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- RP I had heard of the Glendale
Youth Orchestra but I had never seen it, and when I heard it
play at First Baptist
Church of Glendale on November 6 of this year I was blown away by it. I
was particularly impressed by the way these young teen-agers responded to
you. It takes a special individual to get that kind of response from kids
today.
BK Well I just try to make the
music come alive and connect the vibrancy that the composer intended to
the vibrancy that these young musicians already have within, but are not
often asked to connect. So if I can help them connect their natural
aliveness to the music, then really lovely things can happen.
RP Indeed, it did happen that
evening. I understand that you are a Juilliard graduate?
BK Correct.
RP That’s very impressive. I
guess you were like one of those young musicians that you work with today
playing in orchestras, right?
BK Thank you – I graduated from
Juilliard in 1975, but no. I was not at all one of those kids. I went with
my parents to pick up my older brother from camp – it was before I was old
enough to go to camp, and there was a camp show and I heard in the little
camp orchestra an instrument that just blew me away. So I asked my mother,
“What is THAT!” and she said – “Oh, it’s just a saxophone.”
RP A saxophone?
BK Oh did I want the
saxophone! But then when the junior high school orchestra came to my
elementary school to kind of advertise their program they went through all
the instruments, but of course there was no saxophone. So the teacher
said, “Any questions?”, I raised my hand – “Where is the saxophone?”
He said, “Oh, you want the
clarinet – you don’t want the saxophone”. You know what? I didn’t want the
clarinet, I wanted the saxophone, so I took trombone instead, and if you
can make sense of that you are a better man than I.
RP I don’t think I would even
try.
BK After a couple of years my
folks saw that I wasn’t into it as much as I should be so they took the
horn back, amidst many tears because it was my only connection to music
and in the sixth grade they found a teacher who would start me on the
saxophone, without clarinet. That is how I got into Juilliard, as a
saxophone major.
RP My goodness – that’s great way
to get to Juilliard.
BK Well after a couple of
years there, I switched to conducting and I have not played since.
RP So your base instrument would
be the saxophone.
BK Yes
RP A totally non-classical
instrument.
BK Totally non-classical.
RP How about that! Now, I know
that the group is preparing for a concert this weekend at the Alex
Theatre.
BK Yes – on the 21st – next
Sunday,
RP So many of the children are
between 10 – 11 years old all the way to high school? How do you get them
prepared for a concert?
BK I think we have a ten year old
and it goes all the way up to high school.
RP How do you keep these kids
from fooling around? When I was young I played violin in a similar
orchestra and some of the guys were always goofing around, pulling the
girls’ hair and things like that. How do you keep your kids from doing all
that?
BK Well, I ask a lot of them, and
they just respond. There’s never a behavior problem.
RP Really? That’s great!
BK That’s not an issue.
Rehearsals go very fast. I don’t talk a whole lot – I have them playing as
much as possible – changing this – fixing this – adjusting that and it
keeps them really engaged and active. And in answer to your earlier
question about how to prepare them for a concert, I talk about that. In
the last several rehearsals when we do a run through of the movements or a
whole piece, I tell them that not only are we practicing the music but
this is for them to practice being their best. I tell them that they need
to practice being their best, at anything, because if they don’t practice
it, when they really need to be their best it’s going to be hard to call
on it. They may try but there’s “nobody home”. That may be a new concept
for some of them, but it opens up a whole new world, because I remind them
that it’s not just for music – but anywhere in life. Don’t be satisfied
with just being “good enough”, I tell them. See what you find inside you.
RP A commitment to excellence.
BK A commitment to excellence –
to their personal best. I don’t need them to sound like the LA
Philharmonic or the Vienna Philharmonic. I only ask for them to do the
best they can do and I say it to them that way. Their best is pretty darn
good!
RP In preparing a concert, how do
you select the repertoire?
BK I select based on what I know
they can do, what I think their ability to play is and on the requirements
of the piece. I don’t have an overloaded brass section, so I don’t select
a Mahler or a Tchaikovsky symphony that would require a large number of
players. I select things like Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn. Last year we did
the Mozart arrangement of Handel’s Messiah. We got a lot more wind
instruments involved, and had a full choir for that. So I select music
that is appropriate for this size group and that will engage them.
RP Yes – it’s excellent. Let me
ask you about something I noticed. I saw the orchestra standing during
their performance, except for the cello players. Then I saw a photo in
your website of them performing and they were also standing. Is that
deliberate?
BK Very observant! Yes. I saw
this in New York when I was a student. An orchestra was playing in
Carnegie Hall and they stood - and they played great! And I thought, why
do they stand to play? Well, why do soloists stand to play? Because they
play better!
RP Hmmm – never thought of that.
BK If soloists played better
sitting, then they would sit. Since one aspect of my job is to help each
student find their best, I have them stand. And I’ll tell you, the
difference between them sitting and standing is amazing. We’ll play a
piece and work on a section, and then I’ll have them stand to play it
through, and it is amazing! The only time we sit is when we are
accompanying a soloist who is standing – but the rest of the time we
stand.
RP This is a fascinating concept
you’ve discovered. What is it that happens internally that makes a
difference when playing?
BK Good question! When you sit,
the weight goes back. It goes down. Your energy sinks. When you stand,
especially in front of people, you’re going towards them. There’s already
a shift in the direction of energy and standing to us has a cultural
meaning. When you stand you are saying – “I’m going to meet you”. You
stand to shake hands, you stand to go forward and you sit down to stop.
Music goes forward – it isn’t stopped! It’s a forward leap propelled, so
when we stand we get to give more of ourselves.
RP Fascinating concept. If
productivity increases by standing, you might think some companies might
have their clerical pool work standing up.
BK There might be something to
it.
RP So when you first discovered
this you tried it with the Youth Orchestra?
BK I also tried it with a
professional orchestra!
RP Really? How did that go over?
BK We were playing a piece just
for string orchestra called Transfigured Night by Schoenberg. It’s a one
movement thirty minute work, and I didn’t say anything in advance. We
rehearsed it sitting down, and at the dress rehearsal I said to them,
“Let’s play this standing up!” They said What? WHAT? There’s was a lot of
grumbling and complaining and they looked at their union representative to
see if this was going to be allowed, and he nodded “yes”. So we started to
play, and by the third measure they were all IN. They heard the difference
– they knew it.
RP So they bought in right away.
BK Right away.
RP This is fascinating. So let’s
get back to this weekend. I know you’re playing the Mozart 31.
BK We’re doing Mozart’s Symphony
31 – we’re doing the second and third movements of the Mozart Piano
Concerto number 20.
RP The second and third
movements?
BK Yes. Let me tell you why we’re
doing the second and third movements. Last May, at the final concert of
the season we played the first movement with, you won’t believe this, a
girl who plays in the violin section. She’s a violinist, but she
auditioned on piano to play this movement, so I chose her to play it, and
she did so well that I asked her to learn the second and third movements
over the summer and play it in this concert. So think of it as a very long
intermission between movements! She’s amazing – fourteen years old and an
absolute delight.
Then after our normal
intermission we will play the Beethoven Symphony No. 1.
RP The entire symphony?
BK The whole thing.
RP That’s impressive. Do you
personally have a favorite composer that you prefer to program for your
concerts?
BK Well, let me refer you to the
wisdom of a New York cab driver years ago. I was going a rehearsal and I
opened up my score just to review on the trip and he looked in the rear
view mirror and said “Oh you are a musician?” And I said, “yes a
conductor”. Then he said after thinking a couple of minutes “Mozart is
God! Bach is the Pope – and Haydn – Haydn is the Minister of Finance”.
BK Thinking about it, there was
so much truth to what he said. But I thing the most amazing composer of
all time has to be Mozart. It doesn’t mean that anyone else has to take
second – or that we play Mozart only. We play Bach, we play Dvorak,
there’s a huge list of composers we have played over the years.
RP And you are exposing these
kids to the finest music in the world which they may not have heard before
anywhere else.
BK That’s a very important point!
People sometimes ask me, why don’t you play new music? I tell them that a
Beethoven Symphony IS new music to these people!
Mozart 31 is new music. They’ve
never heard it before. In a way I’m so jealous of them. You may not
believe this but I had never heard a full symphony – just hearing it from
front to back until I went to Juilliard. And here I have my kids playing
whole symphonies – not just hearing them, but studying them and working on
them, learning them. I hope to have them better off than I was when I went
to school.
RP Well, isn’t the purpose of
life for us to help the next generation move a little further along than
we did?
BK Yes. And I had the best
example of that for life than anyone in the world could have. I had the
best teacher EVER – and that was Leonard Bernstein!
RP Oh my, you studied with
Bernstein?
BK Yes – I got to study with him
at Tanglewood in 1985. I would say that’s the single most important
influence in my musical life.
RP I don’t imagine there could be
a better musical role model.
BK Every day he would come to
class and open up his chest and say – “Here – take it!” He opened his heart
all the time and he made it fascinating. Someone with that much genius
could make anyone feel as small as an ant. But instead no matter what the
talent of the person was, he lifted everyone up on his shoulders so they
could see further than he. That kind of generosity blew me away. After
studying with him, I realized I could never teach the way I had been
teaching again. He demanded a whole lot more and he was a living example
of it.
RP Well, from what I’ve seen you
are a great example to the kids in your orchestra. I saw your performance
and the way you interact with them as they play. Your gestures, your hands
– it’s as if you were standing right next to each one just encouraging
them to give their all. It’s as if somewhere in your life you may have
swallowed the soul of a Beethoven or Mozart.
BK Well, as I see it, my job is
to be a living advocate for composers, especially those who are not alive
anymore. I am in the place of that person. I tell the kids, Image
Beethoven on the podium. How would you play for him? And why would you
play any different just because it’s me? This is about YOU and your
integrity. Play for Beethoven!
RP That’s a wonderful outlook.
BK Well, I try.
RP Well, you certainly go beyond
that. You are succeeding in a grand manner.
BK Thank you very
much.
-
- So we closed our interview with Brad Keimach
and as usual we felt very good about having met such a special
individual. You have to listen to the enthusiasm in his voice to
appreciate his dedication and commitment. Some people perform
grandiose deeds to change the world. Since taking over the
leadership of the Glendale Youth Orchestra Brad Keimach has been
changing the world - one young musician at a time.
- You can hear and see how he's doing it this
coming Sunday November 21 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.
- Click
here for ticket information.
Click here for
Glendale Youth Orchestra
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Photo by: Ken Bukowski
