Music Director of the YSO from 1989-1990
Many, many years ago I was offered my first professional position as interim music director of the Yale Symphony and assistant professor at the school of music. Having earned my BA at Yale College (Trumbull ‘86), I was more than aware of the kind of commitment it meant to juggle the duties for an undergraduate and a performing musician. Since then I have gone from green to gray, from New Haven to Paris, from Woolsey to concert halls throughout Europe and Asia, but I will never forget my time with the YSO. The energy and inspiration that the students showed, despite the deadlines, papers and other extracurricular activities (such as actual classes) never failed to carry off the concerts with panache and flair. Not only did we delve into Bartok, Brahms and Dvorak, but come the end of October, the pressure was on to face the music, so to speak. The responsibility of maintaining the Halloween tradition was one that I met with seriousness and exactitude. I will never forget the orchestral arrangement of the Batman theme music (although, I have, willingly or unwillingly, forgotten a host of other details from that evening). The photo below, of myself in Mozartian garb, and my then girlfriend (and now wife of 30 years) Katharina (Pierson ’87), shows to what end professionality and self-mockery can go hand in hand.
Today I am grateful for my time at Yale, first with the Bach Society and then with the Symphony. It was a formative period and an artistic challenge and I am proud to say that I was associated to such a wonderful institution. Boola Boola and Bravo!