A commitment to champion today’s music

The New York Philharmonic concludes the second part of its second tour of Asia tomorrow with its final concert at the newly-opened Esplanade in Singapore. With this, the orchestra affirms its position in the musical globe as one of the oldest orchestras in the world, with a 160-year old tradition that includes a history of illustrious musicians and conductors, such as Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, John Barbirolli, Artur Rodzinski, Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Leonard Bernstein, George Szell, Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta and Kurt Masur.

Into this firmament, current music director Lorin Maazel steps up the podium to assume his destiny of leaving his mark on this world-renowned music ensemble.

"If you look at the illustrious conductors and music directors who have worked with the orchestra in the last hundred years, it reads like a who’s who of conductors, a who’s who of musicians. This long association with major conductors of the day, the music directors of that decade, plus all the major music lights of the day produces results that in the long run is something called the tradition of an orchestra," says Maazel, during a recent press conference at The Peninsula Manila, where he was billeted during the orchestra’s stop in Manila. While the NYPO’s members were housed at the nearby Makati Shangri-La, it was said that Maazel himself chose a Pen suite for the duration of his stay in Manila.

"It is that tradition that I have the honor of now nurturing as its music director. I’m looking forward to fulfilling that task as best I can in years to come. It’s an enormous challenge and one that I feel very privileged in having been given by destiny and that good guardian angel that some people seem to have, as I must certainly have."

This isn’t the first time the 72-year old Maazel will be working with the orchestra. He made his debut with the NYPO 60 years ago at the age of 12 at Lewisohn Stadium, the the orchestra’s summer venue. From 1968 to 1972, he led the orchestra more than 100 times as a guest conductor.

Maazel’s appointment as NYPO music director couldn’t come at a better time. Says NYPO executive director Zarin Mehta, it was a match made in heaven.

"Four weeks ago, we started our season in September with Lorin Maazel as our new music director," says Mehta. "This was obviously a match made in heaven, because from the first rehearsal note there were smiles and comradeship on the stage like I’ve never witnessed."

In 1998, the orchestra embarked on its first tour of Asia, under the leadership of Kurt Masur, then its music director. That tour marked the NYPO’s first performances in China.

For this tour, the NYPO offered a virtual tour on its Internet site.

Mehta says this was a pioneering effort for the orchestra.

"The entire world can follow the New York Philharmonic on its tour by logging on to newyorkphilharmonic.com. People all around the world knew what was happening on our tour in June and the same thing is happening now with hundreds and thousands of hits," says the NYPO executive director.

Maazel says the NYPO has two tasks to fulfill if it is to last in the new millennium.

"Being one of the oldest orchestras in the world, it is our responsibility and our joy to play the great classics. If the New York Philharmonic doesn’t play Beethoven, what orchestra will? We’re here to do that," he explains.

"We’re also at the cutting edge of the presentation of music written today. We opened our season with a world premiere of a work by John Adams, On the Transmigration of Souls, a work that we commissioned. It opened our season and we made a statement with that – the old and the new – but the important new, the new that we can get behind and defend and believe in," he adds. "Indeed the work that John wrote for us is a remarkable composition, one that we felt honored to perform. We will be doing a lot more of contemporary music this season, but not as a token gesture, but in the belief that what we are presenting is of great relevance to today’s society, music which can be drawn into the central repertoire of the future."

The New York Philharmonic’s visit to Manila was made possible with the support of Citigroup and the assistance of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.