TURMOIL & REBIRTH
Maestro Robert Franz looks back on first decade with Windsor Symphony Orchestra
It was an organization in debt with looming cuts and an uncertain future — the perfect job opportunity.
When Maestro Robert Franz came to town 10 years ago to take the helm of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, it was a gamble.
To join the struggling organization, the American conductor and his family uprooted and moved to a country he had no experience with, except for one shopping trip.
What followed was a momentous decade that saw the WSO claw its way back from potential collapse, expand its audience, and even host the earthly premiere of songs famously written in space.
And just to add to the challenges along the way, Franz faced a personal reckoning with a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis.
Through it all, he said he never doubted his decisions, or the symphony, for a single beat.
“The thing is, I knew the basic building blocks were here,” said Franz, 55, now in the midst of his 10th anniversary season with the WSO.
“I knew there was a great orchestra. I knew there was a community that loved it. And I knew that we were at the bottom. Everybody felt it.
“It wasn't just a Windsor thing. It was a global recession. So we were all at the bottom, all coming up together. And I thought, `We can do this. I can do this. I can help with this.'”
Before applying for the job in Windsor, Franz had stepped foot in Canada once. While living in Buffalo, N.Y., he crossed the border to go shopping at IKEA. He didn't know much about Windsor, but he knew outgoing WSO music director John Morris Russell, who praised the orchestra and the community.
Franz said Windsor also “seemed like a cool place.”
“So I sent in my stuff, along with 157 other people from around the world,” said Franz, who was living with his husband in Boise, Idaho, at the time.
He was one of eight candidates invited to guest conduct for a week.
“In addition to having incredible musicality and ability, the conductor also has to be a person who is approachable and who is engaging, and would fit in with the community,” said former WSO executive director Sheila Wisdom, who retired in December.
“I know when the search committee looks for somebody, they are looking for those skills.”
Franz's first concert as WSO music director was on Sept. 27, 2013. The program was Sinatra & More.
Already acquainted with the quality of the orchestra from his guest conducting tryout stint, he noticed something else that night.
“There was a real love in the community of the orchestra,” said Franz. “They loved it, and I could tell that was there. So I was in love from the minute I got here.”
But away from the spotlights and the applause, the WSO was in a fight for its life.
The organization faced a $400,000 deficit. Attendance was slipping. Donations were dwindling.
The City of Windsor helped in 2012 by forgiving a $247,000 loan. Through a deal with the city that same year, the WSO moved into the Capitol Theatre, paying $1 annually to stay there while managing the historic venue.
“I don't know exactly how close it was to folding, but it looked pretty scary,” said Franz.
“When I was hired, a week later I got a call that they were going to have to make some serious cuts to the following season, in salaries and also the number of concerts we did. There was a real concern it wouldn't be sustainable at the level it was during that search year. So it was enough to be concerning for everybody.”
But Franz embraced it all, determined to help turn things around.
“What was wonderful about working with Robert is his willingness to do the things that needed to be done to get through that difficult period in terms of musical selection, trying to work within a budget that was much smaller than any conductor or music director would want to have to deal with,” said Wisdom.
“He really tried to work within those boundaries to make sure that what we were doing was successful in terms of the community, but also didn't put the orchestra at greater risk financially.”
Franz and the symphony began with a soul-searching look at what was important for the push ahead.
“Just to remind ourselves what we're doing this for,” he said. “What is the goal?”
Education and outreach were always important to Franz. Shortly after his arrival, the WSO hit the road, visiting every school in the public and Catholic boards.
“That sort of universality means that every child has access to the same music, which I think is spectacular,” he said.
He also created the Onstage series. Audience members sit onstage at bistro tables surrounding the musicians. The shows sell out weeks in advance.
“We found that series has attracted a new audience, a different demographic,” said Franz. “So that has been one of the jewels in the crown in the last 10 years that has helped revitalize the organization.”
The symphony also hit some high-profile firsts under Franz's leadership. Among them was Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's premiere of songs he wrote while circling the Earth aboard the International Space Station.
The two met while Franz was associate conductor of the Houston Symphony and Hadfield was working at the NASA space centre.
It was a global recession. So we were all at the bottom, all coming up together. And I thought, `We can do this. I can do this. I can help with this.'
After moving to Windsor, Franz remembered Hadfield is from Ontario. This wasn't long after the astronaut recorded a cover of the David Bowie classic Space Oddity, while in space, and he rocketed to worldwide fame.
Franz fired off an email asking Hadfield if he was interested in performing with the WSO, noting “it would increase my Canadianness by like 1,000 per cent.”
At the time, Hadfield was hard to get hold of. He was away on work, far above the planet.
“We have limited email access from space,” said Hadfield, who is from Sarnia. “It's not continuous. It has to be relayed through geostationary satellites. So it depends where you are around the world.”
When he eventually saw Franz's email aboard the space station, he responded right away. It turns out Hadfield had been writing some songs while in orbit and was hoping to perform them with an orchestra.
Hadfield joined the WSO for a string of sold-out shows in October 2014. He has since played with orchestras across North America and Europe, but the world premiere of those songs from space happened in Windsor.
Hadfield said it was “comforting” to make that giant leap with Franz.
“He's really smart, really quick,” he told the Windsor Star. “He's always ahead of you, which is great. He's one of those guys who's done all the work.”
“And he's very encouraging. But he's also quite demanding and strict, like he needs to be. `Maestro' is a big word.
“And he does that balance very well, between making everybody
feel like they're part of something special, but also letting people know that they need to show up prepared and do their part.”
Hadfield also thought a hometown southern Ontario crowd might be more forgiving. Good instinct — he blew the first song.
“I put the capo in the wrong place on my guitar,” he said. “And I think I had an eight- or 12-bar lead. So I started the song and when the symphony came in, they were a full tone off from where I was.
“What do you do then? It was totally my fault. I just went, `OK,
stop.' Robert took it great. He just laughed.”
Thanks in part to such unique endeavours, the WSO has been back in the black for much of the last decade.
“We've built a base of support that I think is going to help weather the storm if there is ever another one, which there will be,” said Franz. “That's how the world works.”
He has learned the hard way about how life, and its fragilities, can work.
In October 2021, Franz was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-hodgkin
lymphoma. By the time a CT scan revealed a 10-centimetre tumour enveloping a nerve bundle, the cancer had spread to his spleen, liver, right leg, left arm, ribs, and bones.
But after an intensive chemotherapy regimen, Franz has been in remission almost two years.
“I'm going to move forward, I'm going to make things the best I possibly can,” he said.
“I'm eager to be as active and involved in life as I possibly can be. I have completely recaptured the sort of business of my life.
“It's not just about being busy. It's about making music on a regular basis in multiple places with multiple groups, and really thriving off that.”
Along with Windsor, Franz is music director of the University of North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the Boise Baroque Orchestra.
All combined, he conducts 75 to 100 concerts a year.
As the coda of his 10th season in Windsor approaches, that's how he intends to celebrate. Through the work, the music, and the relentless push forward. There are no parties planned.
“Which is totally fine with me,” said Franz. “Every time I come out on stage people applaud and they're happy to see me.
“My life is a party. I'm good.”
He's really smart, really quick. He's always ahead of you, which is great. He's one of those guys who's done all the work.