See/Hear: Paul Winberg

Paul Winberg, hard at work even on a Friday at 4:45 pm

Occasion-al Music

The Eugene Symphony’s executive director talks smack about Cleveland, praises the Hult and demystifies the process of going to a concert

By Suzi Steffen

The man doesn’t own an iPod or have a grasp on the world of downloads and easily portable music.

That’s OK. He doesn’t need that right now; he’s surrounded by music all of the time. At the offices of the Eugene Symphony, Executive Director Paul Winberg can hear the sweet strains floating from the radio in the lobby — tuned to the UO’s classical music station, KWAX 91.1 FM, of course. Or he can walk into the music library, where the symphony’s librarian spends hours keeping the notes in order. And of course, in his own light-filled office, he has a CD player where he just might be listening to the Goldberg Variations … or Dolly Parton. (Check out his playlist below.)

Read more about Paul Winberg here, after the jump!

Winberg, who just celebrated his four years with the symphony, sat down with me a few weeks ago at Perugino with me for a quick Q&A. That stretched into a two-hour discussion ranging from Oregon wine snobs (he’s learning about wine) to summer concerts and the search for a new music director.

Though he grew up in Minnesota — and retains the classic accent of the northern Midwesterner — Winberg came to Eugene after many years in Chicago, where he worked in music administration for the Grant Park Music Festival and the Elgin Symphony.

Suzi Steffen: So, how did you get to Eugene?

Paul Winberg: Well, this business is really small, and you bump into people all of the time. My goal was to be an executive director, and a search firm knew that. When the Eugene Symphony came up, they had me come to Oregon [where I’d never been]. I did look at Eugene on a map, so when i got here, I was like, “Oh yeah, it’s really there!”

I knew a little bit about the Eugene Symphony; it had a really good reputation, and I was familiar with Marin [Alsop]’s and Miguel [Harth-Bedoya]’s work. I thought it might be interesting to try a smaller community, too. And the more research I did, the more I learned and thought it could a great fit.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this symphony?

We’re consistently trying to improve it and make it better — that’s a hallmark of the organization tand people who have been affiliated with it, from the board to the musicians, staff, board and guild.

When I was first here, the biggest concern was attendance — it had not been meeting the expectations of board members. Mid-Miguel, attendance had peaked, but with the change in artistic leadership [to Giancarlo Guerrero], there was attrition. That’s natural because the audience holds an affinity for an orchestra, especially the conductor or perhaps some of the musicians, but that meant they had to adjust to a new artistic personality.
Miguel was a wonderful musician, and compared to Marin, Miguel was a little more laidback. That was something the orchestra needed at the time. Giancarlo is not somebody you would describe as laidback; his personality is very, very big, and he has a presence that I think is very galvanizing.

Winberg is way cuter than this photo outside the Symphony offices suggests.

So Guerrero has become an advantage?

Yes. When I go to concerts now, this year, there has been much more enthusiasm from the audience when he takes the stage — the applause just crests. And after the performance, when he comes back on, I can feel the surge in energy and in appreciation for what he’s doing with the orchestra. The audience finds it exciting.

Audiences tend to need to attach themselves to a personality in an orchestra because otherwise it’s like a big, anonymous group of people onstage, and if you can’t make connections, if you don’t go to the post-concert parties and meet the musicians, it’s just a bunch of people on stage. So the person who talks and represents the orchestra is the conductor and music director, and audiences feel an affiinity for the conductor — unless they find the conductor to be cold. Giancarlo is incredibly easy for people to talk to. They’re lucky in Nashville [where Guerrero will be music director beginning in the fall of 2009]. And the new Nashville concert hall (Schermerhorn Symphony Center), which seats about 1,500, is beautiful.

So. Let’s talk Hult Center.

When I came out to interview, things were going along fine, or it felt like it was going really well, but then they gave me a tour of the Hult — and I thought, oh my God, these people are serious. The Hult is a symbol of serious commitment to and love of the arts. It’s pretty remarkable, pretty amazing. It has issues and challenges, but there isn’t a performing arts center that doesn’t have issues and challenges.

Compare it to Severance Hall in Cleveland. That’s sitting on a hill surrounded by freeways. The Hult Center doesn’t have that feeling at all; there’s a message of accessibility and welcoming. I find it to be a very warm and friendly place. To stand in the lobby before a concert is a neat experience.

You’ve said Giancarlo is an advantage. Let’s talk about your search for a new music director.

Yes, that’s a big, big deal. It took us six months just to bring a committee together because we’re very purposeful about it, and it’s as inclusive as we can make it. Six of the 12 members are musicans; six are laypeople, including four board members and two community members. One is Roger Saydack, who has chaired the last three searches, and one is [KWAX’s] Caitriona Bolster. The musicians (concertmaster Katherine Lucktenberg, principal cellist Andrew Kolb, horn player Lydia Van Dreel, trombonist Ron Bertucci, principal bassoonist Mike Curtis and cellist Jim Pelley) were elected by their peers, and there’s a great diversity of new people like Lydia and Andy, and even Kathy is newish, but the other three have really substantial terms with the orchestra.

I heard earlier this year that you were considering asking each potential music director to conduct the same music next year. Is that still the plan?

It’s hard to do that with just one piece. We might have one piece be the same and then have them choose one of their own, but we don’t know yet. The process is very organic.

We have received materials from about 280 applicants, and the committee will get it down to something manageable — three, in a perfect world. It’s an incredible amount of time to put in; everyone is volunteering their time and commitment.

So what’s an ideal music director like?

Giancarlo!

Meeting with him during the interview before I came to Eugene, I thought, I want to work with him and be part of what he wants to do as a music director.

What makes him ideal is that he’s a great public speaker and a wonderful music educator. He has a very strong point of view about what he wasn’t to do musically. Like any great conductor — you hate it or you love it, but he’s saying it, and saying it with commitment. He’s a wonderful administrator; we don’t have to babysit him. He’s wonderful with the board and other things that, often, conductors fall down on — and he didn’t come to the job with any of those tools. He has learned and developed them over his time with the Eugene Symphony.

You know that Henry Fogel, president of the League of American Symphony Orchestras, has held up the Eugene Symphony as one where if a music director stays for 20 years, the search committee failed. His idea is that the Eugene Symphony does see itself as a kind of launching pad for conductors who move on to bigger cities and bigger names.

Yes. Well, that’s under discussion. Do we want a music director for whom we’ll be the catalyst for a great career? That distinguishes us; people look to us as a model. There’s a lot to be said for that, but on the other hand, there’s lots to be said for the model of embedding in a career where people can run into him at the grocery store, where he can see what we have and develop over a long period of time. So we’re talking about what might work. The bottom line is that the next music director will emerge based on what he or she is able to achieve on the podium. We want a great conductor; the other stuff can follow.

I’ve heard tales of Guerrero clashing with musicians.

Giancarlo takes heat because he is the face of the organization, and because the care and feeding of the orchestra is his responsibility. I’m in a position to see all of that, and the clashes have come from the fact that he has changed things — and orchestras are organizations that have a hard time embracing change. And when you change things, it creates divisions and polarity; you have to be strong and very clear in your mind and comfortable with all of it. I applaud what Giancarlo has done.

For instance?

There’s always been a high level of enthusiam for the Eugene Symphony, but he’s reached a real peak. The Laura Avery Visiting Masters Program was his brainchild that we have packaged in a way to become sustainable. The composer in residency program is very unique [for this size of a city] — his connections in music, wow. Jennifer Higdon [the composer in residence next season] is the hottest thing out there, and these are the kinds of things he’s leaving behind for the new music director.

OK, let’s say I’ve never been to the Hult for a Eugene Symphony concert. Explain it to me, this symphony experience. What is it about?

I'm rendered speechless.

Think back to your first time ...

Well, I guess I’d look at the nuts and bolts: this is a profession where a group of people come together to play music. You come, sit, listen. Most people have some sort of experience, or reaction to the music — love it or hate it. You buy a ticket, the ushers tell you where to sit … hm.

Concerts are a special occasion, and when you go to the Eugene Symphony, it feels like one. People are all over the place; there’s lots of chatter in the lobby. And the space has a glamour in a way, it’s awe-inspiring, a huge concert hall. The stage is huge; the height of the ceiling is … it’s an especially imnpressive space. And when the concertmaster comes out, there’s applause and tuning of the instruments, and when the conductor comes out, there’s applause.

Expect a sound you will be familiar with. If you have ever listened to music, you have heard an orchestral sound. You’ll either enjoy it right away or not get it, and you might wonder why when the conductor stops and the musicians finish, nobody applauds, or you might clap and find out that it’s not the right time. You might wonder why a single musician comes out while the orchestra is relegated to the supporting role, and you’ll probably be dazzled by what the soloists are capable of.

At intermission, you can go out into the lobby and get coffee or wine.

The first time I went to a concert [in the Twin Cities], I wondered, “When will this song ever end?” I knew I liked it, but I wasn’t sure why — and then everybody claps for 10 minutes! Your arms get tired, your hands start to get numb. And then you go out and talk about it with the person you went with. It’s an evening; it’s an occasion.

Can you give me a bit of a playlist, you know, to let people know what's in your CD player since you don't have an iPod?

(Winberg replied to this one by email:)

Here are some of my favorite recordings and things that I've been listening to lately.

Bach: Goldberg Varitions
Simone Dinnerstein, piano

Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Leontyne Price, soprano

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Dolly Parton: "Little Sparrow" (Entire CD)

Carpenters: "Close to You" (Entire CD)

Janet Jackson: "All for You" (Entire CD)

Brahms: Piano Concerto #2
(Take your pick of pianists.)

Sondheim: A Little Night Music (Original Cast Recording)