An Interview with James Sedares
Arizona Republic reporter Richard Nilsen recently spoke with former Music Director James Sedares on his upcoming concerts with The Phoenix Symphony.It has been 13 years since James Sedares conducted the Phoenix Symphony. The symphony’s former music director left in 1996, after a 10-year stint with the orchestra. But it isn’t as if he hasn’t been busy since then. Amazon.com lists 38 recordings he has made, mostly with the New Zealand Symphony and mostly specializing in 20th-century composers.
Now, Sedares has been invited back, for the first time, as a guest conductor. He will be performing Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, Hindemith’s “Symphonic Variations” and Dvorak’s “Carnival Overture.”
“Michael (Christie, Phoenix Symphony music director) and I wanted to recognize the truly remarkable institutional and artistic innovations that took place when he was music director,” says Maryellen Gleason, symphony president.
“He was so popular with audiences, and it’s an important institutional gesture to invite him back and celebrate him.”But in some ways, it won’t actually be a homecoming; Sedares never left. He has continued to live in the Valley with his wife of 25 years, Lorna, and daughter, Lisa, who’s now 17. “My wife is a wonderful person and a great life partner,” he says.
Question: And what have you learned from your daughter?
Answer: I was a classical- music kid, growing up in Chicago. My mother was an amateur opera singer and my grandfather was an operaphile. He had all these Victrola 78s, and he played them for me. But Lisa has given me a course in the school of rock. I missed it all the first time around. The Beatles — I didn’t get it. I finally came around to realize that the Beatles really did change the world.
Q: And you stayed in Phoenix even after you left the Phoenix Symphony.
A: Our roots are strong in Phoenix, and we stayed for a variety of reasons. As a traveling conductor, I didn’t have to have a residence anywhere special, and from Phoenix, it’s easy to get to Los Angeles and, from there, to anywhere else. People love to come to Phoenix. It’s no longer a seasonal city, it’s a yearround city. And I remember the Chicago winters.
Q: Much of your work has been in recordings, and much of that with the New Zealand Symphony. How is New Zealand different?
A: New Zealand is a small country, about 4 million people, but it’s the most literate country in the world, some 97 percent of the people read. And are well-read. Bookstores are huge in New Zealand. Everyone goes to concerts; it’s a vibrant place. They have the New Zealand Symphony and four or five regional orchestras as well.
Q: For most Americans, New Zealand means “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Lord of the Rings.”
A: When Peter Jackson made the “Rings” movies, he built a studio and office complex just outside Wellington that is massive, with a soundstage, recording studio and sets. There was tremendous interest and financial wherewithal brought to New Zealand with those.
Q: You have this connection to New Zealand, and our current music director came to us from Australia.
A: Too many Americans don’t understand the difference. Australia is more like the U.S., and New Zealand is more like England. It goes to the way those countries were founded. Also, there is tremendous influence from the Maori culture that makes it unique. In New Zealand, they have Polynesian names for the streets.
Q: Most of the recordings you made there were for the Koch label. But now you seem to be becoming one of the house conductors for the Naxos label.
A: Naxos changed the way classical music is made and marketed. That and the rise of Internet downloads and iTunes has really changed it. Through various changes in management, we will have about eight recordings in the can yet to be released. There’s some (Ernest) Bloch I did some years ago — a symphony for trombone — that we hope to get released soon.
Q: And your last big recording, Franz Waxman’s oratorio, “Joshua,” was with the venerable DG label.
A: My producer at Koch left to go to DG, and I followed him there. It’s the way recording projects are done now. More like indie movies. Get a project up and running and find a label to distribute it. It used to be called vanity recordings and looked down on, but now that’s just regular business practice.
Q: How did you come up with your program for this concert?
A: The program was a joint effort. I was asked to have lunch with Michael and Maryellen, and we talked about it. I was pleased with it; it’s a strong one, orchestrally — a little 20th-century spice surrounded by Tchaikovsky and Dvorak.
Q: A mix of eras and styles?
A: Like bringing me back. You have institutional continuity and memory. It’s important to maintain ties with the past as well as going into the future.
Now, Sedares has been invited back, for the first time, as a guest conductor. He will be performing Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, Hindemith’s “Symphonic Variations” and Dvorak’s “Carnival Overture.”
“Michael (Christie, Phoenix Symphony music director) and I wanted to recognize the truly remarkable institutional and artistic innovations that took place when he was music director,” says Maryellen Gleason, symphony president.
“He was so popular with audiences, and it’s an important institutional gesture to invite him back and celebrate him.”But in some ways, it won’t actually be a homecoming; Sedares never left. He has continued to live in the Valley with his wife of 25 years, Lorna, and daughter, Lisa, who’s now 17. “My wife is a wonderful person and a great life partner,” he says.
Question: And what have you learned from your daughter?
Answer: I was a classical- music kid, growing up in Chicago. My mother was an amateur opera singer and my grandfather was an operaphile. He had all these Victrola 78s, and he played them for me. But Lisa has given me a course in the school of rock. I missed it all the first time around. The Beatles — I didn’t get it. I finally came around to realize that the Beatles really did change the world.
Q: And you stayed in Phoenix even after you left the Phoenix Symphony.
A: Our roots are strong in Phoenix, and we stayed for a variety of reasons. As a traveling conductor, I didn’t have to have a residence anywhere special, and from Phoenix, it’s easy to get to Los Angeles and, from there, to anywhere else. People love to come to Phoenix. It’s no longer a seasonal city, it’s a yearround city. And I remember the Chicago winters.
Q: Much of your work has been in recordings, and much of that with the New Zealand Symphony. How is New Zealand different?
A: New Zealand is a small country, about 4 million people, but it’s the most literate country in the world, some 97 percent of the people read. And are well-read. Bookstores are huge in New Zealand. Everyone goes to concerts; it’s a vibrant place. They have the New Zealand Symphony and four or five regional orchestras as well.
Q: For most Americans, New Zealand means “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Lord of the Rings.”
A: When Peter Jackson made the “Rings” movies, he built a studio and office complex just outside Wellington that is massive, with a soundstage, recording studio and sets. There was tremendous interest and financial wherewithal brought to New Zealand with those.
Q: You have this connection to New Zealand, and our current music director came to us from Australia.
A: Too many Americans don’t understand the difference. Australia is more like the U.S., and New Zealand is more like England. It goes to the way those countries were founded. Also, there is tremendous influence from the Maori culture that makes it unique. In New Zealand, they have Polynesian names for the streets.
Q: Most of the recordings you made there were for the Koch label. But now you seem to be becoming one of the house conductors for the Naxos label.
A: Naxos changed the way classical music is made and marketed. That and the rise of Internet downloads and iTunes has really changed it. Through various changes in management, we will have about eight recordings in the can yet to be released. There’s some (Ernest) Bloch I did some years ago — a symphony for trombone — that we hope to get released soon.
Q: And your last big recording, Franz Waxman’s oratorio, “Joshua,” was with the venerable DG label.
A: My producer at Koch left to go to DG, and I followed him there. It’s the way recording projects are done now. More like indie movies. Get a project up and running and find a label to distribute it. It used to be called vanity recordings and looked down on, but now that’s just regular business practice.
Q: How did you come up with your program for this concert?
A: The program was a joint effort. I was asked to have lunch with Michael and Maryellen, and we talked about it. I was pleased with it; it’s a strong one, orchestrally — a little 20th-century spice surrounded by Tchaikovsky and Dvorak.
Q: A mix of eras and styles?
A: Like bringing me back. You have institutional continuity and memory. It’s important to maintain ties with the past as well as going into the future.
1 Comments:
I remember playing under Maestro Sedares in the New Zealand National Youth Orchestra 2 years in a row. He was a wonderful conductor and teacher even putting up with me when during rehearsal he asked for the basses to play a hard passage alone in Barber's Essay No. 2. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty so I told him no, that we would have a sectional on that night and play it for him tomorrow- and he said OK! I remember the disbelief on other players faces that I had gotten away with that. Needless to say the passage got worked on and the concert was a success.
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