Simone Dinnerstein to team with Promusica
For the Promusica Chamber Orchestra’s latest concerts, Music Director David Danzmayr won’t be anywhere near the conductor’s podium. In fact, there won’t be any conductor at all on stage.
Instead, all eyes — and of course, ears — will be on acclaimed pianist Simone Dinnerstein, who, in addition to being the guest soloist for concerts Dec. 11-12, in the Southern Theatre, will lead the orchestra.
The shows will be performed without a conductor, meaning that Dinnerstein will not only be responsible for her own playing at the piano but in guiding the orchestra itself through various pieces.
Although most Promusica concerts are conducted by Danzmayr, in recent years, the orchestra has occasionally performed with violinist Vadim Gluzman, the organization’s creative partner and principal guest artist, leading the group as he plays.
“Not that one is better than the other, but when you don’t have somebody waving the baton at you, it’s a whole different experience,” said CEO Janet Chen. “Musicians have to almost bring even more to it, because now every principal player is a leader in their own right.”
For Dinnerstein, making music at the piano, while making sure the orchestra around her is on the same page, is a challenge she welcomes.
“I think that it allows for a real direct communication of the music,” said Dinnerstein, a 49-year-old Brooklyn, New York, resident who trained at the Juilliard School and whose most recent recording, “An American Mosaic,” was just nominated for a Grammy Award.
For most classical music concerts led by a conductor, the piano is angled so that the pianist is in profile from the audience’s perspective. But when Dinnerstein both plays and leads, she prefers the piano to be positioned so that
she is facing the musicians upstage.
“Ideally, I’m sitting with my back to the audience, and the orchestra is sort of in a semicircle around me,” Dinnerstein said. “Oftentimes, I like it if they can stand when they’re playing . ... That seems to give people a bit more freedom of expression.”
Dinnerstein also prefers to play with the lid on the piano removed.
“What that enables is, ... visually, I can see everyone; they can see me,” she said. “The other thing is that the orchestra can hear me a lot better without the lid.”
The exact configuration in the Southern Theatre won’t be determined until rehearsals begin, but no matter where Dinnerstein and the musicians are positioned, the music they make next weekend should move classical music lovers.
Dinnerstein will lead the orchestra in performing three works by J.S. Bach — the “Keyboard Concerto No. 7,” “Erbarm’ Dich for Piano and Strings” and “Orchestra Suite No. 2” — plus a piece by contemporary composer Philip Glass that was composed for Dinnerstein, “Piano Concerto No. 3.”
The idea for the work followed a meeting between Dinnerstein and Glass, who was already an admirer of the pianist’s recordings. Later, when Dinnerstein first saw the sheet music for the resulting piece, which was co-commissioned by 12 orchestras throughout North America, she was struck by how comfortable she felt playing it.
“I remember playing it and thinking it was almost sort of eerie how well it suited me,” she said. “(Glass) said, ‘Well, it’s because I wrote it for you.’ ... It’s pretty incredible that he knew me so well.”
Although Dinnerstein was first booked to play with Promusica about one year ago — an engagement that was canceled because of the pandemic — the timing of the upcoming concerts proved fortuitous: Dinnerstein’s record “An American Mosaic,” with music by composer Richard Danielpour, was nominated late last month for a Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.
“It was so exciting and a complete surprise,” Dinnerstein said of the Grammy nomination, her first.
The work pays musical tribute to those groups in society who have borne particular burdens during the pandemic, such as caretakers and doctors.
Dinnerstein, who returned to live performing in July, appreciates the commitment of audiences who come to see her perform, even as the pandemic continues.
“Audiences showing up and having to sit masked for the length of the concert — I appreciate their dedication, too,” Dinnerstein said. “What an honor to have people coming to a concert that I’m playing.”
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