By james art 
Conductor and violinist Alan T. Gilbert ’89 has been a long way since his bachelor’s years in Harvard.
After Studying with Violinist Masuko Ushioda at New England Conservatory During His Time in Boston and Completing Further Condutions At Juilliar ELAND ORCHESTRA FROM 1995 to 1997. To Follow Were Engagements With companies as diverse and prominent as the opera Santa Fe, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sofia Opera and, as one can be remembered, the music director of the New York Philharmonic from 2009 to 2017.
Between the commitments in Hamburg and Boston Gilbert, he sat down with the purple to discuss his artistic horizons and musical inspirations during her famous career.
Previously, Gilbert spoke to The Crimson in 2009 and 2014 about his time in Harvard, but for an unknown reader he built a huge list of nearly one hundred performances during his bachelor’s career – on average to no less than one concert a week S He took advantage of the opportunity to program works by his composer’s friends, to study composition himself, to serve as a music director from 1988 to 1989 at Harvard’s largest orchestra, the Bach Society Orchestra, and to hold an opera at Lowell Opera House. In Harvard, he developed not only his musical sensitivity in programming and performance, but also from the decisive know-how to make performance, from the print of flyers and notes until he guarantees his concerts.
While Gilbert can leave Harvard’s music scene ever since, he currently has another impartial opportunity to experience his student career. His daughter, Noemi S. William-Olson Gilbert ’27 is an English concentrator at Dunster House, similarly to the Harvard music scene as a violinist at the Harvard-Redclif orchestra.
“I’m sure she’s getting more academic [her Harvard experience] Then, said Gilbert, hinting humorously on his own academic record: he made the last decision to move from English to musical concentration after failing to meet the requirements for completing English.
In addition to his family life, which brings him back to Boston, Gilbert maintains strong connections with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a guest conductor. Nevertheless, he identified Sweden and Germany as his artistic and personal homes, far from the lively intersections of New York, where he grew up. His wife is a Swedish cellist Caisa William-Olson, a member of the Royal Stockholm Orchestra, and his sister Jennifer Gilbert now plays as a concertmaster of the national de Lyon of Orchster. The presence of such family relationships in Europe means that Europe has never been far from Gilbert’s mind.
“Much of my life was pulling in the direction of Europe, and the eight years as a music director with the New York Philharmonic were an absolutely golden period in my life. It was an incredible opportunity to work with such a fabulous workshop. But at the same time, I’ve always felt very comfortable making music in Europe, “Gilbert said.
In Europe, Gilbert has been the chief conductor of the 2019 NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, as well as the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera of 2022. When he had to prove himself as a guest conductor before providing longer-term publications as an assistant conductor and finally a music director.
“I think I’m extremely lucky to be the chief conductor in places where I really want to be where I feel like I can make good music and make a change. But I am also able to choose several selected orchestras to work as a guest conductor, “Gilbert said.
Working mainly in his home bases of Germany and Sweden – in addition to Boston and Cleveland – it allows him to deepen relationships with friends and colleagues who are similarly located. Gilbert also continues to participate in summer festivals as a violinist and travels to Japan every year to work as a chief guest conductor of the Tokyo Sofia Symphony Orchestra. The reverence of violinist roots helps him to continue to understand the orchestra in terms of the instrumentalist and, as a conductor, the ability to work with different orchestras maintains him flexible and sensitive to everyone’s unique demands.
His healthy artistic vision undoubtedly guarantees that he is one of the most sought after conductors today, with his dedication to expose the members of the audience to as diverse as possible. He reiterated his main conviction that the audience extracted more than the works of canonical composers when combined with contrasting works, often more modern in nature and origin.
“I think it is important for the music (with the capital” M “) to support contemporary composers and to inform them that what they are doing is valid and important and adds to the future music canon,” Gilbert said.
During the Crimson conversation with Gilbert, he was in the middle of the NDR Elbphilharmonie vision festival, consisting entirely of 21st century music.
“I know how difficult it is and I know how much dedication is needed and how much faith you should keep, even when things are difficult and when you do not get the opportunity to perform your pieces,” Gilbert said.
He stressed his satisfaction that the audience was not rejected by his ambitious choice of programming and confirmed the impetus of their impetus to challenge the audience to explore the music outside the canon of symphonic works such as those of Beethoven, Brams, Tchaikovsky and the like.
Especially in an increasingly awake world, with a tendency to reduce the public support of the arts, Gilbert is encouraged by the challenge of holding the music appropriate in the societies he calls his homes. Beyond the educational measures to raise awareness of the place of music in society, Gilbert confirmed the main purpose of the musician to make music with the most passion and commitment as possible, with qualities such as communication and generosity at the heart of a deep desire to build human connections ” S Resonment of the call of colleague Harvard graduate and conductor Leonard Bernstein ’39 to make music “more than ever” during a crisis, Gilbert repeated his resistance to cynicism and responsibility that he feels music to emphasize the links of People, not differences.
“I think the best thing we can do is lead with an example and live a life that really emphasizes the faith we have in the power of the music and the power of art and the meaning of culture in our society,” Gilbert said S
Alan Gilbert will pursue a Haydn symphonium program and Stravinsky’s violin concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which moves in the symphony from February 20 to February 22.
– Staff writer Lara R. Tang can be found at lara.tan@thecrimson.com.