Conductor Joseph Silverstein: Musical Optimist

Conductor Joseph Silverstein likes to quote former Boston Symphony music director Erich Leinsdorf with whom he worked as Concertmaster of the BSO. “`J.S.'", Leinsdorf used to say, “`Come the revolution, you vill be the Commissar of Optimism.’�

Ever the optimist, Silverstein is particularly upbeat when he considers the future careers of the music students under his tutelage. Conductor Laureate of the Utah Symphony, and Principal Conductor of Seattle’s Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Silverstein is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of NEC’s orchestras. Violin students seek him out for private lessons. And he is in constant demand to guest conduct orchestras and to play chamber music. So, he has plenty of opportunity to assess both the students and the musical life of the country.

“Classical music is not dying,� he asserts over lunch after a rehearsal with the NEC Philharmonia. “It’s very much alive. There are full houses and audiences reflecting wide demographics. Yes, the audience is older but that’s because the U.S. is growing older. These listeners have money, time, and curiosity and they are very discriminating. The phenomenon of the before- and after-concert talks is mushrooming. These audiences want to know more.�

In addition, there are excellent orchestras all over the country, Silverstein maintains, naming Jacksonville, Tucson, and Albuquerque among the less familiar bright lights of symphonic life. Musicians can play in those orchestras, teach, perform in summer festivals “and put together a life for themselves, and a very nice lifestyle,� he says. Part of his job as a teacher and conductor is “to show students that a life in music can exist on many levels and can be satisfying on many levels.�

Finishing up his first year at NEC, Silverstein was preparing the Philharmonia for its final concert of the season, April 19. He conducts both that ensemble and the NEC Symphony Orchestra twice a year, and says he’s “having a blast.� The “biggest challenge comes in making programs.� With three orchestras at the Conservatory, students will inevitably move up from Sinfonietta to the more senior groups and Silverstein “has to make sure they don’t play anything twice.� What’s more, he has to take into consideration the instruments available. This year, there was an abundance of tubas, so works with tubas had to be scheduled. Next year, there will probably be a shortage of horns. “That means we won’t be able to do Bruckner,� the conductor says.

“Fortunately, I’m not in career-building mode at this stage of my life. I don’t need to conduct certain repertory for my own aggrandizement.� That means he can choose works that are good for the orchestras, whether off the beaten path or part of the standard literature. He has even asked faculty to suggest pieces and has taken up recommendations by composer Michael Gandolfi and others to program the George Perle Short Symphony (performed last October) and Mario Davidovsky’s Concertino for Violin and Chamber Orchestra (which appears on the April 19 program).

In rehearsal, Silverstein is an authoritative but avuncular personality. Unlike the many notorious martinets of the podium, he does not intend his leadership to be “a reign of terror.� He is unfailingly complimentary to the players, telling the trumpets, for example, that their sound is beautiful even if it has to be brought down to a pianissimo. He praises violin soloist Andrew Beer in the Davidovsky and also demonstrates a fingering that he believes will work more effectively for a harmonic. He offers similar commendation to the luscious-voiced soprano Nicole Percifield after a group of songs by Montsalvatge.

“I find it very energizing,� he says afterwards. “I never have to tell people to be quiet. They concentrate. Their cooperation is great. They laugh at my jokes—thank goodness.� “The plus side of students today is that they are exposed to a great range of repertory. And their ability to assimilate complex contemporary music is dazzling,� Silverstein says. “The flip side is their listening is sparse. As a result, when they sit down to play a work by Brahms or Tchaikovsky, they don’t know it by ear. They’re busy with their computers and email, but they haven’t filled up their iPods with their heritage. If you asked Hilary Hahn what she listens to, she will tell you everything by Heifetz, Menuhin, and Grumiaux—all the time. I happen to know too that Itzhak Perlman has downloaded on his iPod the complete Heifetz discography.�

Students “are denying themselves the greatest pleasure—to experience music as listeners before they play it. I fell in love with music at the age of six and used to play all the great works on 78 rpm records. I always looked forward to performing those pieces whenever I got the chance.

“I love music and loved playing in an orchestra. My role is I’ve got to convey to them that playing in the orchestra is something to look forward to. I want them to have the most positive experience possible. If they enjoy making music with me then I’ve done my job.�

Joseph Silverstein conducts the NEC Philharmonia

April 19, 8 p.m.

NEC’s Jordan Hall

Elgar: Enigma Variations

Davidovsky: Concertino for Violin and Chamber Orchestra with Andrew Beer '06 M.M., violin, a student of Donald Weilerstein

Montsalvatge: Cinco canciones negras with soloist Nicole Percifield '06, a student of William Cotten

Strauss: Don Juan

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