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by Vidaliamsay-Dethiraye

Young conductor brings classical music to new audiences.

Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News

J

oshua Weilerstein, a 27-year-old
conductor, tries to be collaborative
as he moves among orchestras.
"I try to take what an orchestra gives
and mold it into what I think the composer
was looking for," says Weilerstein. "I try to
work together without imposing myself on
the orchestra. Obviously, musicianship and
technique are very important, but conduct-
ing [involves] knowing how to work and
making the atmosphere positive:'
During an upcoming visit to Michigan,
the conductor, who also plays violin, will
appear in a series of concerts April 30-May
3. He will divide his time among neighbor-
hood venues and Orchestra Hall as part of
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's William
Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series.
The series brings Weilerstein's first
appearances on area stages and his first col-
laboration with the DSO, and will spotlight
visiting pianist Louis Schwizgebel (who also
makes his DSO debut).
He will conduct a Mozart and More
program, which includes Mozart's Piano
Concerto No. 9 ("Jeunehomme"); Britten's
"Four Sea Interludes" from Peter Grimes;
Arvo Part's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin
Britten; and Schumann's Symphony No. 1
("Spring"). "While the program is varied,
there are some deep and tenuous connec-
tions among the pieces," Weilerstein says. "I
think it's an exciting program"
Weilerstein points out the obvious con-
nection between the Britten and Arvo Part
memorial segments. He also calls attention
to the Mozart and Schumann pieces as
being the works of young men.
Based in New York, where he recently
completed a three-year appointment
as assistant conductor of the New York
Philharmonic, Weilerstein has been
conducting the Los Angeles Chamber
Orchestra before he moves on to Detroit,
part of a season that places him around
the country and amid concert centers in
Europe and Asia. Next, he will begin his
tenure as artistic director designate of the
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne in
Switzerland for the 2015-16 season.
Weilerstein grew up in a Jewish household
among professional musicians: His father,
Donald, plays violin; his mother, Vivian,
plays piano; and his sister, Alisa, plays cello.
"I wasn't one of those kids who picked
up the violin and decided this was it:'
Weilerstein says. "I started the violin when

I was 4 or 5 and quit. I started again when
I was around 8, but it was not something I
wanted to do as a job until I was about 15.
"I went on a tour with my youth orchestra
to Panama and Guatemala, where we played
some concerts for thousands and thousands
of kids who had never heard a symphony
orchestra before. It was so inspiring to see
how excited they got, and that influenced
me. Also, the music we played was so won-
derful that I felt I couldrit live without it"
Conducting became his interest while
studying at the New England Conservatory
in Boston, where he worked with Ludovic
Morlot, now Seattle Symphony conductor,
and saw a DVD of Carlos Kleiber conducting.
"It was life-changing to hear what Kleiber
was able to do',' says Weilerstein, who has
become one of the most sought-after conduc-
tors in the world. He is committed to opening
the traditional classical canon to new audi-
ences while enlivening concert-going.
Weilerstein had another life-changing
event while in Jerusalem: He met his wife,
Bernice Keshet, now a social work graduate
student at Columbia University. "My wife is a
cellist, but she's not doing that professionally,"
he says. "[Our meeting] was very serendipi-
tous. It was her last festival on the cello, and it
was my last festival on the violin:'
The conductor sometimes helps his wife
in volunteering at Upbeat NYC, part of the
international El Sistema movement that
teaches instrumental music to underprivi-
leged youths. "When I went to Guatemala,
it was incredible to hear what kids in El
Sistema were capable of doing; he says.
"Social change also was achieved. A lot of
the kids have been taken off the streets and
are doing something productive:'
Weilerstein believes orchestras should
have artistic and social missions, especially
with public schools losing arts funding.
"I think it's incredibly important to bring
the arts to people' he says. "We cherish the
devoted audiences, but bringing the orches-
tra to communities is to the social good"

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Joshua Weilerstein will conduct
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30,
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek
in Southfield; 10:45 a.m. Friday,
May 1, at the Ford Community
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April 23 • 2015

57