New Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra conductor eager to help musicians spread their wings
New Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra conductor eager to help musicians spread their wings
The Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts was empty the day Kevin McMahon, the new conductor of the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, met for an interview to share his dreams and goals for the future of the organization.
He sat in the plush ruby seats, with the stars in the royal blue ceiling glowing overhead, and looked toward the stage, remembering when he was a guest conductor last October.
It's an evening he won't forget anytime soon.
"I'm very emotional about this," he said quietly. "It's the thought of the music with these people and this audience. When I guested, I tried to make it clear to the orchestra that I was invested in their life."
McMahon, who didn't set out to be a conductor, nonetheless found himself wielding a baton as his career unfolded, and realized that being a conductor allowed him to lead in a very special way.
"I'm a person who believes in servant leadership, and along with that, part of my task in Sheboygan will be listening to what people need, where they want this orchestra to go, what their dreams are for it," he said. "I need to be a facilitator to help them to do that."
The thought of serving keeps him on task — he's guest-conducted in places like the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Greece and is intimately familiar with the works of Puccini, Mozart, Verdi and Donizetti.
Something in Sheboygan called to him upon arrival.
"There was a certain aspect of qualities in the orchestra that are qualities within me that were mirrored when we worked together," he said. "What you have going in Sheboygan is something very special."
McMahon called the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra family "a complete entity." From the orchestra itself to the carolers, chorus, singers and Youth Symphony groups, he was impressed with the talent.
Still, it's his job to harness and direct much of that talent, creating opportunities for both the musical growth of each orchestra member as well as participating in the overall success of the organization. And he's impressed with the next season's lineup — Rich Ridenour and Matthew Griffith will perform, and selections like Mahler's 4th Symphony round out "an incredible parameter of music."
He's putting his own stamp on things, saying he comes with "a certain standard of operation. My standard will hopefully help other people be able to work easier."
Jill Hanes, Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra principal clarinet and personnel manager, noticed McMahon's style during rehearsal, saying his preparation and organizational skills resulted in an efficient practice session. "It was clear to all of the players that (McMahon) is not just a conductor, but also a music scholar who had taken the time to study each piece of music we played," she said. McMahon's preparation came through in another way, as Hanes noted his baton gestures and facial expressions. "(They) were a reflection of this study and the joy and emotion he felt in each piece, which made it very clear to know exactly what he wanted from us." When asked how he planned on encouraging the orchestra to stretch their musical wings, McMahon laughed and said, "I don't think they need my encouragement to do that. I just think they need me as a facilitator to allow them to stretch. I'll be the avenue to hopefully set them free for their music to speak the easiest way it possibly can." His philosophy of the conductor's job is one of examining the composer's score, internalizing it and reflecting the ideas and emotions of the piece back to the orchestra, allowing them to play it with a full intent. "You really shouldn't see me, actually," he said. "What you should see is the orchestra and you should hear what they're mirroring." He also considers himself part of the orchestra, demonstrating that to Eric Johnson, managing director, on the evening McMahon guest-conducted. "At the end of the concert, not only did he acknowledge the soloist and then the orchestra, but he stepped in between some of the strings and took his bow with the orchestra," Johnson said. "He didn't put himself above them, but as a colleague. The music came first."
When McMahon isn't traveling a musical wave around the globe, guest conducting, studying and performing, he indulges his interest in opera. To date, he has written two — "Marilyn Monroe" and "Maud Powell: Queen of Violinists," created specifically for the Maud Powell Music Festival.
For his Sheboygan debut as conductor on Oct. 9, McMahon has chosen Beethoven's "Consecration of the House" and the Copland film music to "Our Town" — to tell the audience that "this is our town."
The selection committee chose Sibelius' 5th Symphony as the main work for that evening. John Urness will perform the "Arutunian" Trumpet Concerto and McMahon wrote an orchestration of a Brahms intermezzo that will be performed for the first time. "You should know that I view this experience of being asked to be with these people as an incredible gift," McMahon said. He said that with each performance, musical "highways" of information are created between the conductor and the orchestra. "That, then, reflects to the audience and gives them the spirit of what is in the composer's heart and soul and mind. That's why I was attracted to being here, because this orchestra has, inside itself, the ability to speak through their music and to give even more to the audience than they've given in the past. They can do it."
