Sunday, January 31, 1999
First step to a maestro: Make a list
Finding replacement could take 2 or more years
BY JANELLE GELFAND
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The last time the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra appointed a music director, Ronald Reagan was president, Pete Rose had just broken Ty Cobb's hits record and the Soviet Union reported an accident at a nuclear plant called Chernobyl.
In the mid-80s, the seven-member search committee chaired by David J. Joseph Jr. consisted of a select group of board members, executive director Steven Monder, concertmaster Phillip Ruder and CSO bassoonist Otto Eifert.
The search took less than a year. The CSO didn't skip a beat between outgoing maestro Michael Gielen and newcomer Jesus Lopez-Cobos.
Now that Mr. Lopez-Cobos has said he will leave after the 2000-2001 season, the CSO is hunting again for a maestro. A thorough search could take two or more years. It is an enormous and exciting task.
“The great eras of American symphony orchestras have been driven by the artistic commitment of a music director,” says Joseph Silverstein, former concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor laureate of the Utah Symphony.
Finding someone with the right attributes — an excellent musician, a community leader, someone who is marketable and charismatic — is the challenge. Where does a search committee start?
“You solicit names from all possible sources. You make the list as long as possible,” says Benno Bernt, a Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra board member who served on search committees that hired music directors Lorin Maazel and Mariss Jansons.
Those names might come from musicians, staff members or New York artist agents.
“The minute the music director announces a resignation, the various (artist) managers spring into action and send resumes to the search committee,” says Mr. Silverstein, who has advised searches for several prominent orchestras.
Narrowing that field can be complex and secretive. When Jesus Lopez-Cobos was named music director of the CSO in 1986, the musicians only had a few hints that he was the candidate. In 1980, they didn't have a clue that Michael Gielen would become music director.
Do committee members furtively meet artist agents and their conductor clients to hammer out the deals?
If you believe British critic Norman Lebrecht, a man named Ronald A. Wilford, president of Columbia Artist Management Inc. (CAMI), is the “kingmaker” behind the entire spectrum of conductors.
“Wilford's batons are planted strategically at the musical power points,” Mr. Lebrecht writes in The Maestro Myth (Carol Publishing Group; $14.95).
Mr. Silverstein rejects Mr. Lebrecht's theory.
“Certainly the engagement of (music director) Eiji Oue in Minnesota would put the kibosh on that, because I don't think Oue was even under management when he was engaged,” he says.
“The artist managers don't make the hire — you make the hire,” says John Gidwitz, president of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, which just named Yuri Temirkanov as music director-designate. “You certainly collaborate and discuss with the artist managers, but the artist managers don't tell you who to hire.”
For Mr. Gidwitz, who was once assistant to the CSO's general manager (1971-74), the list consists of two groups: “Those who've already conducted the orchestra and those who haven't.”
The unknowns might require scouting, he says. “We visited many orchestras and watched conductors in rehearsal and in concert with those orchestras.”
Serious candidates may require multiple visits. “You would never hire someone based on visiting and seeing them conduct once,” he says.
Because Mr. Temirkanov had guest-conducted in Baltimore many times, he did not require scouting. In fact, Mr. Gidwitz first saw him conduct in Cincinnati in 1973.
“Past guest conductors are very important,” agrees Pittsburgh's Mr. Bernt, who says Maestro Jansons had a strong track record there. “It was fairly widely known that the orchestra was in general support (of Mr. Jansons).”
“It's a good idea to structure your invitation list with this in mind, so during the years before the search process, the orchestra and audience may have experienced two dozen guest conductors,” he says. “That's just common sense. I'm sure Procter & Gamble has a succession list of people.”
Another good resource would be former associate conductors “who have gone elsewhere and blossomed,” he says. (For example, Keith Lockhart, a former CSO associate conductor, has added the Utah Symphony to his Boston Pops job.)
Perhaps there has been a subliminal search at the CSO going on for some time. New York artist agent Michal Schmidt says that's so.
“The search already started years ago. The unspoken search,” Ms. Schmidt says. “That's how we view it from here. By the time of the official search, it's already the third or fourth or fifth chapter in the search.”
Most orchestras will look for “a relationship that already exists,” she says. “It's not an enormous field, so the options would be obvious.”
Inspiration at the top
After the list, the next step would be creating a job profile.
Although the CSO has not yet formed its search committee, board chairman Trish Bryan says criteria “would probably include good musicianship, charisma, administrative ability, programming ability and willingness to devote a substantial amount of time to the orchestra.”
In Baltimore, one requirement stood out above the rest.
“It was clear to us that the one irreducible thing we wanted was a conductor who could create excitement, compel respect and inspire the orchestra and audiences — because that's the one thing you can't make up for if the music director doesn't have it,” Mr. Gidwitz says.
But he cautions against a common pitfall: Love at first sight.
“It is a recurring experience that some conductors have a very good first experience with an orchestra that doesn't stand up over time,” he says.
To avoid impulse decisions, Pittsburgh's Mr. Bernt put together a score sheet. He rated each potential candidate according to four main categories:
• Podium technique. “The conductor has to be first-class; the final performance is very important.”
• Principal leader and builder of the orchestra. “Much of what the audience hears and sees is the tip of the iceberg. These activities include: the building of the audience, the hiring and firing of musicians, the motivating, the rehearsing, the team-building, the programming, the selection of guest artists and conductors.”
• A community leader. “The music director's relationship, leadership and rapport with the community is important in the American context.”
• Practicality. “Would he (or she) be a fit financially and personality-wise? If the town is conservative and you get a very flamboyant person ... that could be a bad match.”
It is better to find “someone who aspires to the job, is excited about it, and thinks of it as an opportunity but has to stretch a little bit,” he says — than a big name whose career is winding down.
Flying visits
Many challenges can be added to the mix.
“The biggest issue is the evolution of the position from the person who lived and was well-known in the community, to someone who flies in and out of town,” says Len Alexander, a partner for Connecticut-based Management Consultants for the Arts Inc., who helped Cincinnati Opera find artistic director Nicholas Muni.
An absentee music director can hurt an orchestra struggling to make a statement in its hometown.
Image is also crucial. San Francisco Symphony maestro Michael Tilson Thomas has charisma on the podium and a flair for interviews. Are marketing savvy and looks important?
“It's not a substitute for substance and excellence,” Mr. Gidwitz says. “But you can have a very excellent conductor who doesn't excite the public, and that's a problem, too.”
“You don't want a dud,” Mr. Bernt agrees. “I believe the conductor has to communicate with the audience and the community. You could write into the contract a mandate for learning English and public speaking.”
Don't scrimp on pay
What should an orchestra expect to pay a music director?
It's not like signing on a major-league ballplayer, but the salary range for top music directors is about $500,000-$1 million and up.
Does money make a difference?
“If Cincinnati wants to go up to the next level, it will have to pay more,” Cleveland Plain Dealer music critic Donald Rosenberg says. (In 1997, the CSO reported that Mr. Lopez-Cobos' salary was $380,100; Mr. Rosenberg estimates Cleveland music director Christoph von Dohnanyi earned close to $900,000 that year.)
“It's an investment you don't scrimp on,” Baltimore's Mr. Gidwitz says.
“Sure, the salary has to be right, but with all the other considerations, it becomes clear what salary range you might have,” Mr. Bernt says. “We wanted a rising star who was not quite in the rankings of a Maazel, who is in the top five in the world, but whose disadvantages included price.”
Good fit with musicians
How much input should the musicians have in the search? In Baltimore, 10 musicians served on the search committee — a large number compared to most searches.
“It's important to consult the players to find what fits,” says Martin James, CSO bassoonist.
Chemistry may be hard to define, but it fuels the music-making of the country's most inspired unions, such as Mr. Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra, or Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
A good musical fit, says Jorja Fleezanis, concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra, means players and music director develop an esprit de corps. That shared enthusiasm translates into performance energy onstage.
Does the CSO need a builder like Leonard Slatkin, an intellectual like Kurt Masur, a name like Andre Previn, a charismatic musical titan like Claudio Abbado?
Finding a maestro — or maestra — with the right stuff is critical, because, Mr. Alexander says, “a misstep could be very detrimental to the organization.”
“The real key is what the board sees as the future of the institution,” Mr. Alexander says. “I always ask boards, what do you want to be when you grow up? What are the elements that make you a key institution in the community?”
Utah's Mr. Silverstein is confident that Cincinnati can lure top-notch talent.
“My advice would be to try very hard to find someone who has a vision for the future of the Cincinnati orchestra, and can articulate that vision,” he says.
“Players want to be in a situation where they are artistically being stimulated. When the orchestra is functioning at a high artistic level, it gets across the edge of the stage in a way that really excites the audience.”
Retired CSO principal flutist George Hambrecht puts it more simply: “We need a Mark McGwire who can hit a few home runs,” he says.
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