“OPENING NIGHT!” PODCAST
The first Boise Philharmonic podcast ever! This episode features
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BPO RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
As Resident Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic for the past three
years, Robert Franz has created and presented a series of arts
education programs designed to engage students, inspire them, and help
them to stretch their minds and imaginations through music. This
year, the BPO was honored to receive the prestigious Leonard Bernstein
Award for Educational Programming from The American Society of
Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), as did the Louisville
Orchestra in 2001, while Mr. Franz headed that orchestra’s educational
programming. Earlier this season, Franz was named the winner of the
2008 BPO/ECMEA Music Educators Award for Excellence.
For more information, click here.  April 13, 2008, by Dana Oland NEW DIRECTOR SAYS HE’LL LEAD PHILHARMONIC TO NEXT LEVEL He’ll visit Boise this month to announce the next season and get to know
At the end of Robert Franz’s interview with the Boise Philharmonic
search committee in January, he asked them a show-stopping question.
“Are you ready for me? When I come to a place, I give 110 percent, and
it takes a team to make it happen,” he said. “Yes, we’re ready to go,”
recalled Stephen Trott, a federal judge who headed the committee made up
of board members and musicians. “He really put us on our toes.”
So get ready, because last week the Philharmonic hired Franz as its next music director, filling the position left by James Ogle, who conducted his farewell concert this weekend. Ogle suffered a stroke in November 2005 and resigned as music director in May 2006. Franz’s interview question was bold, but, “What did I have to lose?” he said. “What were they going to say, that they didn’t want to work that hard? We were all so excited, and I really wanted this job. I wanted to know if they were ready for the work it will take to move this orchestra to the next level.” Franz spoke from his home in Buffalo, N.Y., where he is resident conductor with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He came to Boise in the second season of the two-year search, one of 11 candidates who guest-conducted the orchestra, worked with soloists and interviewed with the search committee. He quickly became everyone’s first choice, Trott said. Franz met and surpassed each requirement on the committee’s dream conductor list. “If anyone can do this, Robert can. He is easy to work with, and he is a part-of-the-solution person.” For Franz, who turned 40 last month, his time in Boise left him thrilled, he said. He conducted the January 2008 program. “The orchestra and I had so much fun. When I saw how far we went in one week, I was so excited. There is so much talent in that orchestra. My job is to focus and unleash it. There is so much potential, I can’t wait to see where that takes us.” The musicians are equally excited about Franz’s arrival, said violinist Jill Rowley, the orchestra’s associate concertmaster. “He knows how to place high expectations and ask a lot of us, but in a way that is always positive and encourages us to want to reach our highest level,” Rowley said. “He is ultimately energetic and upbeat about everything he does, and he can be exacting, which is what we want.” Just a few days after learning he had the position, Franz already had homed in on key areas: education, community partnership and repertoire. His goal is to approach the orchestra as a holistic entity. He wants to see pieces that have operated separately in the past, such as the music ensembles and the foundation board, work closely together, even on repertoire, which Franz wants to expand to consistently include new works. “If we make an effort in one realm, we need to universalize it,” Franz said. One possibility for next season is to bring composer Shulamit Ran to Boise and perform “Vessels of Courage and Hope”, a piece written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Israel. While she is here, Franz would like to build educational programs around her, as well as perform one of her chamber pieces with the orchestra’s ensemble groups. “I mean, how exciting would that be? There is just huge possibility,” he said. Franz also wants to deepen the Philharmonic’s commitment to music education and to development programs that involve the classroom as well as the music room. “How about comparing being a writer to being a composer? You can talk about character, story development and conflict resolution,” he said. It’s a project he has worked on successfully in other cities. “My goal is to show that classical music has a place in our lives every day.” Franz will be in Boise April 24-26 to announce the complete 2008-09 season and go on a “listening tour”, Franz said, as a way to explore building community partnerships with arts groups and other organizations. The music director’s job will be set up differently from how it has worked in the past, said Anthony Boatman, the Philharmonic’s executive director. Initially, Franz will not live in the Valley. He maintains a home in Buffalo, where he will keep his position with the orchestra. He also will be spending time in Houston, where he will start as the associate conductor in June. Both of those orchestras have summer seasons. The Boise Philharmonic’s concert season is in the fall and winter. “I did something the other day that just tickled me,” Franz said. “I used pins and strings on a U.S. map to track my commute, and it makes this huge triangle on the map. Each place (Buffalo, Houston and Boise) has a different sort of vibe. Boise is beautiful. I get a real feeling of positive energy and we-can-do-it-ness there. It is a successful city, and you can feel it in the air.” Franz will spend 12 weeks here next season. The length of time may increase in the future depending on the orchestra’s schedule and needs, he said.
MANSFIELD SYMPHONY CONCERT FEATURES WORK BY LOCAL ARTISTS
Mindy Duncan is an art educator at Mansfield Senior High School and John Donnelly is Professor of Art at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Both artists have had numerous art exhibitions and awards to their credit and their artwork has been shown throughout the United States. The Renaissance is honored to have the talents of Mindy and John showcased at the Art Live! concert. Music Director Robert Franz will also lead the Mansfield Symphony and Chorus, soloists Andrea Chenoweth, Lori Turner, Gerald Gray and Dalton Derr, and vocal ensemble Cappricio! as they perform the extraordinary Mass in B Flat Major (“Maria Theresa Mass”) by Haydn. The Mansfield Symphony and members of the Mansfield Symphony Youth Orchestra will perform Rossini’s William Tell Overture. Tickets for this unique concert are Art Live! is presented by the Renaissance Performing Arts Association, sponsored by A Donor Advised Fund of the Richland County Foundation, and made possible with support from the Ohio Arts Council. W H A T T H E C R I T I C S S A Y “Franz coaxed brilliant playing from the RSO, which has rarely sounded better.” —Reading Eagle “Friday’s audience was fortunate beyond belief to have heard the definitive performance of the Bruch Concerto No. 1 (Joshua Bell), which was superbly partnered by conductor Robert Franz and the BPO.” —Buffalo News “The orchestra has seldom played with such rapt attention to its collective tasks. Franz conducted the entire affair with masterly pace, emphasis and technical control. The final minute was among the most viscerally thrilling indulgences I’ve heard in Whitney Hall.” —The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) “Franz’ assured musicality gave his readings a vitality that made the evening a fine musical adventure.” —Spokesman Review “The music (Barber’s Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance) crackles, communicating the essence of the Greek tragedy with terse power. So too did Franz’s reading, which matched the composer’s own remarkable intensity.” —The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) “Franz and company closed with a reading of the Schubert Symphony No. 5. Tempos pressed forward in a way that with this nimble band, felt blithe and refreshing.” —The Charlotte Observer “The Carolina Chamber Symphony fills a void in Winston-Salem’s concert life. Especially since the group is filled with such able, energetic players and is led by so efficient and intelligent a conductor.” —The Winston-Salem Journal C O M P O S E R Q U O T E S “I must say that I was deeply impressed with [Robert’s] work, not only by his solid rehearsal techniques and fine-tuned ears, but also by his extremely musical and passionate approach toward music making.” —Bright Sheng “Thank you for your excellently prepared and insightful performance of my Third Symphony last week.” —John Harbison “I was very positively impressed with Mr. Franz’s commitment to communicating and educating audiences of all ages, and with his love of contemporary —Aaron Jay Kernis “His genuine musical gifts, intelligence, and down-to-earth approach to reaching audiences of all ages make him certainly of the most talented conductors of his generation.” —Michael Daugherty “It is truly exciting to come across someone with your sense of vision. I think your educational initiatives with the New Dimensions series and its numerous ancillary activities are turning Louisville into a stellar example of the role an orchestra can play in engaging a community in truly meaningful ways.” —Shulamit Ran “He has a natural and highly developed ability to present the widest range of orchestral repertoire with integrity and insight. Musicians respond to his artistic command and personal style on the podium with respect and loyalty.” —Russell Peck
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