Symphony Head Speaks at George Town Club About ‘Year of Transition’

Georgetown Media Group’s Cultural Leadership Breakfast Series resumed this morning, Oct. 13, hosting National Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Rita Shapiro at the George Town Club. There were two new sponsors: Bonhams, which offered jewelry appraisals following the presentation, and District Doughnut, which contributed house-made doughnuts.

Shapiro noted that it was a “year of transition”: Christoph Eschenbach’s final season as music director, with Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda due to take over in 2017-18. Noseda — founder of the respected Teatro Regio di Torino, a frequent guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera and former principal conductor of St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the BBC Philharmonic — will be the fourth music director of Shapiro’s tenure, preceded by Leonard Slatkin, Iván Fischer and Eschenbach.

Eschenbach, who will become conductor laureate, spending three weeks with the orchestra for three additional seasons, will next conduct a program of Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 3” and the Polonaise from “Eugene Onegin,” plus an NSO co-commission, Wynton Marsalis’s “Concerto in D” with violin soloist Nicola Benedetti, Oct. 27-29. Noseda, currently music director designate, will conduct Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” Nov. 3-5.

The “Romeo and Juliet” program fits with two of this season’s themes: Shakespeare (2016 is the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death) and Slava — former NSO music director Mstislav Rostropovich. As part of its celebration of what would have been Rostropovich’s 90th birthday, the orchestra will travel to Russia at the end of March.

Yet another theme mentioned in Shapiro’s talk was the Kennedy Center-wide tribute to John Fitzgerald Kennedy on his centennial. The NSO’s related programming will include a children’s concert with a moonshot theme, a Jan. 19-22 Portraits of America program conducted by Noseda and a May 24 centennial concert with Yo-Yo Ma.

In addition to noting these and other season highlights, Shapiro gave the attendees an idea of how complicated it was to run one of only a dozen American orchestras with a 52-week contract — and countless union obligations. The NSO has a $35-million budget, part of the Kennedy Center’s budget since the 1980s. Though the Kennedy Center receives federal funds as a memorial to JFK, the rest of the budget (with the exception of some federal money for education programs) comes from ticket sales, gifts and grants. She noted that even if every ticket to every concert was sold, it would only cover about a third of the orchestra’s expenses.

The appointment, announced in January, of Noseda — also principal guest conductor of the Israel Philharmonic, who was named one of two principal guest conductors of the London Symphony in February — was well received in D.C. classical music circles. He and his wife, Lucia, a former concert singer, are a glamorous couple, eager to get involved in the Washington community, according to Shapiro, who noted that there was “a lot of choreography to how he cooks risotto.”

Shapiro described other efforts to keep the orchestra in the spotlight and expand its audience. Referring to rapper Kendrick Lamar’s extremely successful appearance with the NSO Pops last October, she said, “We like the idea of unusual pairings.” Founding member of Phish Trey Anastasio was her example of an artist who could bridge musical genres. “Increasingly we try to get away from the labels of classical and pop,” she said.

The NSO’s programs in the community and at hospitals and schools were also a point of pride. Of violinist Glenn Donnellan, who has performed the national anthem at Nationals games, Shapiro said, “he’s our rock star.” When he visits schools, the kids get to try his electric violin, made from a baseball bat.