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MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm Michael Dunne. I've said this a few times before, but there are several areas where Eugene punches above its weight. What I mean by that is how in certain circumstances, we enjoy amenities that belie the size of the city. Obviously, athletic venues are one area, but another is the combination of the Eugene symphony and the Hult Center. Our city owned Concert Hall is the envy of many other larger cities on the West Coast, and our region's Hallmark Symphony has enjoyed outstanding musicians and leaders for decades. Today, on the show, you'll hear from one of those leaders as he makes a triumphant return to Eugene, Grammy Award winner Giancarlo Guerrero. Guerrero once led the symphony as its music director, and he comes back to Eugene for a special concert at the Hult center on January 15. Grammy Award winning conductor, Giancarlo Guerrero, welcome to the program.
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: Thank you so much for having me.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Yeah, I guess I should say, welcome back to Eugene. You're making a special appearance here in Eugene on January 15. But of course, our fair city was where your first music director position occurred back in the early 2000s why don't we start with this? Tell us what it's like to come back to Eugene, where you once led the symphony?
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: This is definitely the highlight of my season, honestly, when the Eugene company reached out to me coming back and be part of the season, I the first thing was like, of course, just tell me when and where and I'll be there. I didn't care what repertoire. Anything that to me was, was not even part of the discussion. I just wanted to be back and Eugene and the symphony have a special place in my heart, a special place in my own history. I would not be where I am nowadays without the Eugene symphony and so many great memories of my time there, and I am particularly looking forward to working with a range of wonderful musicians of the orchestra, many of whom I had the privilege of appointing to those positions, and see how far the orchestra has grown artistically, and at the same time, visit with great friends and people that were instrumental in my own personal growth. And so, yes, I mean you this next week is going to be one very special from, from every aspect you know, personally and musically.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I would imagine that a conductor such as yourself, you know, takes pieces of the places you've been as you ascend throughout your career. You talked about this just a second ago. But even to pull the string a little bit further, what was it about? What is it about Eugene that you carry with you as you as you've gone on to other places.
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: You know, as a conductor, you early on, the first times that you get and you're building up podium hours. You know, you're waving your stick, and you're kind of learning the ropes of being a music director. And nobody teaches that in the conservatory how to be a music director, you're going to have to learn that on the spot. You know, the idea of programming for a community and having to deal with the staff, and having to deal with marketing and having to deal with fundraising, having to deal with personal issues within the orchestra, having to deal, you know, with an entire community. And I felt that from the very beginning, this was the first spot, because, I mean, they embraced me in a way that they allowed me to basically, you know, learn the ropes on the job, and at the same time encouraged me to kind of show who I was musically and personally, because everything that I programmed was a reflection of who I am, and many things that I kind of was experimenting and finding out as a conductor about what type of journey I wanted to be on and what type of journey I wanted to bring the audience and the orchestra along. So having a place that allows you to nurture that within you and take it and make you feel comfortable as you go along, speaking in public, doing pre-concert lectures, all of the things you kind of just have to learn, you know as you progress. So, I could not imagine a better place that that that gave me that opportunity. And remember, I mean, before me, you had Marion also, but Miguel Hart Bedoya. So, this place already had that special sauce of nurturing young talent, and I was very lucky to be, I guess, the third in line from that very prestigious my prestigious predecessors.
MICHAEL DUNNE: When you're describing what you just said, I feel as though being in front of the. Orchestra on the podium. That's like the tip of the iceberg. Talk about that because I don't think many people realize how much a music director must do to make it all work. Talk about that.
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: You know, conducting the orchestra is actually the easy part of the job that train for. But then when the rehearsals are over, and then you have to sit with comedians. You have to sit with marketing departments. You have to sit with fundraise you have to sit with supporters of the orchestra and subscribers. Your duty is to provide a musical concerts and phonic experience for that community. And as the city is changing, you have to continue adjusting. So you have to always have to keep your ears on the ground, and you have to open a lot of this and see where you know, how things are happening, also the orchestra itself. How you make it better? How much do you push it? You know, artistically, you know, how much do you challenge them? Because you don't want things to become routine. I mean, the moment things become routine, then we're doomed. I want the beta five to sound new again. So how do you do that? How do you encourage that? So as a young conductor, you're yourself, kind of finding out how rehearsals work and how you know you have this limited time. And what do you focus on? You have to choose your battles. So like you mentioned correctly before, I mean conducting, what you see at the performance is not only a tip of the aspirin, it's 10% of it. What happens behind it that 90% of planning and programming and dreaming about it is really where the magic is. And here's the best part, you won't know until the concert happens, whether it's all going to work out or not, all you can do is prepare for it. But there are many other things that are out of your control when it comes to providing that experience. And I have a feeling that with this particular program, with our soloist showcasing the virtuality of the orchestra, I think many, many of our, even the more seasoned conservators of the Eugene symphonies, I think are going to appreciate how truly fantastic the orchestra is.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Well, run with that. Give us a preview of what folks are going to see and hear on at the Hult center on January 15.
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: Well, let me start with the big piece, which is the Symphony Fantastique of Hector Berlioz. And the title says it all, fantastique is fantastic. It's a piece that is intended to showcase the orchestra Berlioz was one of the great orchestrators to actually, his book on orchestration, his treaties and orchestra, is still being used today by music school by composers. So that man was almost 200 years ahead of his time. So, this is the piece that will showcase the orchestra, you know, individually from the players, and at the same time, it's a piece that was kind of groundbreaking because of the fact that he had a story associated. Remember that back in the day, symphonies were supposed to be just musical experiences, but here, Berlioz was experimenting with actually telling a story through only music, no opera, no singers, no text. And it's a very tragic story that he falls in love with this actual Irish actress and has his dream that was infused by a little opium at the time. And he dreams that he kills this actress. He's condemned to death. I mean, he's sent to the guillotine. He ends up in the surrounded by witches. It is everything that you need. I mean, you know, in a tragic story, love story, in this case, then, because it is, you know, barely is one of the great French composers, I decided to program the Mozart symphony number 31 which picked Mozart wrote in Paris. And interestingly enough, this symphony has a particular quirk that Mozart when he wrote it, and we think of him as one of the great geniuses of music, like Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. But these were real human beings that also had insecurities. So, at the performance, he wrote to his father off the net the day after, and he said, you know, at the performance, I was surprised that the second movement, which is the slow movement, is a three-movement symphony. He said, I was surprised that the audience, and I quote, did not clap as loud and as enthusiastically as I expected, and opens the whole door of like should you clapping between the movement Well, back in the day, as far as the end of the 19th century, you were not only supposed to clap. It was expected. And here's the deal, if you like the movement enough, you are supposed to play it again. And most very surprised that that second movement was kind of the clapping died down, and then the symphony finished. So, he wrote to his father and said, You know, I wonder if I should just write another one. And he did so. The first few times that I conducted the piece, the first decision that you make as a conductor is, which middle movement do you do the original one or the second one? And then I said to myself, You know what? They're both geniuses. I mean, they're both Mozart. They're very different. So, I kind of do this experiment where I actually tell this story to the audience, and then I play them both, and I tell them, Listen, clap as loud as you want. And let's experiment whether motor was writing, writing a second one or the first one was good enough. And I that's going to be very liberating for the audience to be able to show and 200 plus years later, whether you know. Motor was fine keeping the first one or maybe the second one, you know, was a little bit friendlier. So, we will be doing that at the performance, and then to open one of the great pieces, again, orchestral showcase by Claude Debussy, another French composer, the Prelude to the Afternoon of a fun which in many ways, kind of opened the door to the modernism of the 20th century. Is a very about peace, very passionate and erotic piece based on a poem by Mother May so. 10 minutes of just beautiful, impressionistic music. And once again, as I said, because there's no soloist, the focus will be on the musicians of the Eugene symphony.
MICHAEL DUNNE: It sounds very exciting. Speaking of a guest a spot where you coming in to conduct an orchestra that's not your normal orchestra. You're in Nashville. What are the challenges of doing a guest conductor spot versus the normal gig that you do in your season.
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: Well, you know, honestly, I don't see it like as a guest conducting, I'm just coming home to begin with, how to get from the hotel to the store. I know that I don't have to ask anybody. I know exactly how to make it there. So that already feels like it's going to be like home, and the fact that I know so many of the musicians there, and so many of the people around the orchestra in terms of subscribers, and you know it's going to feel like a return home, but yes, now you have a brand-new music director who I actually know, and I'm very happy for both the orchestra and him, because he's immensely talented. I met him personally in Chicago this past summer, and I think he's wonderful and a very, very creative person. I think the right person for Eugene in this moment. And as a guest conductor, listen, I'm there to help him with his vision. When I was invited, I immediately said, What do you need from me? I mean, the music director, Alex, has his own ideas of what he wants to do. And my question was, what you need from me? I am happy to fill in the blanks of whatever is needed. That's what guest conductors do. We're supposed, they're supposed to come out and compliment what it is that they want to do. And I guess, you know, I, I've been around, you know, now almost 40 years conducting, having enough, you know, Arsenal in my repertoire, that I can, I have it all there. I mean, I can, I can do anything that he wanted. So in the end, we came up with this program, and I was very happy to do it. I'm very honored to be part of of the season and something that was kind of curated around what he wants to achieve with the orchestra. So honestly, it's a guest conducting, officially, but not really. I mean, I don't, I will never think of Eugene Symphony as being as a guest. I mean, it's a former home. It's a place that, in many ways I call one of my musical homes, even if I don't go back as often as I would like. I was just, I just finished a 20-year stint in Nashville. There's no way that I'm ever going to be a guest, a guest conductor ever, you know, so I that's something that separates that from all the other places I would say that. And there's only, right now in the United States, only two places that I can claim that. I mean now three, with Sarasota, but I'm currently a music director, but only Eugene and Nashville that I can think that you know particular place in in my heart.
MICHAEL DUNNE: You have traveled the world and conducted so many orchestras in different states and different nations, is part of your role as a conductor, as an ambassador and educator of music to the world.
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: You know you when you come and conduct an orchestra as a guest conductor for the first time, the chemistry is either there or it is not, and you find that out in the first five minutes, when you get in a different place, a different country, you find out whether the week is going to be special or whether it's not happening and it has nothing to do with the orchestra or the conductor. It's like any human relationship. It's either there or it is not. And when it is there, it is absolutely unique. Is something that all of a sudden, every little thing that you do with your arms or with your eyes immediately respond to. And when that happens that that's when you know that, as a conductor, you can push things in a way, and you can convince them that even though they play this particular piece in a certain way, it's like no guys forget everything you know. There's no baggage. Put all your baggage outside. Let's approach this new this, this Beethoven symphony, for example, as something that we have never played, and that goes through the rehearsal technique. It goes through, through basically exploring something new with a new group of friends. Even if, let's say the symphony fantastic that I've done several times, going back to Eugene and doing it with them, it's going to be like doing it for the first time, because I they have their own I, you know, experience with the piece, and so have I, and we're going to have a very limited time to put it together. So that is where that chemistry comes in. You don't want to be spending a lot of time with the conductor talking too much. That's the last thing musicians want. We do show you. Show us what you want. We will do it. And there is no wrong answer, as long as it comes from conviction that. Something I tell young conductors, remember, there is no wrong answer, you know. I rather, you know, the I always tell musicians, you know, I rather that you have bad ideas than no ideas. And when that happens to me and with the right conditions, as I said, of connection with a particular group, the magic can be absolutely amazing, and audiences immediately sense that.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Listening to you talk about that, and I'm thinking, especially today, in our world, where there's so much strife and so much disagreement and discord, you know what you just talked about, that idea of, you know, collaboration and even symbiosis. I mean, symphony orchestras is there a role to play in, sort of finding community and finding common ground?
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: I don’t think it’s only symphony orchestra. I think in everything, the idea that you can have disagreements with great respect and tolerance, and in many ways, I don't think that it's been it's getting lost. I think it's just that there are so many loud voices that are drowning out logic and are drowning out the basic instincts of human beings. Which people are? You know, people are good, but unfortunately, nowadays, loud people being loud, that's, that's what's getting all the attention. And there's something about music that it is not the loud moments that you remember. They're the quiet ones. It's the ending of performances that send you, that make give you feel. And trust me, you feel it in on the podium, you know. You feel these 1800 2000 people behind you, all breathing together and with orchestras. I guess we are trained to follow conductors, you know, and we have that sixth sense that when it is when it comes from the heart, but it is being truly honest, we jump that cliff for these people, even if it's against everything that we have been trained to do. We do it just because these people inspire us in so many ways, and those are the moments that we remember. And even if I haven't seen the orchestra in Eugene for for, you know, for quite a, quite a, quite a few times, you're quite a long time. I promise you it's going to be like the first day that I came there. I have a feeling that from the very first moment, you know, the magic will start flying. But I do agree that music is always going to be a force for good. I always believe, you know, that that music is a source for great social change, social, you know, inspiration. And nowadays, with the world becoming smaller, you know, we're becoming even more a part, just because, you know, we're losing a little bit of that basic tolerance. But I am hopeful. Call me, call me optimistic. I am so hopeful. There are moments that go through this and eventually, things will eventually come back to center, because it's unsustainable. And I with all my travels, I see it, and I remain hopeful about that.
MICHAEL DUNNE: My last question for you is this, and I've talked to people about the Eugene symphony, and many people have told me it's this great place, especially for people who've never been to a concert before, never been to the symphony before, it's a great place to have that first experience. And so, I wanted to give you the opportunity for people out in our audience who maybe have never been to the symphony before, you know, what can what you're going to put on January 15 at the Hult center. What can that be, for that first time concert goer?
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: You know what this program that I'm doing is the equivalent of our heavy metal rock concert? You know, you have superstars, not only with the symphony musicians themselves, but Berlioz Mozart and Debussy, these guys are the equivalent of rock stars. And there is a reason why the music of these people, in some cases, 250 years old, has been around. It's not because they're pretty melodies. No, it's bigger than that. It's deeper than that. And when you come and experience this for the first time, you have to basically leave that baggage behind and think that, oh, Symphony concerts are, you know, are boring, and a lot of it is because of pop culture. You know opera well, how many of people have actually attended an opera that believe that? None, you know. So, its perception, and I do know for a fact. And when somebody that has never attended a performance for whatever reason finally takes the, you know, takes the plunge and said, I'm going to go, you know. Or my boss gave me tickets, or my neighbors took me. They are forever grateful for the opportunity that this world was open to them. It's not that they didn't like it, it's just that they were not exposed to it. And there always has to be a first time, and one of the main jobs as music directors is making people feel welcomed. I am not in the business of getting rid of audience. I'm in the business of building audiences and making people feel comfortable and speaking to them in their language, and this idea that somehow, you're supposed to like everything that you listen. Give me a break. Do you think I like every piece that I listen? Into me, my life is not that boring. I have and I have things that I don't like, and it's a reflection of who I am, and I'm very proud of it. There's some idea that if you don't like something, there's something wrong with you. No, be proud of who you are. My Listen, my wife and I go to concerts all the time as audience members. Yeah, we may be in the same building, but we're not at the same concert. He's hearing it through her prison. I'm hearing it through mine. And like anything, this is the ears are a muscle. The brain is a muscle. You develop it, the more you do it, the more things you hear. So, I always invite people come and, you know, give it a shot. And I promise you you're going to come out a changed person, because you're going to find things about yourself that perhaps you were not even aware, just because you expose yourself to it, and more importantly, it becomes a gift. So, to me, nothing is holding you back, and you're absolutely right, a place of the Eugene Symphony with a world class orchestra and a wonderful concert hall. What's stopping you?
MICHAEL DUNNE: He's coming home on January 15 to the Hult center. Giancarlo Guerrero, the former music director of the Eugene symphony, Grammy Award winner, really appreciate your time and look forward to hearing you and seeing you on January 15.
GIANCARLO GUERRERO: Thank you so much, Michael, always a pleasure.
MICHAEL DUNNE: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon On The Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org. Tomorrow on the show, you'll hear from a local homeless advocate about how the Trump administration is looking to cut even more from programs to shelter people in need. I'm Michael Dunne, host of Oregon, On The Record, thanks for listening.
