28 June 27 • 2019
jn

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
DSO Takes On Jaws

Guest conductor will keep the orchestra and fi
 lm synchronized.

A 

new movie-going trend is drawing audienc-
es into symphony halls.
Instead of hearing recorded background 
music to accentuate film plotlines, these audiences 
are hearing full concert orchestras perform live 
renditions of the scores as stories unfold on film 
screens. 
Sophisticated technology has allowed for the 
removal of music soundtracks so live instrumental-
ists can elevate immediate sound experiences while 
dialogue goes along as usual.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is 
joining the trend 
under the lead-
ership of Joshua 
Gersen, a guest 
conductor who has 
worked with clas-
sical musicians in 
different cities to 
bring this format 
to a range of cinema favorites. 
The choice for the Motor City event is Jaws, 
an acclaimed summertime thriller about a resort 
town terrorized by a shark. The Steven Spielberg 
production features a John Williams score, which 
won an Academy Award and was chosen the sixth 
greatest score by the American Film 
Institute. 
The Jaws in Concert program will 
start at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 
10, in Orchestra Hall as the music 
further dramatizes the acting team-
work of Roy Scheider as the town’
s 
police chief, Richard Dreyfuss as a 
marine biologist and Robert Shaw as 
a professional shark hunter intent on 
removing danger in the water.
“It’
s up to the orchestra to stay syn-
chronized with the film,” says Gersen, who worked 
with the DSO last summer in presenting a series of 
concerts with music selections by American com-
posers, some represented by films but without the 
projections. 
“It’
s very challenging, but I have a screen in front 
of me to make sure we stay in the right spot. I did 
Jaws once before in San Francisco, and I’
ve also 
done Star Wars, Fantasia, Breakfast at Tiffany’
s and 
Vertigo.
“With these programs, I get a video that has all 
the [production] symbols, and I have to practice 
going through that. It gets me ready to keep the 
orchestra in time with the film. I think there’
s 
something additional that people feel when they’
re 
hearing live music. It’
s more inspiring.”

Gersen, whose interest in becoming a con-
ductor started before any instrumental interest, 
has presented workshops and music clinics for 
Michigan high school students. The instructional 
programming, arranged through the University of 
Michigan, was presented by members of the New 
York Philharmonic, where he recently finished a 
term as assistant conductor.
“I have loved and studied the orchestral rep-
ertoire all my life,” says Gersen, 35, who is based 
in New York. “I watched conductors on TV and 
wanted to be one since I was very little. I did start 
musical studies 
with the piano 
and violin 
before dabbling 
in some other 
instruments 
in middle 
school and high 
school.
“It’
s hard to major in conducting as an under-
grad so I majored in composition as an undergrad 
at the New England Conservatory of Music in 
Boston. I started studying conducting primarily 
in grad school at the Curtis Institute of Music in 
Philadelphia.”
After completing Curtis, Gersen 
began conducting for the New World 
Symphony in Miami. As assistant 
conductor, he worked closely with 
founder and director Michael Tilson 
Thomas, famed director of the San 
Francisco Symphony.
An appointment as music director 
of the New York Youth Symphony 
came before going on to the New York 
Philharmonic. Now, he’
s on his own, 
traveling to many distant stages as 
guest conductor involved in programs way beyond 
film scores.
“I haven’
t been composing much lately,” says 
Gersen, winner of an Aspen Conducting Prize and 
a Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize, both from the 
American Academy of Conducting. “I started more 
out of curiosity and wanting to try writing. The 
first piece I ever performed was through a compe-
tition my youth orchestra held. 
“I thought that if I won, I would have a con-
ducting opportunity and wrote more through 
high school [times when also performing with a 
Connecticut synagogue]. Composing helped me 
as a conductor in thinking about a score from the 
composer’
s perspective.”
When not working on his own projects, Gersen, 

who is single, can be entertained by another musi-
cian and composer in the family. His brother, Eric, 
appears as a pianist and comedian active with the 
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York. 
Away from music, Gerson enjoys watching 
sports competitions.
As Gersen prepares for his Detroit appearance, 
he hopes the film concert adds audience members 
unaccustomed to live orchestras.
“This program is a great entry point for peo-
ple who perhaps hadn’
t been to the orchestra,” he 
explains. “Hearing live orchestra music that’
s prob-
ably known better can have an impact in maybe 
wanting to hear more, not just film concerts but 
even the traditional orchestra concerts.” ■

arts&life

“Th
 is program is a great entry point 
for people who perhaps hadn’
t been to 
the orchestra.”
— JOSHUA GERSEN

Details
Jaws in Concert will 
start at 7:30 p.m. 
Wednesday, July 10, in 
Orchestra Hall in Detroit. 
Tickets start at $40. 
(313) 576-5111. 
dso.org.

COURTESY JOSHUA GERSEN

Joshua Gersen 

will conduct the 

DSO perform-

ing the Jaws 

soundtrack live in 

concert accompa-

nying the movie.

Book cover 1975

PUBLIC DOMAIN