New concert series has casual approach
When he takes the podium for Thursday’s concert, conductor John Sinclair will leave his tie and tails behind.
“None of us is going to be in tuxedos or suits,” says the artistic director of the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park. “It’s going to be low-key and casual.”
The dress code is dictated by the informal and welcoming atmosphere Sinclair wants to project at the concert, titled “Mozart — Young and Old.” It’s the first installment of the new “Insights & Sounds” series, an initiative to take concertgoers “behind the music.”
“This is an ideal program for a connoisseur who wants to know more or a newcomer who wants to get into classical music,” Sinclair says. “It breaks down barriers.”
The three-concert series will examine J.S. Bach and contemporary composer Paul Moravec in future installments. This opening program features works ranging from Mozart’s first symphony to his final work, unfinished when he died. There may be some surprises, too, such as Mozart’s dance tracks.
“Late in his life, he needed to make money so he wrote dance pieces for people,” Sinclair says. “They’re inconsequential but charming.”
And the music illustrates that Mozart faced struggles like today’s workers.
“My goal is to make these composers human and relevant,” Sinclair says. “They had more talent than us, but in other ways they were just like us. They laughed, they loved, they had fun, they got angry.”
He calls Mozart “a little smart aleck” as a boy. “He would imitate composers playing their music — frankly, better than they could.”
This is the sort of humanizing information Sinclair will share during the “Insights” portion of the concert. He will also take questions from the audience. Although he enjoys reading composer biographies and teaching music history at Rollins College in Winter Park, he says he will lead a conversation — not give a classroom lecture. And he plans on keeping the chat to less than 20 minutes.
With about 50 minutes of music — the audience will hear complete works or movements — the event should be about 75 minutes.
While the discussion should be interesting, Sinclair says, the music by the Bach orchestra will remain the event’s highlight.
“I want to make classical music more fun and accessible,” he says, “without losing sight of the fact that to make it fun and accessible, the music has to be played really well.”