Downbeats

The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra is pleased to announce their exciting new programs for the upcoming 34^th season. Maestro Heiichiro Ohyama and SBCO will be performing some of the finest gems of the repertoire with five of the world’s most prominent musicians as guest artists all on the stage of the beautiful Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara.

The first concert, “Maestro Mozart!”, will be held on October 18th, 2011 at the Lobero.  The program celebrates the music W.A. Mozart on the 220^th anniversary of the composer’s death. Maestro Ohyama has programmed overtures from four of Mozart’s best-loved operas (The Marriage of Figaro, Idomeneo, The Impresario, and Don Giovanni), Mozart’s Symphony No. 35, the “Haffner,” and his Piano concerto No. 23, K. 488 in A Major with the impressive Canadian-born pianist Lucille Chung. Ms. Chung has an extensive career, performing with the top orchestras of the world including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Moscow Virtuosi. In recital, Ms. Chung has played in many of the great halls, among them: Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

The second concert, “Bizet, Beethoven, and Bax”, takes place on December 13th, 2011 with dynamic pianist Alessio Bax. Mr. Bax, who delighted Santa Barbara audiences last May, will be performing the last work Beethoven ever performed publicly, his Piano Concerto No. 5, “The Emperor.” Of Bax’s work, El Tiempo in Spain said “(he is) a complete artist, powerful and subtle, a master in all fields” and Gramophone “Editor’s Choice” said “his playing quivers with an almost hypnotic intensity.” The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra will also perform Georges Bizet’s Symphony in C.

For their third concert of the season, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra presents “Beethoven’s Thirds” on February 21, 2012. An all Beethoven program, featuring Symphony No. 3, the “Eroica” and Piano Concerto No. 3, this performance will mark the Santa Barbara debut of legendary pianist Tong-Il Han. Mr. Han (b. 1942 in Korea) has had an amazing international soloist career, performing with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the London Philharmonic, and many others. Mr. Han performed at the White House during President Kennedy’s term and was also a guest on Steve Allen’s hit TV show I’ve Got a Secret.

On April 3, 2012, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra presents “Staples Center Stage!” showcasing former SBCO concertmaster Sheryl Staples who will return to the Lobero stage to perform Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in A, “The Turkish.” Ms. Staples, who is currently the Principal Associate Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, has appeared as a soloist with more that forty orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ms. Staples performs on one of the world’s great instruments, a Guarneri del Gesu, circa 1728. SBCO will also perform Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue, K. 546 in C minor and Tchaikovsky’s romantic romp around Europe, the dramatic Souvenir de Florence, will complete SBCO’s fourth concert with enchanting melodies that could only come from the Russian master.

On May 1st, 2012, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra presents “Arunjuez to Italia!” as the final exciting concert of the 2011-2012 season with internationally renowned guitarist Jason Vieaux. Mr. Vieaux, who will be performing Joaquin Rodrigo’s remarkable Concierto de Arunjuez, has won critical acclaim from The New York Times in 2010 as one of the “youngest stars of the guitar world,” the Buffalo News called his technique “flawless,” and Soundboard Magazine called his performance “close to perfection.”

Opening the program will be 20th century composer & musicologist Ottorino Respighi’s beautiful Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3. The work, written for strings alone, is based on several works including a lute piece by Jean-Baptiste Besard, and a work for Baroque guitar by Ludovico Roncalli. Mendelssohn’s vivacious Symphony No. 4, “The Italian” will complete this great SBCO season at the Lobero Theater.

Visit www.sbco.org or call 805.966.2441 for more information about SBCO. For tickets, please call the Lobero Box Office at 805.963.0761

Click 2011-2012SBCOSeasonOverview for the full SBCO Press Release.

About Heiichiro Ohyama:

Maestro Ohyama started his career inside the orchestra, one of his posts being a thirteen-year stint as Principal Violist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Maestro Carlo Maria Guilini. In 1986, he was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Maestro Andre Previn. In addition to being the Music Director and Conductor of SBCO since 1983, he has conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, the San Diego Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the New York Chamber Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Kyoto Symphony among many other international orchestras. He is also currently Music Director of the Nagasaki Music Festival in Japan, Artistic Director of the CHANEL Pygamalion Chamber Music Series and is a member of The Chamber Players.

Maestro Ohyama was Professor of Music at the University of California, from 1973 – 2002, was awarded the Fukuoka City Cultural Prize in 2005, and in 2008, the government of Japan recognized Maestro Ohyama with the Outstanding Performance Award.  Maestro Ohyama has been heard frequently on the radio and television and has recorded for the CBS, Evica (Japan), Nonesuch, Philips, RCA, and Stereophile labels.

About SBCO:

The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Heiichiro Ohyama, is comprised of some of the best and hardest-working musicians from Southern California.  Many of our musicians perform with the top California and world orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Opera, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, the New West Symphony, the Pasadena Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony.  They also participate in the recording and movie studio orchestras in Hollywood, have active chamber music groups, and teach studios at both the private and collegiate levels. Dedicated to their craft and their conductor, many of our musicians have performed with SBCO for over a decade, some for over two decades, and some even travel from out of state to work with Maestro Ohyama and the orchestra due to the consistently challenging and exciting experiences that they share.

The Music Academy of the West 2011 (6.20-8.13) will again be showcasing the world-class talent of the next generation of professional musicians right here in Santa Barbara. Internationally renowned conductors Larry Rachleff, Daniel Hege, Micholas McGegan, Peter Oundijian, and Leonard Slatkin will lead the orchestras through the summer’s repertoire, and Warren Jones will conduct MAW Opera’s production of The Barber of Seville. MAW’s new president Scott Reed remarked, “Warren is such an accomplished artist and has dazzled Music Academy audiences for years. He has collaborated with every major singer, he has been the Assistant Conductor of both the Metropolitan Opera and the San Francisco Opera and last year he was awarded the title of “Collaborator of the Year” by Musical America. His accolades are comprehensive! He has been conducting at the Merola program in San Francisco in the past, and as their program runs concurrently with ours, we weren’t able to engage him in that way. To think that this summer he’ll be conducting The Barber of Seville with Bruce Donell (former director of Santa Fe Opera) and with Marilyn Horne as the Voice Director is pretty exciting.”

The Mosher Guest Artists Residencies will be initiated this summer, bringing four of the most highly regarded artists in the world. Among them, the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, Glenn Dicterow, stellar pianists, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Valentina Lisitsa, and one of the greatest Wagerian sopranos, Christine Brewer.  Of the residency program, Mr. Reed said “We have such an accomplished faculty, and this program will further enhance what we do best – inspire our fellows through pedagogy and performance. We want to show them how these great artists came into their successes, through the traditional and sometimes non-traditional avenues. When these artists arrive, for anywhere from three to ten days, they have to teach a master class, they have to do some kind of performance either a solo or collaborative, and they have to interact privately with the fellows, either through private lessons or being mentors, sharing stories of how they got to be where they are today. With these wonderful first four artists, we are launching the Mosher Guest Artists Residencies in a very important way and it shows that the Music Academy is recognized by these superlative artists as a place that is turning out the next generation of the world’s top artists, and that they want to be involved in that.”

The Music Academy will also be unveiling the Luria Education Center this summer. “We’re turning into more of a conservatory setting, by creating specialized spaces for our training program. We are creating acoustically treated ensemble rooms and rehearsal spaces. Currently we have no ensemble spaces on campus for our musicians and the community except for the main stages and out in the gardens. When you are dealing with sensitivity of climates with older instruments, this is not ideal. We have two ensemble rooms, a new library, a new master class venue that will fit anywhere between seventy and ninety people depending on the size of the moveable stage. Everything we’ve done with the Luria Education Center has been to address the needs that we have during the summer but also to address the needs of the Santa Barbara community during the non-summer months. We’re bringing in eleven new Steinway pianos into the facility as well. We have a large piano inventory, but some of our pianos have been deemed sub-par, unrepairable, and we needed to replace them to give our fellows the kind of instruments their talents deserve. We’re very proud to say that we have put together a six-year plan to become an all Steinway institution and it starts this summer. The Luria Education Center is exciting just as a facility, but also because it is elevating the program and really shows what we have to offer to the local and international communities.”

The Music Academy concerts will take place on the MAW campus, the Lobero Theater, the Granada, and at the First Presbyterian Church. Please visit www.musicacademy.org for more details.

The hills are alive, with the sound of music coming from the Yellow House.

Jazz promoter (and founder of SOhO and the Jazz Club) Ridah Omri, graphic designer Anita Chambers, and composer Patricio da Silva invite you to their blossoming Artists Residence this summer for some spectacular music set in the lush foothills of Winchester Canyon.  On Friday, May 20^th, pianist Bryan Pezzone will play a wide variety of works and styles, including some from Patricio da Silva’s album, Now & Then: Music from the Great Depression.

Why are you starting the Yellow House Concerts?

Ridah: Well a few years back, I started the Jazz Hall Club and it was an identity, an urgent and necessary thing for me. But this time it’s not about me, it’s about the music! I remember the JHC was an intimate venue, but now I have two different ideas – one is to bring the big name artists to the larger halls in town and for the more intimate settings where you can get to know the musician, we have the Yellow House Concerts. Our first concert on May 20th will be with Bryan Pezzone, the great pianist from Los Angeles, who will play a combination of jazz and classical. I’m very pleased to be back. It took me thirteen years to get the passion again, and here I am!

How is the Yellow House Concerts experience different from the other venues in town?

Anita: This is a thriving Artists Residence: we have a jazz promoter and trumpet player in Ridah, in Patricio, a classical composer and in myself a designer and graphic artist. We believe the difference in doing the concerts here as opposed to say Victoria Hall, or Center Stage or something like that, here at the house, it’s very private. It’s more of a relaxed setting where you will literally be in someone’s living room. It’s quite a unique property, especially in the summers when we’ll have performances outdoor. It’s something you can’t get at any other venue in town. You couldn’t get this feeling at the Jazz Hall.

What does Bryan Pezzone have in store for us on the 20^th??

Anita: Bryan is going to do a 90 minute concert without intermission.

Wow! That’s huge!

Anita: I asked him if he would take an intermission and he said he just wanted to play the program straight through!  We can have intermission afterwards! He calls it a “movie length concert.” He’s going to do a lot of improv work, and he is trained as a classical and a jazz pianist. He tours with the band Free Flight, but he also is the pianist at the Hollywood Bowl, and at Disney Hall.  He does most of the piano solo work for Disney – he is on the Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Lion King soundtracks, and others.

He’ll do the piece “Swinging by Depression”, which is on Patricio’s new album. It’s an improv based on “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, “Honeysuckle Rose’” and “If I Could Be With You”. He’ll also do what he calls his “Mozart Club Sandwich”, in which he starts a work of Mozart and then weaves some jazz into it, literally mixing them in the same piece, always returning to the Mozart! It’s really very entertaining. He’ll also play some Chopin Nocturnes, and also a Nocturne written by Patricio as well.

Who will take the Yellow House Stage in the future?

Ridah: After Bryan Pezzone, we have the Sally Cats, Luis Munoz, Wallace Rooney Quintet, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and maybe before that we’ll have Nina Simone’s daughter, Simone!

Sounds wonderful!

Bryan Pezzone performs on May 20^th 7 pm, Tickets are $25 and include the concert, an intimate Meet-the-Artists reception with some wonderful chocolate gateau, and valet parking. For tickets and information, please visit www.yellowhouseconcerts.com

VidyA is a fresh ensemble that transverses the two worlds of Carnatic music (Classical South Indian music) and American Jazz. This remarkable ensemble will be visiting Santa Barbara on February 26th at UCSB Multi-Cultural Center. I spoke with the band’s leader and saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan while he was visiting Tamil Nadu, India.

It is my understanding that Carnatic and most Indian classical music styles are very traditional and prefer to stay within that tradition although there have been groundbreakers with styles and with instruments (I believe your guru Kadri Gopalnath made the saxophone “acceptable” in the Carnatic tradition). How was VidyA’s music initially received in those circles? Did you experience any resistance?

The concept of combining aspects of Indian classical music with musical traditions outside of India, especially the West, has been in practice for at least 60 years if not more. So listeners, critics and musicians alike are familiar with the idea and consider it as a different angle or genre altogether. Definitely the quality and level of taste associated with these projects have been varied recently. This alone could cause a “resistance” with Carnatic listeners on any mention of a hybrid or “fusion” project. Perhaps my association with both Carnatic and jazz music has lessened some of this.

Ultimately the level of intensity of purpose and thought put into the music can be the measure of its success conceptually. The music of VidyA has sprung from somewhere deep within us despite a certain level of technical complexity on the surface, so I think that has touched some who listen to it. Hopefully the music will go beyond even concepts.

American Jazz also has strict traditions, with a heavy emphasis on improvisation. How was VidyA’s music initially received there?

As far as I can tell, the listeners have been extremely gracious and embraced the music. We receive so much energy from the audience in our live shows. People crave music whose intention comes from the heart. So that always speaks without fail. The perceived strictness of the jazz tradition is a complex topic that is always in flux and discussion, but difficult to pin down.

The only thing I can think of is that serious jazz listeners or musicians point out that some of our songs are in one key, which is unusual for jazz. This is a necessity to preserve the beauty of the Carnatic ragams. The sheer melodic potency of these ragams with all their shades and nuances carry a different dimension of subtle music that would be lost during frequent chord progressions.

We have a special approach in many of our compositions that addresses even this, so listeners will have to look out for it. The first hint of this is the track Kaveri from our first album. Our upcoming second album takes VidyA into an even deeper level.

Is improvisation encouraged in Karnatic music like it is in American Jazz?

It is not only encouraged, it is a necessity and considered more than ½ the equation in a live concert. Musicians are measured by their improvisations.

In listening to your music, it seems you have found a true blend of both styles, and produce a truly unique and new form of music that flows naturally. When you started, did you know it would work?

First, thank you for that! I started the concept many years ago just as a natural progression of being immersed in both kinds of music. I was hearing this music in my head, so I knew it worked on that level. I’m thankful the music actually did come into existence in the real world.

Very few musicians are equally trained in such diverse styles, how has knowing both “languages” & cultures so well influenced you as a person?

I know it has shaped my life and who I am but it would be difficult to say exactly how. The musics are like two different worlds, but still they appear the same in many ways. I am grateful for having the expanded perspective of being exposed to so many influences.

What would be your advice to young musicians trying to find a different “niche” in the musical world?

Listen to as much different kinds of music as possible, but make sure it is good music. Feel free to emulate your musical heroes, but when you actually play on stage, be yourself. There is nothing better in life and music than to just be your true self.

Two great companies will join forces in January to bring Santa Barbara audiences a real treat! The Santa Barbara Symphony and the State St. Ballet will present Aaron Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring. In early December, as he prepared to travel south to conduct  the works of Georges Bizet with the Orchestra & Ballet Corps the Opera Theater of Rome, I spoke with SBS’ Maestro Nir Kabaretti about the production.

How did this collaboration with State St. Ballet begin?

One of the missions of the Santa Barbara Symphony is to collaborate with and be a partner to the leading arts organizations in town.

I thought that it would be a wonderful experience for our concert audience to see how this great music, that is so often performed, will be interpreted in the original form – by the dancers. After all, some of the best known masterpieces like the The Firebird, Romeo & Juliet, Scheherazade etc. are standard pieces in the concert halls, but they were originally written for ballet.

Now that we have not only an excellent hall, but also a hall that has the ability to have us on stage and in the pit (in the same evening!), it makes things even easier.

How is it different to conduct ballet as opposed to opera or orchestral music?

Conducting a ballet has the challenge of synchronizing the music with body movements (dancing), which can be seen as another kind of instrument….

When I conduct an orchestra, I am pretty much free to follow my musical instincts based on the instructions that the composers gave us. But in a ballet, there is another author – the choreographer. Many choreographers take a lot of liberties in translating the music into dancing. If the choreography requires a slower or a faster tempo, I will need to follow that.

Also, it depends on the dancers. I recently worked with two separate casts on the same ballet production. One dancer was much taller than the other, and in the rehearsals he asked me to slow down a little bit, since his body needs a bit more time for the steps….

How much do you work with the choreographer before the first rehearsal with orchestra? Do you know the basic choreography ahead of time and use that as part of your preparation?

Ideally, it should be a real collaboration, and the choreographer and the conductor should work out together the concept of the interpretation. I have often conducted productions from the historic choreographies by Bejart, Petit, Balanchine, etc., so I needed to adapt myself to the existing concepts.

In the upcoming production, I am sure there will be a wonderful collaboration between myself, the Santa Barbara Symphony, the dancers and the new choreography by William Soleau of State St. Ballet!

It is rare to meet a man as intelligent, fun, and with as many interesting experiences as musician David Schwartz. During his 40 year career, David played with the Cleveland, Detroit, and NBC Orchestras under the likes of Arturo Toscanini, Leopold Stokowski, Bruno Walter, Fritz Reiner, Glenn Miller, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and John Williams; he played on the Carol Burnett show, with Yale and Paganini Quartets, and even recorded a live album called “Live at 80!” Not being one to back away from a challenge, at 94 years young, David is currently learning the guitar, and considering another recording project.

I look at your career – you worked with Toscanini, Stokowski, Glenn Miller – you’ve made music that was a huge part of the American cultural fabric. Do you think music has that importance now?

Well, a lot of big orchestras are in trouble. But they have big budgets, and spend about 40% on administration. If you’re a performer at the top, there is money; I know a concertmaster who makes $400,000 a year. But the biggest problem is that there are too many musicians for the jobs. I’d say to my students, “What are you going to do?” They’d say, “I don’t know.…” I’d say, “Well you better marry a rich woman!” (Laughs.)

Did you know that recently the New York Philharmonic had 332 applicants for just two violin spots?

That doesn’t mean they heard all of them – if you’re from Oshkosh, they’ll just throw that away. If you’re from Juilliard, they’ll pay attention. That may be unfair, but how can a committee listen to all those people?

So would you say that music is less a part of the American culture?

No. We’ve grown in population, and I would never tell a music student “you’ll never make it.” We don’t know about money until we start working. I remember when I joined the Cleveland Orchestra at 21, I didn’t even know what they paid. Who cared of money? I just wanted to play! I lived on $40 a month – that was in 1937.

But I came from an unusual background. My parents came from Russia, my mother was a Latvian, and young Jewish girls were not allowed to go to school at the time. She was completely illiterate when she came to this country. What did she do? She went to night school.

She was there. And soon, she was saying, “What kind of language do you have? Why is there a ‘k’ in ‘knife’? Why do you spell ‘light’ with a ‘gh’? And the word ‘through’!” I said, “Mom, you’re right! It’s a crazy language!”

She became very smart, and for culture, she had me study piano. The first thing my dad did when he made a little extra money was to buy us a grand piano, just a six foot one. “Chickering” I think it was called. My three sisters and I all took lessons.

But there was something about the piano that I didn’t cotton to. With the viola or guitar, I control how the sound is made; it’s me expressing myself through the instrument, but with the piano, it’s a mechanical thing. I know pianists spend their whole lives trying to make it not sound like that, but the distance between you and what comes out is so big.

I told my mom that I wanted to play the violin. We went to my second cousin who played and he recommended a man named Joachim Chassman. Joe came to town, and among his pupils were Cathy Linski, and Glenn Dicterow.

What’s your favorite Toscanini story?

Well you asked me… There was a very voluptuous singer who we were working with. She was trying to sing one of these famous opera arias, and she was very nervous. And Toscanini kept saying: “Oh, the music! For shame! Shame!” He was cursing at her – “No, No, that’s a dotted quarter, not a sixteenth!” Finally he went over to her and her luxurious bosom and said, “If only these were brains!”

Oh!

I don’t know if you want to print that…

He’d never get away with that today!

Exactly. No way could he do that today. When I started in the ‘30’s, the conductors were really bastards. They could say anything they like, they could fire you on the spot for nothing! You didn’t even have a contract.

But the lucky thing about my emergence in music was that I had the best of the classical and pop worlds. When I was in the Cleveland Orchestra, I didn’t do too much recording, but later on I was Principal Violist in Detroit, and I played at Motown. I got to know little Michael Jackson when he was a nice little quiet kid. I worked with the Jacksons and many famous musicians. And then when I came to LA, I started working in the studios.

You were an original “crossover” artist!

Well, I didn’t “play jazz” exactly, but after three years with Glenn Miller, I knew what you were supposed to do!

I’d imagine so! What’s your favorite Glenn Miller story?

(Laughs.) Ok, over on the wall over there, there’s a medal that I’d like you to see. When I joined the Air Corps, I was a Link Trainer – I trained pilots. One day I was out drilling the soldiers, and the Captain called me in and said that I was doing a good job. He said that he was going to make me Staff Sergeant, which would keep me out of Europe. I thought to myself, “Gee, what a great patriot I am! Here I am, a Jewish kid, with Hitler over there, and he’s saving me from going overseas!”

Two weeks later, we were shipped out! We had secret orders and didn’t know where we were going. Finally we were told that we were to be deployed to the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Atlantic City! (Laughs.) Most of the rest of them went to the Aleutian Islands!

Anyway, I ended up being sort of the “House Mother” of the top two floors of the Ritz Carlton! They didn’t even have barracks for us! So I would get the guys up at 5:30 am, have them put on their fatigues, helmet, gas mask, rifle, their pack, and then they’d ring for the elevator! I thought, “All the Germans have to do is unscrew the fuse box and my troops are inoperable!”

Then one day the Captain said, “I hear you are a musician. We’re having a Christmas party, would you come and play some carols?” I agreed and I went to the party. Of course, there they had the best gin, the best bourbon, the best everything! Their food was so superior to ours – it really was a crime! They did less work than any of us!

So this guy with a Southern accent comes over and says, “Hey, Sarge, why are you doing this soldiering thing?” I said, “Well, where am I going to play the viola in the US Air Force?” “Well, Glenn is organizing a band – he’s going to have about twenty strings and he’d love to have you!” I said, “Glenn who?” I had just come from Cleveland Orchestra, and had heard his name, but….

I’d imagine that at that time, it was unheard of to have a big band of that size.

Oh yeah! Glenn didn’t use strings up to that point. But I just said “Oh sure!” and forgot about it. Then a couple of months later my Captain called me in and said, “Schwartz! How can you do this blankety-blank!” He was swearing every cuss word he could think! “You’re wanting to go to some band somewhere on the East coast, and I’m not letting you go!” I said, “Ok, sir.”

So I called my friend, (whose name was Fink, such a hard name), and said, “Sergeant Fink, what’s going on?” He laughed and said, “You just sit tight, don’t do anything.” Two hours later, the Captain called me in and said: “You know, I’ve been thinking it over. You have this craft of yours, and I wouldn’t want to stand in your way, so, goodbye and good luck!”

So I went to Yale University for the first time (I ended up teaching there later), as that is where we formed the band. We had all the best jazz musicians in the world from every band you can think of: the Dorsey Brothers, Artie Shaw, just name them, everybody was a star! And the strings were all young players from Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, etc.

This award, signed by President Eisenhower, that was given to you and the band has the words: “Reputation as a Vital and Important Morale Builder in the Theater of European Operations”. I bet the soldiers just went crazy for the band!

It’s too bad that Eisenhower didn’t write what he said to us, which was, “You’re the second thing that any red-blooded soldier would want over here!”

What would you suggest to orchestras locally and nationally to get new members of the public involved in classical music?

Well, I don’t know how much of this they do around here, but in LA they do a certain amount of concerts that are free to the public, though the musicians are paid, through the Musicians Performance Trust Fund. You have to do free chamber music concerts, and performances at middle schools to get them interested. There’s still a stigma that classical music is ‘hoi-polloi’ stuff. But you can bring it right down to the kids, and play “Yankee Doodle” and let them touch it or bang on it. Have the musicians really go into the classroom and show the kids what’s easy to do on the instruments, on the piano, saw, flute. Anything where they can make the notes. The difficult thing is getting them to relate what we do to the popular music they hear today. I have a theory – in early rock in the 50’s there was a connection in the chord structure to Baroque music. But now, there isn’t much of a connection. I don’t even understand what they’re trying to do. There have been bands with really great musicians, but I don’t get what it is they are trying to do.

What did you think of Frank Zappa?

(He laughs) I liked Zappa. In the Yale Quartet, we recorded Beethoven’s Opus 132, and were nominated for a Grammy. We knew we weren’t going to win, we were up against Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar who won, but I went to the party anyway. Frank Zappa and Leopold Stokowski were the two MC’s that night and it was the most fun night I ever had!

What advice would you give to students as far as what makes a good musician?

Flexibility makes a good musician today. The conservatory training is all wrong to stick to etudes and concertos. Give them a Bulgarian rhythm to play! I’d always tell my students to just play – you don’t need music – just improvise. You can’t make it just playing classical music. You have to know bass clef, you have to be able improvise, you have to know other kinds of music.

David credits Jane, his wife of 55 years, with being an amazing support in his life. When big jobs would come that would take him away from their growing family, he’d talk with her, and say that he felt he was being unfair leaving her with the kids, and she’d say, “I never want to hear you say I wish I had done this or that…” David said: “I could never thank her enough for that kind of understanding. She would also really look after me – she’d say ‘you played seventeen gigs this week! I just bought you a ticket to Mexico, you leave Thursday night.’ She knew I wouldn’t have any gigs down there… So I was very lucky!”

David Schwartz has seen more in his life than most of us will ever have the chance to. As might be normal when speaking with a 94 year old man, we chatted about aging – going gray… he is here, as he is in many respects unique – the majority of the hair on his head is still black…

…well I’m interested in politics, but it’s not going to make me go gray

It doesn’t seem like much will make you go gray! Those are some strong genes you have there!

(Pointing to a plaque on the wall) There’s my mantra –

“Live well, Love much, Laugh Often”

Do you need anything other than that?