Meeting the maestro: James Gaffigan

Thursday, July 31, 2008

By Robyn Vincent

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-James Gaffigan is not your typical conductor. With an impassioned demeanor and humble, charismatic air, the maestro’s impressive repertoire includes working alongside conductor mastermind Michael Tilson Thomas, holding the position of associate conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and serving as the assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. Yet with all these accomplishments under his belt - including guest-conducting for a dizzying list of world-renowned orchestras - Gaffigan is only 28 years old.

In a genre of music dominated by seasoned veterans who have been meticulously honing their craft for years, Gaffigan maintains a calm level of poise and introduces an exciting essence to orchestra music. Making his debut at the Grand Teton Music Festival for the Festival Orchestra Concert, “The Planets” this weekend, the maestro said that because of his fervent take on classical music, his age doesn’t hinder his conducting or orchestral relationships.

“I think musicians, for the most part, are pretty open as long as you have something to say and you’re passionate and clear with what you want,” Gaffigan said. “I haven’t had any problems with the whole age thing - maybe when I first get up on the podium some of the musicians are looking at me like, ‘What does this kid have to offer? We’ve played this piece more times than he’s been alive.’ I think it’s just a matter of being prepared and knowing this is an open dialogue between orchestra and conductor - its chamber music on a much bigger scale.”

Making a slight departure from conducting classical concerts, Gaffigan conducted the tumultuous opera “La Boheme” with the Zurich Opera in 2005. “It was an amazing experience because it was [performed] without rehearsal,” Gaffigan explained. “It’s exciting - there’s something about the theater that I just love and the excitement of a production like that. It has everything the audience wants - drama, wonderful music, a great plot, and for me, opera is where it’s at,” he said.

Indeed a love for opera has instigated for Gaffigan a slight divergence from classical concert performances, though its time consuming nature prevents the maestro from taking on more than one to two operas per year. “I do love opera more than anything, but it takes a lot of your time. When you’re slated to do an opera, it’s two and half months of your life - Mr. Runnicles knows - it’s a lot of time, but it is worth it in the end,” he said.

Conducting Strauss’ “Don Juan,” Vaughn Williams’ “Oboe Concerto,” and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, “Scottish,” for the GTMF, Gaffigan said he anticipates playing pieces with the festival’s unprecedented ensemble of musicians. But the maestro awaits the performance of one work in particular. “I’m really looking forward to performing ‘Don Juan’ by Struass. We joke around in the music business about ‘party pieces’ - your favorite works to perform. [‘Don Juan’] is something I’ve done a lot in my short career and I absolutely love performing it,” he said. “It’s all there in the music - there’s love, there’s grief, there’s passion. It’s really a roller coaster of a piece.”

Photo by Margaret K. Mitchell
Conductor James Gaffigan makes his first appearance for the Grand Teton Music Festival this weekend.

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Meeting the maestro: James Gaffigan | Planet JH News Article: General News

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