Planet Carlos

Maestro of the Media

Those of us sitting in the Schnitz and watching Carlos Kalmar on the conductor’s podium might be tempted to assume his days in Portland revolve around the idyllic pursuit of nothing but music, music, music. Were it only so: In reality, all the hours Kalmar isn’t spending in rehearsals or concerts tend to fill up with obligations related to media, media, media

Such is the life of a modern major music director. Here, for example, are some of Kalmar’s off-the-podium commitments for the week-and-a-day in January when he was in Portland to conduct the Classical Bass concerts with double-bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer. Sometimes, in fact, it’s hard to tell where the music leaves off and the media begins:

Monday: Rehearsal in the morning, followed by an afternoon with a camera crew producing a new video to promote the orchestra’s 2009/10 concert season.

Tuesday: Radio interviews with All Classical FM, then tape a series of concert-preview videos for the OrSymphony.org web site.

Wednesday: A morning brain scan at OHSU, part of an upcoming news article about how musician’s brains work, followed by an afternoon in a recording studio for more work on the 09/10 season video.

Thursday: A break from the media at last … but three rehearsals to lead.

Friday: Morning rehearsal, then cook dinner for patrons who bought the honor at the orchestra’s annual fund-raising gala.

Saturday-Monday: Conduct the Classical Bass concerts each evening.

Tuesday: More video shoots all morning and afternoon, before traveling to Salem to lead another concert performance.

Whew! (Have we piqued your curiosity about the new season, though? Stay tuned. You’ll be reading, hearing and watching what Carlos has to say about it very soon.)

Up, Up and Away …

The new year began pretty much the way the old one ended for Carlos Kalmar – with our music director hitting the ground running: six concerts and seven rehearsals on two continents in the first 10 days of 2009.

No wonder he reports, “Now I’m happy to be home here in PDX.”

Some of those concerts were with the Pacific Symphony in suburban Los Angeles, where, Kalmar tells us, he experienced endless blue skies – and one rare thrill.

“All of a sudden, my assistant conductor there asked me whether I would like to fly with him,” Carlos reports. “He is not only a conductor but also a pilot. So we rented a small plane and flew for an hour. It was so different from all the great jets in which I spend countless hours every year. Absolutely stunning.”

We can only imagine – and be grateful, of course, that the two managed to conduct themselves safely back to terra firma.