There is a tradition of playing in an orchestra that sometimes I wonder if we get enough of these days
in music schools. And maybe some teachers look down on orchestral music and just training their students
just to play sonatas and concertos and chamber music, which is
extremely important. But you need to develop, especially these days that the economic situation of the
orchestras makes us do more performances and less rehearsal time. In the old days, when George Sell
and Toscanini and Guno Vardu, they used to have up to eight rehearsals for concerts.
We had the time to shape each phrase, each note. Now, because of the economics of the symphony orchestra
in the world and in this country, you are told by management, by board, hey, we don't have that kind
of money. We need to do the same concert with three rehearsals. And if we do not have the trained musician
who knows the music before,
we are in trouble. But I think this trend is changing and as far as I know in music school and one that
I teach, there are new classes of orchestral excerpts that the masters of the big orchestras, for instance,
when I went to the Cleveland Institute of Music, of which I graduated, we had a special cello
orchestral excerpts class with Stephen Gaber, who is the principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra.
And who else is better qualified to teach you the repertoire? So the whole class of ten cellists went
there and just played the second movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony until we knew what we were talking
about. And you as a conductor have to interpret the music.
And I think some conductors interpret it the way they think the composer wanted it, and some others
interpret it the way they would like to hear it. Which do you do, or a little bit of both? I guess it's
a combination of both. When you come to the orchestra and it's such a short time of three or four rehearsals,
you have to put together quite a challenging program. So there are
many intellectual or technical aspects that just make everybody play together and at the right dynamic
level to bring out the melody rather than the accompaniment thus to maintain balance. So these are the
basic things. When you achieve that, hopefully, and I think I did achieve it with the Camerata Orchestra,
then on top of it there is the extra
interpretation, the little thing that makes a difference between your interpretation and somebody else,
and I guess that's very rather subjective. I would hope that Dvořák Prokofiev and Ruthi Kosakov would
have liked what I'm doing. If not, I'm sorry, but I tried my best. You have a real jewel in this town, and
This is the Camerata Orchestra. I think it's a unique organization. And I think the citizens of Bloomingdon
should be really proud to have this little orchestra that does miracles. And I invite everybody to come
to their concerts and see it and hear it themselves. It has been a very interesting experience for me.
From what I understand, we have a combination of some very experienced and very fine players who used
to play first chair in one of the America's finest orchestras, and some of them playing in this orchestra.
And I could feel it right away. And on the other hand, we have some very fine players who are students,
rather inexperienced. And so what I was trying to run this balance of trying to
take these rather very excellent players, but inexperienced, and to bring them to the experience of
playing together and to the experience of making music with these pieces, which they were rather unfamiliar,
and still keep the very experienced and very fine teachers of these, in some cases,
players, and it was rather challenging. I've never had such experience before. Indiana University in
Bloomington is considered one of the best music schools in the world, not only America. And there's
a big following of especially also foreigners from Europe and from Asia, just being in the orchestra
some of the members, some of them from Hungary, from Holland, from China, from Japan, from Israel, all
over the place. And I know it's a very competitive school, and it's very, very extremely difficult to
enter. How do you achieve the, what should I say, spark that brings the audience
into the performance, the report, where you get your orchestra to somehow or other, and I don't understand
the process, but somehow or other, they reach the audience and the audience participates. Well, it varies.
It depends on the piece, and it depends on the particular
moment i mean sometimes the same orchestra with the same conductor one night it'd be a great performance
one that the audience would just uh... jump up their seats and clap and the second night the little
spark won't be there it's good but it doesn't have quite the same right it doesn't have the edge that
makes a difference and you know what i'm not sure that
We can explain. It's something, you know, we're trying the best to bring the musicians to their best
of the abilities, to play together, to feel like one body that makes music. But there is always this
extra 5% that always makes a difference. And it's really hard to define it. I certainly appreciate your
taking the time and being willing to talk to us. I consider it a privilege.
And I will wish you a sensationally great concert tomorrow night. Thank you. I'm looking forward. We
had a very good rehearsal. Tomorrow we have a dress rehearsal in which we'll have a chance to go over
and pick a couple of places and polish them. And looking forward for a great concert. And it has been
my pleasure talking to you.
Thank you. Well, thank you very much. We like the Comorata. It's a good organization and we wish it
well. Thank you so much. Thank you and take care. Thanks.
His career started at age 19 with the Chicago Symphony and Second Oboe. He was the youngest member of
that orchestra at that time. He stayed in Chicago until 1961 when he came to Indiana University as professor
at Oboe. He stayed in Indiana until 1988 and retired and stayed in Bloomington and all those years he
was with his lovely wife Lorraine. He was known as a consummate musician
He was always fun to be with, and we had the greatest fortune at having him as the principal oboe with
the Conrader Orchestra. He didn't get to play the very first concert that we played in April of 1989,
but I still feel he was a charter member because he started with us in the fall of 1989 and played with
us until 1995.
He played principal oboe, he played solo appearance, he played chamber music, and he was always wonderful
to be with. We have chosen these two enigma variations, number eight and nine, by Edward Elgar, in tribute
to Jared. The variations were written in 1899, and as you probably know,
Each one represents a friend or a circumstance of Elgar. The number eight and nine represent two special
parts. Number eight was done for his very dear musical friend, his pianist and singer. And number nine
was really a tribute to a memory of a walk in a beautiful setting with a friend. And that's the way
we would like to remember Jerry.
and I spent many, many years playing professionally with a gentleman named Phil Farkas. And Phil Farkas
used to tell us Jerry Shrucek stories. And then when I met Jerry, he told me Phil Farkas stories. And
so I felt I knew the man before I met him. But when I met him, I realized I really did not know him
because he turned out to be not only
but one of the first human beings I've ever known. So I'm dedicating this right part of the program
to his loving memory. And I've picked the middle tomb of the gospel set that both he and his beautiful
wife went to the same church we did, St. Mark's Methodist Church. And I did a lot of gospel things there
at the church. So I picked the middle tomb. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
because it contains the same thematic synopsis that the Rimsky-Korsakov does in the English horn part.
So I think you'll recognize that.
the button. You see the button over here where this bat has me by the throat. Here, I've lost the button
so my bowtie will be a strew. I say that because if I don't, my wife will be running up on stage with
a needle and thread and put the button back on. Maestro, would you join us for Stardust?
The next tune I am told is Chancellor Wells' favorite tune, and it's my tune. So the next tune will
be Hogan Conrad. And this is a Stardust Followed by Uplandzi Rippert.
They went and wrote a very neat part for the violins. It's so neat that they hate to do it. That's how
neat it is. They play banjo parts. They do it so well, and then have them stand while they play it.
And this, Up Lazy River, if you listen to it, it sounds very much like a big spider-back trumpet solo.
And the melody is very difficult to play. It's like a very good standard Dixieland solo.
So I made sure that I don't have to play the melody in this chart. The trumpet flew in the back row.
Are you ready? Here we go.
was inspired by my childhood memories of the Italian Baptist Church. Yes, that's right. Ladies and gentlemen,
there stands before you an Italian Baptist. It seems as though the Baptist Church sent a missionary.
It didn't send a missionary to South America or Africa.
They sent a missionary to Kenosha, Wisconsin, and started the Italian Baptist Church right in the middle
of the Catholic neighborhood. Well, I had quite an exciting childhood, to say the least. One fateful
morning, the Sunday school piano player did not show up. Now, you all know you're good Baptists out
there. Are there any good Baptists?
I didn't think so. There's one. All right. But the Sunday School piano player did not show up. And the
minister said, of course, you know, you can't start Sunday School without singing a few good old fashioned
Baptist hymns. Well, the minister sent out a cry. He says, is there anyone in the congregation can play
Sunday School piano? And this wonderful woman raised her hand. She says, I play Sunday School piano.
He said, well, come on down. Well, she came down in front of him, made a hard right, pulled out that
piano bench and sat down. Well, she did two things. The first thing she did, she took the piano, she
closed it and put it on top of the piano. But the other thing she did was she rolled up her sleeves.
Now, I've never seen a science school piano player roll up their sleeves before, but she did. She rolled
up her sleeves, she cracked her knuckles.
And she looked at the minister and she said, what do you want to hear? And he said, well, how about
Jesus loves me this way now? Well, let me tell you, folks, when she finished the introduction, no one
could see. We had never heard anything like this. I had never heard anything so Godlike. I had never
heard anything so rhythmic, so sincere, so profound.
and so beautiful in my entire life. Well, that started me on my quest and gave me a desire to hear more
rhythmic music. So this wonderful woman said, well, if you'd like to hear more, come with me. And she
took me to some wonderful black revival meetings in Waukegan, tent revivals, where they have huge choruses
and they have complete rhythm sections and solos. It was wonderful. So that was my beginning.
initial thrust into the jazz language. So this mega joyful noise paraphrases that experience in my life
and I hope you enjoy it.
It's a beautiful piece of music, and again, it hearkens back. It's almost a crucial within itself, featuring
orchestra and trumpet.
Thank you. This person is the guiding light of this orchestra. She's a contractor. She's the librarian.
She's the paint master. She's the stage manager. What else does she do for this orchestra? She's the
publicist. She does everything. And without this person's money and efforts, this orchestra would not exist.
And very fine players, student players from Indiana University would never get a chance to work under
esteemed conductors and to play truly great music and get paid for it. Yeah. So, Lenore Hanfield, will
you stand, please? We're going to give you a big round of applause.
Amazing, David. Is it the beard? Shall I grow a beard? Is that it? I don't know. But thank you, David,
for adding so much to the program. And I like how about it. Thank you. And a round of applause, please,
for my rhythm section. Stand up, guys, and take a bow.
deserves your support and deserves a full house. If this orchestra only got the publicity commensurate
to the work that Lenore puts into it, we'd be in really good shape. So tell your friends and neighbors
about this marvelous thing that's happening over here. See if we can, just instead of seeing red out
there, we could see all other kinds of beautiful colors of people coming to this concert.
Again, thank you for coming, and I thank the orchestra, and thank you, sir. Wonderful job. First half
was marvelous. Really, the orchestra sounds great. Well, here we go. Justin would not be complete without
a little rock and roll. So this is rock and roll, and it's, well, whatever. And as you can see, it's
written by the former conductor, assistant conductor of the former band director of the former
post of the current dementia. I'm glad I got that out. So thanks again, and here's Walls of Jericho.