Overture Magazine - 2015-2016 Season November-December 2015 | Page 12
CLASSICAL
ROCKS
The BSO’s innovative new Pulse series pairs
indie bands with the orchestra.
N
BY MARTHA THOMAS
icholas Hersh listened to songs by the indie band Dawes over and over in search
of just the right clue. ◗ “I listened for style, mood, instrumentation, harmonic and
rhythmic choices,” says Hersh, the BSO’s assistant conductor. The goal, he says,
“was to find similarities between classical composers and the indie singer-songwriters.” And while it sounds like a challenging task, says Hersh, the similarities are
easier to find than you might think. “Since so much popular music today draws from western
classical music, you can find the composers that specifically influenced contemporary
artists,” he says. “Or even the composers they both drew from.”
“We know that
young people
consume music
and culture
differently from
their parents.
In Pulse, we’re
creating a music
experience more
in line with their
expectations.”
PAUL MEECHAM
10
O v ertur e
| WWW. BSOMUSIC .ORG
Hersh is co-curator and conductor for Pulse,
planned in partnership with the radio station
WTMD. The series, which pairs indie rock bands
with the BSO on the Meyerhoff stage, is the brainchild of Toby Blumenthal, former director of rentals and presentations for the BSO and now vice
president of programming and chief innovation
officer for the Mann Center for the Performing
Arts in Philadelphia. (“I just love that title,” says
Blumenthal, who is also the executive producer
and co-curator of Pulse.)
Hersh remembers the day Blumenthal came to
him with the idea. “He said, ‘I’d like to bring indie
bands to play with the Orchestra,’” Hersh recalls.
“But he wanted to create a show that would tie
them together under some artistic umbrella.”
Says Blumenthal, “We want to dig deep into
the bands’ music and pull classical elements out of
what they do.”
In the past, says Blumenthal, part of his job
was to invite popular artists and bands to the
Meyerhoff, groups that “might bring in new audience members but don’t necessarily teach them
what the BSO does”— thereby falling short of
the goal of enticing younger listeners to attend
classical programs.
And that’s what the Pulse series is really about.
“We talk all the time about how we can develop
the future symphony-goer,” Blumenthal says. In
Pulse — a series of four concerts, launched in September — he thinks he may have an answer. Each
program will start with a contemporary classical
piece, with Hersh conducting a chamber-scaled
group of BSO players. (For dates and more
information, see opposite page.) Next, the guest
band will play a standard set, “just as if you were
at the 9:30 Club,” says Blumenthal, referring to
a popular D.C. music venue. The encore, says
Blumenthal, “will be a collaboration featuring
the BSO ensemble integrated with the guest musicians,” playing one or more of the band’s songs.
Hersh will write many of the arrangements for
the final part of the concert, working classical elements into each song. The challenge, he says, “is to
make sure it won’t just be an accompaniment, but
a collaboration.” Each BSO player, he says, “will
add their natural musicality and bring something
more to a four-minute song, just as they would to
an 80-minute symphony.”
The evenings will be more than just a mash-up
of indie rock and classical music. Local restaurants, breweries, and even crafts vendors will be
stationed throughout the Meyerhoff lobby, selling
their wares and creating a festival atmosphere.
“It’ll be unlike anything the BSO has ever
done,” says Paul Meecham, president and CEO.
“We know that young people consume music and
culture differently from their parents. In Pulse,
we’re creating a music experience more in line with
their expectations.” Meecham points out that The
Wallace Foundation, which is underwriting the
series as part of a larger initiative to build broader
audiences, “recognizes how important it is to cultivate younger audiences.”
Ultimately, Hersh decided to pair Dawes with
music by Baltimore native Philip Glass. The