Conductor leads orchestra from a wheelchair

[battuta]

I may or may not have seen you in concert before. I was a regular at LACO concerts on the years that you were there, and also attended USC concerts on a regular basis. I have many friends there over the years and most were students of Eleanor (Cello) and Alice (Violin) Shoenfeld. It is also there that I met Papa Mehta and of course Daniel Lewis. Your background brings memories!

Hi Springrite,

Now, that is a nice surprise! Actually, I was appointed assistant conductor for LACO and was going to assume my position in the fall, however, my accident took place in the summer. they had even printed my name on all programs and I actually had the pressure to join Jeffrey Kahane for a welcome dinner (at a funky sushi place which later I came to learn of that was actually a "fancy" sushi place  )

I have studied viola with Donald McInnes and of course was coached several times by both, Alice and Eleanor when doing chamber music, more specifically, string quartets with the sister's students. We probably know some of the same people.

The orchestra was an amazing playing machine under the strict leadership of Daniel Lewis. I has also studied with him for a while prior to his retirement.

Yes, I would love to conduct in Beijing, so, it'll be great to chat about that and to make it work. Incidentally, I was conductor in residence in an unknown school for the arts called Idyllwild Arts.  surprisingly, they have an amazing orchestra (high school level) and I have met many Chinese students there who are now active musicians in China.

Please let me know if you come to San Diego, it would be a pleasure to meet you. my e-mail and telephone number can be found on my website here http://mariobattuta.com/resume/ (please do not use the "contact" page on my website as it is being repaired right now), just send me an e-mail and I will provide you with the rest of my information.

Thanks for your post!

[battuta]

Welcome.  I'll take a stab at answering your questions.


Nope.


I wouldn't think much about it either way.  I attended many concerts with James DePreist leading the Oregon Symphony, and he put on some superb concerts, so I guess I'm inclined to view disability as something of a superfluous consideration in a conductor.  I certainly don't mean to make light of anything as serious as a disability; I'm just more interested in the final product, which would mean music in this case. 


I did listen without looking.  The performance seems fine, and very high energy.  Of course, it was through my laptop and ideally I like to listen through my main system, especially with orchestral works, to get a better sense of what the orchestra sounded like, and so on, but there's nothing that points to this being anything other than a well-performed concert.  I should point out that when attending concerts and recitals, I often close my eyes to focus on listening.  Sometimes stage activity can be a distraction.

Todd,

thanks for your message! Actually, the performance was professionally recorded and if you were to listen through your main stereo system you will be able to verify that. The interesting thing is that, yes, this was a very well performed concert. I am not talking about myself,  I am talking about the way the "orchestra musicians" played in terms of accuracy, intonation, dynamics, etc. This is a very high level youth orchestra, so, I am glad that you were able to perceive that this was indeed a strong performance. Also, you mentioned that it was high-energy, this typical of pre-professional level youth orchestras , so, you also got that one right.

Now back to me, your feedback is interesting. When I rehearsed the orchestra, there was a 20 to 30 min. of "getting acquainted" since the musicians are not used to a conductor in a wheelchair. After that, everything is normal: "music, the universal language." It has been my experience that the times I conducted after my injury the orchestra seemed to "give a little something extra." Perhaps a positive side effect of my disability. I am happy to learn about your reactions and opinion.

Thanks a lot for your great feedback!