Robert Franz - News & Quotes

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.