Delfs returns to MSO for holiday cheer — and pops concerts
No, you weren’t hallucinating. That familiar face you thought you spotted in town this week was Andreas Delfs, the former music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Delfs, who led the MSO from 1997 through 2009, will take the podium again this weekend to lead the orchestra’s annual, four-concert Holiday Pops celebration.
“I’m so happy to be back here making music with friends,” Delfs said recently.
Reminiscing about his years in Milwaukee — a time when he and wife Amy were raising their family — Delfs said their children are now 19, 21, 23 and 25, out of the house, and “all in fields that excite and interest them.”
These days, Delfs is guest-conducting around the world, but he said, “The time I enjoy the most, and the place where I am happiest in my heart, is when I can spend time in my hometown in Germany.”
The town, Flensburg, is on the Baltic Sea, near the Danish border.
“My mom is there,” he said. “She is 93 and in great shape, but I want to spend as much time as I can there with her.”
He said his children are starting to spend holidays with the families of their significant others, adding, “I am going to be 60. At a certain age, you realize you don’t know how many more Christmases and other events you will have with the people you love.”
In addition to a home in Flensburg, Delfs keeps a home in upstate New York. He was appointed music director of the Temple University Symphony Orchestra two years ago.
“People think I am teaching at Temple, but I’m not,” he explained. “I am strictly conducting the orchestra.”
Delfs may not think he’s teaching, but his philosophy of treating the orchestra “exactly the same as I would any professional orchestra,” and talking to them “about the realities of professional life,” sounds like he’s giving invaluable, practical lessons.
Delfs may not keep a home in Milwaukee anymore, but returning to Milwaukee always feels like coming home, the conductor said.
“Milwaukee is one of my favorite places in the world,” he said.
“Things may change in the orchestra,” Delfs said, adding, “Edo made some wonderful (personnel) replacements, but the human element in Milwaukee does not change. This community — the respect for your neighbor and the friendship — does not change. This is such a friendly town and friendly orchestra.”