Composer and conductor Jonathan Sheffer, who was featured in New York Magazine's controversial "Gay Life Now" cover story, will be conducting his Eos Orchestra at Ravinia June 25. Described as "today's hippest chamber orchestra," the evening promises to be a highlight of Ravinia's season. Here is what Sheffer had to say during a recent interview.
Gregg Shapiro: You are considered to be a conductor who is in touch with his audience. What does it take to maintain that relationship?
Jonathan Sheffer: First you have to believe in the relationship and then you have to establish it. That comes before maintaining it. I think that what we try and do with Eos is to imagine a very diverse audience and then try to plan programs that will appeal to that audience. We try to connect with the experienced concertgoer and also the first-time concertgoer.
GS: Along those same lines—you are coming to the Chicago-area to be a part of the Ravinia Festival. Would you plan a different program for a Ravinia audience than you would for an audience in Miami or Seattle?
JS: Yes, very much so. This audience in New York is a very specific audience in the sense that there is a wide array of choices of orchestras in New York, and we have tried to really stake out a particular territory. As far as Ravinia ( is concerned ) , I consider the Ravinia audience a very sophisticated audience. Welz Kauffman asked for a program featuring the second Viennese school, which is never going to be a kind of all-purpose program. This is a very intense program, and one that I think will have rich rewards.
GS: How much did the audience come into play while composing the film scores you did?
JS: Really not in the same way. A concert audience is a chance to put music front and center and to focus an audiences attention, for two hours, purely on music, which is what we do even when we have chamber opera staging and film excerpts. Everything we do is about trying to focus on music. With film, you have to serve a director's vision. While it's a collaboration, it is secondary form of music.
GS: Do you have a favorite film score that you've done, and if so, which one?
JS: That's an interesting question. I haven't done a film score in almost ten years. But, I guess the one that I enjoyed the most was The Omen, Part IV. I enjoyed being part of that series, and also recording it with the Seattle Symphony was very enjoyable.
GS: Do you have a favorite film score?
JS: No. There are too many. That's like having a favorite composer. It's just impossible.
GS: The Eos Orchestra is known for performing overlooked musical works. As artistic director, can you please comment on that?
JS: Unlike a lot of recently organized chamber orchestras or orchestras with a specific mission, Eos has guest conductors. We had our first last season, and we will be welcoming more next year. My role as artistic director is to clarify the artistic mission of the orchestra and to make sure that we have a unique profile, which I think we've been successful in doing. That is very different from a conductor's job. I think I probably spend 75 percent of my time being the artistic director and 25 percent being the conductor. The artistic director's job is to shape the artistic profile; to work with all the varied personnel to do development and fundraising; to work on marketing. I happen to have a real interest in all of that, because I think it's part of our message.
GS: The other part of this, of course, is how you see your role as conductor.
JS: Then there comes a point when I get put all that aside and just focus on the music. With Eos, I have an opportunity to do that six or seven times a year. As a guest conductor, I have a very different function. This season I was at the American Ballet Theater. Next year I'll be at New York City Opera. Those are very different kinds of experiences, where I'm just focusing on music.
GS: Who were the most important composers of the 20th century?
JS: ( Laughs ) ... It's both an easy question and a difficult question. The glib answer would be Stravinsky and Bartok. I happen to think Leonard Bernstein, for American ( composers ) —Gershwin, Copland. Since I'm very interested in American music, I tend to put those people at the top of the list.
GS: Do you think that sexuality has anything to do with composing?
JS: No, I don't think sexual preference or gender have anything to do with composing.
GS: How did it feel to be included, along with your partner Dr. Christopher Barley, as a "power couple" in the New York Magazine article published in March of 2001?
JS: It's been interesting ( laughs ) . ... It's part of being a public person, and I welcome that. It's not very complicated. It's just part of what I do, I guess.
