Those of you familiar with this blog will know that I am a keen supporter of anything that manages to combine music and young people, so when Ingrid Arnett, Community Relations Director for the Portland Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, wrote to me telling me she is an Operaman fan and asking me to attend the orchestra's upcoming concert (details below) I immediately cleared space in the appointments book, and emailed my grateful acceptance. I then looked online to see what information I could find about David Hattner, the orchestra's relatively new conductor, and was disappointed at the paucity of information available. I called Ingrid and asked whether I could meet Maestro Hattner for a chat, and offered him the choice of his place as a venue (his office and coffee) or mine (Jake's Grill and a glass of wine) and was encouraged when he chose Jake's. We met last week.

Let me begin by telling you that Maestro Hattner is punctual, friendly, passionate about his job - and almost frighteningly bright! Before getting to the more formal stuff I spoke with him about his fandom of the New York Yankees, and how he squares his conscience and reputation for being a nice guy with his support for the designated hitter rule (he was almost abashed), the New York Jets (we both agree that Mark Sanchez is going to make a fine professional quarterback) and his being a closet ten-pin bowler (he likened it to golf. Umm, okay...). We then chatted for almost two hours about many topics and here is a sample taken from our discussion.

Thank you for joining Operaman, Maestro. Tell me something about your early family life and how you came to music.
My father came from a blue-collar family, working in a paint store with his own father. But at just around the time of my birth he became an attorney. I remember as a very young child we had lots of classical LP's in the house - hundreds of them, and so I grew up with music all around me. It seems to me now that I never seriously contemplated ever being anything other than a professional musician.

And you eventually became a successful freelance clarinet player in New York. What made you decide to give that up in favour of becoming a conductor?
I became aware that there was a large number of young clarinetists entering the field. They all seemed to have almost faultless technique and it just seemed that the field was becoming increasingly crowded. I did not see quite the same trend happening in conducting and as I had been doing some conducting for quite a while anyway I decided to concentrate on that.

I am sure we have both been to a number of concerts where we thought the orchestra could have managed just as well without the conductor. It may seem an obvious question but humour me. What is the purpose of having a conductor?
Well, you are quite right. Sometimes one thinks that the orchestra might have done better without the conductor! And actually your question is an interesting one. The conductor has a number of functions. He or she is there first and foremost to have the orchestra play the score in accordance with the wishes of the composer. Sometimes those wishes are apparent on the face of the score, as when the composer has clearly indicated such things as tempi. Sometimes those things do not appear in the score and it is the job of the conductor through musical research to ascertain as best he can what it was the composer wanted. One can look at similar works by the same composer and say "Ah. This is what he marked in a previous score and it seems to me that he assumed we would know he wanted the same thing here," and that sort of thing. Sometimes, of course one can do no better than to make an educated and honest guess at his or her intentions.

Then it is one of the conductor's functions to make sure players come in when they should. A certain player may not watch the conductor for minutes on end but then there will be a moment when he looks up and is relying on the conductor to give him his cue. The player needs to trust that as the conductor, you will be there for him at those moments.

And then there is the part of the conductor's job which has nothing to do with how loud or soft, or fast or slow the orchestra is to play and that is his function to inspire. Somehow the conductor has to make each and every player in the orchestra give one hundred percent effort in rehearsal and in performance. Frequently what distinguishes a good performance from a great performance is defined by whether or not the players are giving every bit of effort they can to their playing.

Is that harder when dealing with young players such as the Portland Youth Philharmonic?
It is perhaps different in this respect. Because these players are not only not professionals but have very different levels of musical skill, I cannot just give them a piece of music and expect them to return a week later knowing how to play it. I have to encourage them by taking the approach of "Okay. We'll do this bit this week and another bit next week. Don't worry if you cannot play all of the notes. Just give it your very best effort and we'll get there. You'll see!" Of course, they have to trust me that this is a musical journey we can make together and that together we can make it work. But that only comes with the hundred percent effort I spoke of.

Another question that may seem obvious but please talk to me about why it is important that young people should have music programmes available to them within the school system.
Everything a child or young person does in playing an instrument creates and improves a skill that is applicable in other important aspects of their lives. Learning to read music is much like learning another language and young people who can read music usually do better in their studying of another language. Their motor skills are, of course, improved. The bottom line is that kids who are taught music do better as a group in their general academic studies than other kids. Last year we graduated twenty-nine seniors, all of whom went off to university (excepting one who joined the Army). And they all went to very good schools.

You have a very exciting concert coming up at the end of this week. And it includes music from Verdi's Otello!
Yes, it is our season opener and it is an exciting concert. We have some pieces by Ernest Bloch who lived the latter part of his life in Oregon. We have some Prokofiev. Also Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto and, as you mentioned, the ballet music from Otello. This was not written for the original production but when it was to be performed in Paris, all opera was required to have dance and so Verdi wrote this wonderful ballet music.

The Beethoven Piano Concerto is one of my favourite works in all of music. And it seems an awfully tough piece for a youth orchestra!
Well, it is, but they are really beginning to get it. It is a very subtle and complex work in some ways but this concert is being given by our most advanced group together with our Piano Concerto Competition Winner. When I tell you that he was up against pianists playing flashy works like the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto then you will see that for him to have won playing the Beethoven says a good deal about his understanding and grasp of the work. It's going to be great, I am quite sure.

And it's taking place at the Schnitz. A splendid venue for you. On Saturday at 7:30pm right?
Yes, and we are all excited.

So am I! Thank you for joining me Maestro!



I very much enjoyed meeting Maestro David Hattner and I mean it - I am really pumped for this show. Get your information and tickets at the Portland Youth Philharmonic web site.

As has become my custom, when the Monday post here is about a single subjest - as is today's - I shall post another entry of mixed topics on Wednesday or Thursday, so be sure to check back then.