RCEditions

Gisele Ben-Dor was the conductor of Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra in Boston for several years in the 1990's, and featured me in Piazzolla's 'Oblivion,' for soprano saxophone and strings. She introduced me to a composer whose music I fell in love with, and which I began playing whenever I could, as well as branching out to other music from South America and Spain. Gisele is from Uruguay and Israel. Gisele treated me as a contemporary colleague, with the promise that we would work together again, and we did; giving the Israeli premiere of Betty Olivero's Concerto 'Kr'iot,' with the Jerusalem Symphony in 2010! It was a perfect reunion--with Betty having gone to school with Gisele at Yale (where I also happened to teach, without knowing them at the time) and being friends and colleagues for 30 years, and after giving the first performance elsewhere a year or so before, a chance to work together as a team in presenting what we all felt was a unified interpretation of a really great work of Art. Indeed Betty Olivero, with her ability to combine the ancient Jewish music in a 20-21st century prism, which transmits as a combination of Berio, Debussy and Druckman, is my favorite living composer, and perhaps the finest. Her voice is unique. Both Gisele and Betty are cosmopolitan, international musicians, understanding history and bringing that knowledge and worldliness to their performances and compositions respectively. And Betty, rather than being an 'avant-gardist,' 'modernist,' 'new complexity,' or any other label, is a composer with her own voice whom I believe will have a special place in music history.

Andre Previn was conductor of the Houston Symphony when I was growing up. I heard him on two outreach concerts, one at my own Clear Creek High School, and then again in Clear Lake City. I remember Weber's 'Overture to Euryanthe' was quite fast and I remember some very old ladies whispering into his ear, as they greeted him at the receiving line. Many years later I played for him at Tanglewood and recounted my youthful experience, and said I didn't remember what I said in the receiving line, but always wondered what the women had said. He said, I guarantee yours was more interesting. I have performed with him with the Boston Symphony (in many pieces), with an especially enjoyable performance of his composition 'Streetcar Named Desire.' Mr. Previn was always clear with the orchestra, musical and a real gentleman. He always made me (and I believe, all others), feel that we were in good musical hands, and that he we could count on and trust him for a well thought out interpretation, no matter what the style (for he knew them all, as jazz pianist, Hollywood film score writer, classical composer and pianist).

Ben Zander is the greatest motivator of young people (as well as workers in many Fortune 500 companies) I have ever seen. His own musicianship is passionate, intelligent, thoughtful, and insightful. Who could ask for more. He has a message which empowers us to take responsibility for our own individual performances, while striving to fit into the chamber or orchestral overall sound at the highest level I have ever experienced or observed, and Ben has maintained this over at least 4 generations!. (I have seen it work firsthand, for my own generation (he was one of my teachers in graduate school, and later my daughter's orchestra director for the New England Conservatory Prep School's Youth Philharmonic.

Richard Hoenich, as Music Director of the NEC Orchestras, was always open to good ideas for projects, from anyone. And I woke up daily, with what I believed were good ideas. Some of those which 'stuck,' were the American Premiere of Viktor Ullmann's Slavonic Rhapsody (for Saxophone) written the year before Ullmann was sent to Terezin, and ultimately Auschwitz, the reintroduction of the Elise Hall commissions, the recordings and world or local premieres of Elliott Schwartz and Donald Martino concerti, and many more. Richard is a dear friend, and one of the finest people on earth. He is a 'mensch,' a wonderful conductor, and described by more than one former NEC student as 'the best chamber music coach I ever had.' He continues to be a frequent guest at my Wind Performance Classes.

Pianists

Eliko Akahori, Yoshiko Kline, John McDonald (present), and Albert Hirsh, Moreland Kortkamp Roller (past)

A Salute to (My) Teachers

4. Conductors, Pianists, Composers and other related inspirations (cont.)