A FOND FAREWELL TO THE MAESTRO: JOSE-LUIS NOVO, BEETHOVEN’S NINTH, AND THE CONTINUANCE OF CULTURE
Maestro Jose-Luis Novo, musical director of the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, is saying goodbye on April 16th after thirteen years in Binghamton. He will conduct one of “the best - not only symphonic works, not only choral works - but works of art of all time”: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Thirteen years ago, Novo came to Binghamton, looking for his first full music directorship in the United States. He came not knowing what to expect, and learned to love a culture and town across the ocean. After a short time, Binghamton fell in love: with his musical programming, with his boundless enthusiasm for classical music, and his drive to push us all a little bit further. He asked us to question the classical program; he worked with dozens of artists, not all musicians. As he said when I interviewed him about his tenure at the Philharmonic, “We’ve worked with actors, we’ve worked with dancers, we’ve worked with singers, we’ve worked with choirs, we’ve worked with museums; we’ve worked with so many different people connected to arts and culture in the area. That, to me, is one thing as a music director that is a real pleasure, because you get to know the community.”
I recall a time in my youth in Binghamton, where he conducted and spoke to my high school band. I had never known such enthusiasm and joy for music; in one lesson, he taught me the beauty of the shared responsibility of the ensemble. I watched as he drew more out of me and my high school classmates than we thought possible. When I remind him of this experience, he laughs and says ‘thank you,’ but this is what he does to you. As a musical director, Novo conducts with an eloquence and passion that draws the best out of both ensemble and audience.
His interests lie not only in conducting, though. He sees the job of musical director as much more than that, and much more than just programming a concert. “The conductor has to be, really, the musical ambassador for the city, because you are bringing the best symphonic music available to the community. So you have to monitor what you bring, and I’m talking not only about the selection of repertoire, but also the guest artists you invite to solo with the orchestra, and combinations, and the types of events you organize around the content and the season.”
He continues, “You really have a lot of say into shaping the city artistically from a symphonic point of view. It’s a great responsibility, to have the capacity to shape the tastes and the knowledge of the symphonic repertoire of the community. We are lucky in Binghamton, that we have so many artistic institutions: we have an opera company, many great choirs, we have a great university with a very competent music department, we have a public radio station and TV station, and local papers; we have a whole network of cultural organizations, that help you define programs that can branch out to involve many of the constituencies of the community. I find that very interesting, and that’s what I’ve tried to do over the years.”
Then, we get to the concert itself, its impending finality expressed through the last symphony of The Maestro. Beethoven’s Ninth is immediately recognizable. It is his most often quoted symphony, and one of the most frequently played. It is also incredibly ambitious, and its final movement, a musical setting of Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” seeks to musically proclaim the brotherhood of all mankind. It is gorgeous, sentimental, groundbreaking, and virtuosic. It is one of those rare pieces of music that transcends genre, and defies the limits of beauty.
When asked for the reason for choosing this piece, Novo gave me two. The first was, “If you’re going to go, you should go with a bang, as they say.” The second reflected his larger musical vision: “So the meaningfulness of [Beethoven’s Ninth] and the type of feeling that brings everyone together, in the sense of the best of humankind, is exactly what I am after. I hope that I am remembered in Binghamton for having contributed to making people have a better life and understanding music in a way that brings people together, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony does that very well.”
Expressing his gratitude towards Binghamton, here are Maestro Novo’s parting words:
“The thing I want to say, more than anything else, is thank you for being such a supportive community; for trusting me with musical choices, and for having offered so much support and encouragement. I felt from the first day I started working for the Binghamton Philharmonic that the community wanted me to succeed. I felt very welcome, very supported, and it has been a complete joy of a ride for thirteen years. I’m obviously very sad to leave, but I leave with the peace of mind that I have made great friendships, that we have performed great concerts, and that those will remain in the memories of people. So for all of that, thank you.”
Maestro Jose-Luis Novo will conduct Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on Saturday, April 16th at the Binghamton Forum, 236 Washington St, Binghamton, NY. Tickets and more information available online at broomearenaforum.com. On behalf of all of us at the Triple Cities Carousel, thank you Maestro, and best of luck as you continue on with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra.
