By Bob Giaquinto
At the Retired Men’s Association (RMA) meeting on February 15, Jerry Pollack of the RMA introduced Stuart Malina, the music director and conductor of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra (GSO), who then delivered a very informative discussion regarding “Dvorak, Elgar, and the future of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra.” Malina majored in music at Harvard College, received a master’s degree in music from Yale University and a diplomate in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music. He has conducted numerous orchestras in the United States and abroad, including in Russia, Hong Kong and China. He is currently the music director of the Harrisburg (PA) Symphony Orchestra, the principal guest conductor of the Florida Symphony Orchestra in Tampa and St. Petersburg, and the music director of the Lake Placid (NY) Sinfonietta. This past December, he made his St. Louis Symphony debut. Mr. Malina is a skilled pianist and is also a composer and music arranger. Notably, Malina was also a 2003 Tony Award Winner with Billy Joel.
When the Greenwich Symphony’s revered conductor, David Gilbert, announced that he would retire after 45 seasons, the Symphony began a worldwide search for a successor. More than 170 conductors applied. Of these, five were chosen as finalists. Each auditioned for the job by interviewing, giving talks, and conducting the Symphony during one of the scheduled weekend concerts. Stuart Malina won the competition.
Maestro Malina, in his first season as music director of the GSO, started his discussion by reviewing the repertoire he has chosen for his fourth concert and his experience with the orchestra to date. Malina then spoke about the life of composer Edward Elgar, who came from humble beginnings and later in life became a British superstar following Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. Last Saturday and Sunday, Malina conducted the Elgar Cello Concerto, a masterpiece created in 1919 and influenced by the upheaval of World War I. The maestro said that the pieces he had chosen should be interconnected and he did that with Dvorak’s Symphony #8. Antonin Dvorak grew up in Central Europe and created this masterpiece in 1889 in Bohemia. The compositions of both composers were influenced by the times, their lives and surroundings.
During his talk, Maestro Malina often went to the piano, and I found it wonderful to hear him play the music he was describing so beautifully. It was a treat which one can hear on the RMA video recording. It was also heartwarming throughout his talk to experience Malina’s enthusiastic appreciation of the music and the composers. Also heard this weekend was Jennifer Higdon’s Blue Cathedral, written in 2000, and described by maestro as “beautiful!”
Malina praised the excellence of the Greenwich Performing Arts Center at Greenwich High School as among the best he has experienced around the world. This outstanding venue, he stated, makes for a happy orchestra which actually causes them to perform at a higher level. He believes that the differences in symphony performances have become less, and that the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra is very close to the NY Symphony Orchestra. Besides, one can save money, time and aggravation by attending a local performance!
At the end of his talk, there was a lively question and answer period during which Malina said that the conductor makes the decisions on how the music will be played, including tempo, and he will compromise with the soloist but the final decisions are his. Regarding the topic of rehearsals, there usually are three full rehearsals, and one with just the string section. The conductor must know all parts while each musician must learn their part. Malina knows how he wants the performance to go and then tries to shape it to his liking by prioritizing within the time restrictions, for example adjusting if there is too much brass. Another challenge is that the theaters of the world are different when it comes to their acoustics.
To see the full presentation, go to https://greenwichrma.org, cursor to “Speakers” and click on “Speaker Videos.”
The RMA’s next presentation, “The Border Crisis: The Current State of Immigration in America” will focus on and assess the immigration issues currently facing our country that include applicant trends, U.S regulations, how immigrants integrate into our society, how other countries impact our initiatives, the conflicts between political parties and administrations AND “the wall.” This presentation will be given by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick who directs the American Immigration Council’s administrative and legislative advocacy efforts to provide lawmakers, policy makers and the general public with accurate and timely information about the role of immigrants in the United States. He previously served as senior policy counsel, where he worked on border/immigration court matters impacting legal immigration and policy issues. Before that he was a staff attorney at the Immigration Council focusing on Freedom of Information Act litigation and impact litigation, designed to affect societal change. Prior to joining the Council, he was an Immigrant Justice Corps fellow and staff attorney at the Immigration Law Unit of The Legal Aid Society of the City of New York. Here, he represented immigrants in removal proceedings due to prior criminal convictions.
Aaron has a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in Politics and East Asian Studies from Brandeis University.
This presentation will occur on Wednesday, March 1, at 11:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich as well as on webinar at: https://bit.ly/30lBj21.
Note: The views expressed in these RMA presentations are those of the speakers. They are not intended to represent the views of the RMA or its members.
RMA speaker presentations are presented as a community service at no cost to in-person or Zoom attendees, regardless of gender. The RMA does request that all eligible individuals consider becoming a member of our great organization, and thereby enjoy all the available fellowship, volunteer and community service opportunities that the RMA offers to its members. For further information, visit https://greenwichrma.org or contact Joe Mancinelli (mailto:jlmanc@optonline.net) or Peter Stern (mailto:members@greenwichrma.org).
