMusical Chairs: why orchestras sit the way they do