Jonathan Sheffer of Red {an orchestra}

Peruse Red {an orchestra}'s mission and you’ll find something every arts fan in Cleveland can get behind and agree upon. Success in the arts for the 21st Century requires cultivating diverse musical audiences through innovative programs. It hungers for connecting music to other disciplines to be more than just essential. And producing thought-provoking work must come as steadily as redefining the stricture of what art is supposed to go with what art.

You would expect nothing less of Red’s luminescent Artistic Director, Jonathan Sheffer or the critically-acclaimed orchestra that he leads. With a musical education that he jokes started at Westport School of Music (as a preschooler) and peaked with Juilliard, music “opened me up to a much larger world.” He has taken the invitation to sculpt Red as something of a mission; all those who have witnessed the orchestra since his arrival appear to be unequivocally “on board.”

Before arriving in Cleveland, Sheffer led the stunning Eos Orchestra in New York for nearly a decade. Along the way, he lent his talents to scads of motion picture soundtracks; if you punch him up in the Internet Movie Database sometime, you may find he had something quite musical to do with a favorite film of yours.

These days, Sheffer is lending the cinematic predilections to Cleveland’s musical landscape… and he’s doing some amazing work, quite frankly. Cool Cleveland recently spoke to Sheffer during stage rehearsals for last month’s performance of In Mahler’s Shadow—a sad and mysterious look into the life of Gustav Mahler’s wife Alma (herself a composer), who halted her artistic passion when she became Gustav’s romantic interest.

In between staging adjustments, final preparations and cell phone calls in the balcony of the Masonic Auditorium, our conversation went like this:

You really do have to dig to find the good stuff in Cleveland and it’s nice to see Red helping people find those great artistic things. Those reciprocal relationships are a concept not all that foreign to you.

When I was leading my orchestra in New York, we had to start our own organization because we wanted to do exactly what Cool Cleveland was doing—linking like-minded people together—because no one else was doing it. We started thinking we should be a resource for these people and help direct them to other groups. After we had that up and running, there were about 100 members who would come and attend our concerts, who would also later be a part of other events we drew attention to. That’s exactly what Cool Cleveland is doing here. When I saw what [Thomas] was doing, I thought, ‘This is so right. It’s what groups need, it’s what audiences need.’ And truly it works for everyone.

What happened in New York City with Eos? Much of what I have read pegged the demise on finances and economic downturn related to September 11th… but for clarity’s sake, I thought I’d ask the source.

Well, there is a website out there called New Music Box, which published an essay that I wrote about Eos… one that I suggest everybody reads. After 10 years, I felt like I had to fight an uphill battle. I might have been willing to fight during the first 5 years… there was the ever-present constant of how to grow the audience, how to increase funding, how to maintain a critical reputation that would help keep things going. I just felt drained from trying to do that. I never felt that the artistic program was anything less than sustained at a very high level.

Interesting. So, how has your experience with Eos changed your outlook or approach towards Red here in Cleveland?

Red certainly is the child of Eos. But like any second generation, Red has ideas of its own and I think Red could not have existed without Eos. Unlike Eos, I was invited here by people who already had it in their minds to make a go of this.

They wouldn’t have asked me [to join them]. They wouldn’t have known of me… In an artistic sense, I’ve had experience with some of these projects that have been modified for Red, so I think I know what the strengths and weaknesses are for these programs. Eos was a great education for me—a crucible which formed my thinking about music. In terms of Eos "changing" the future of Red? No. Red was already well on a steady course when Eos was ended. If anything, it’s freed me up to focus more on Red and chart new artistic paths.

(cell phone rings, Sheffer excuses himself to take the call)

From what you’re saying, this sounds like a more comfortable fit for you.

This is a much better role for me. And Red is very emblematic of what is going on in Cleveland. It’s happening and there’s no doubt about it. Part of this resurgence in Cleveland is passion… and it is slow-burning, which may not make things as obvious as people might expect, or cause them to be happening as fast as people might like for it to happen.

In terms of art and medicine and hi-tech, Cleveland really is poised to have a great future. We’re grateful to be a part of that renaissance, or whatever you want to call it. We are pulling in some corporate sponsors who like what they see; and we’re doing essentially what we do, which is addressing essential issues in what we think are the big issues in concert music. I’m very happy that I’ve been given the opportunity here in Cleveland to express those predilections and personal taste in every aspect of this orchestra.

Tell me a little bit about your own composing and what plans you have, if any, to channel that work through Red.

Well, I started out as a composer and went to Juilliard after I went college I really didn’t start to conduct until I was into my 30s. I really wanted to be a composer. Spent the first ten years of my adult life doing that and I started conducting other people’s movies. I’ve really come back to that.

In the course of the ten years of Eos, I wrote an opera that won quite a few awards. I do quite a lot of arranging for our concerts and when you come to see Red there is almost always some bit of it that I have arranged. For our [Mahler] performance, I have arranged Alma Mahler’s music in the style. We are going to do a program next season with Verb Ballets where some of their work will be directly connected to some original work that I have composed. I would like to do more of that over time.

(questions from staging crew come in)

Regarding working with Verb and money being what it is, do you see collaborations between arts organizations as a necessary function to insure your future?

I know what you’re saying. Money’s always tight, regardless of where you are. I happen to sort of be an eternal optimist, because there are always new people coming to Red and discovering it for the first time. If you can get new blood in there, inside the doors and discovering, the better off. Collaborations are good for a lot of reasons. The worst thing in the world is to ghettoize the audience—

“Ghettoize” the audience—

Like the Cleveland Opera audience doesn’t go to the [Cleveland] Orchestra or the Playhouse Square Center audience doesn’t go to the [Cleveland] Play House. We’ve got to go into every single one of those ghettos and say, ‘There’s something great going on outside the wall.’ It’s very important for us to keep doing what we have been doing, because it’s great to bring your audience with you. When they sit in on collaborations, they’re gaining a new experience separate and apart from the one they already expect. When people of different audiences, ethnicities, races and backgrounds are sitting together, they get something from each other as well.

How do you feel personally about the future of classical music?

Classical music and its fans are a cult in a sense, but also a minority and an institution without, say, the massive presence of pop culture. But as with every religion, there is the inherent responsibility and the challenge of keeping their audience… and keeping them engaged. It’s no different than any other minority art or sport. You’re playing to a very small group of people that particularly favors depth and excellence and exactitude and tradition. Those essential elements must be present in order to present change as a positive thing.

Whereas, acting and movies and other visual arts in pop culture tend to be much more sensational and driven by outside influence, there are more challenges to be found in the classical realm. I don’t think there will ever be a time where more people go to the orchestra than to the movies. How we get the rest of the people to understand what we do in a meaningful way will always be a challenge.

But it can’t be recycling Beethoven for old people either, can it?

(aside to stage crew) Where’s Linda? Why don’t you ask her to stand there and ask her if she is comfortable… I think the piano can come downstage a little, and turn a little clockwise, maybe at 11 o’clock… she has to be able to see me. OK, yes… this begins to work.

Sorry about that. You know, I have nothing against that, really. There’s a place for [Beethoven], but there really can be more imaginative thinking added to that. Some people are adding to that tradition and it’s incredibly exciting, because it pairs forward-thinking with good taste and tradition… and it also creates some accessibility. Programming concepts are like when you walk into someone’s house and you can see that they have good taste [in decorating]. I would like to think that what we are doing might open the door for others to consider other works—obscure and otherwise—similarly.

(Writer’s note: In the performance of In Mahler’s Shadow a couple nights later, the background information and history behind the music was delivered on stage during the performance. Talk about intrigue. This was much different and more inviting than any pre-concert lecture I’ve ever attended.)

I’m intrigued by your holiday program, A New Amahl. It’s a great concept.

It’s an interesting program. We’ll see how the audience takes to it—

(cell rings again, this time Sheffer shuts the ringer off)

Grand Central! Thanks for taking the time. I know you’re getting to the eleventh hour here with the production--

Absolutely. I have a lot of respect for what Thomas is doing. I admire his confidence. He’s a real doer who loves the city. And I just can’t say how much we appreciate Cool Cleveland. Your audience that comes to those parties attends our concerts as well. In the spirit of our conversation, it’s a great collaboration. So, thanks.

Interview and Photos by Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com

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