Moving Forward with the RPO

Understanding the Board of Director’s Decision on Arild Remmereit

From Elizabeth F. Rice, Chairperson of the Board

On November 28, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Board of Directors decided that 2012–13 will be Arild Remmereit’s final season as music director of the RPO.

The RPO is currently working out the details of an agreement with Mr. Remmereit, and discussing such matters would be grossly unfair to everyone involved; it would also be a distinct violation of the RPO’s own human-resources policy. The RPO does not make a habit of airing its personnel matters in public, and we are saddened and dismayed by people who feel compelled to report rumor and innuendo. 

Understandably, there is significant interest in knowing why the RPO Board of Directors voted to terminate Arild Remmereit’s contract at the end of the 2012–13 season; while the RPO will not identify specific reasons, it is important to provide a reliable description of the background that led to this most difficult decision, and the lengthy process through which the board arrived at it.

The Background

Shortly after the RPO appointed Mr. Remmereit to be music director–designate in summer 2010, tensions developed between him and members of the RPO staff, board, and orchestra. At the time, board members provided Mr. Remmereit with constructive suggestions to assist in easing the tensions. By the end of Mr. Remmereit’s first season in 2011–12, the situation had only grown worse, despite several efforts by the board to mitigate the situation; the orchestra and staff were suffering, and the matter became of serious concern to the board.

In April 2012, after repeated attempts to repair the relationship between Mr. Remmereit and the RPO, the board commissioned Craviso & Associates to identify the underlying problems. As research for the report, Craviso & Associates interviewed Mr. Remmereit as well as people involved with the RPO at all levels. 

The Process

In June 2012, the board agreed upon and communicated specific expectations for Mr. Remmereit to meet in the wake of the Craviso & Associates report so that the relationship between him and the RPO could be repaired. The board developed a protocol for monitoring his progress, provided Mr. Remmereit with a clear means for communicating with the board, and assigned him an advisor to help ensure success. Mr. Remmereit voluntarily agreed to meet these expectations and to follow the protocol.

After five months, the board reviewed Mr. Remmereit’s progress—a process that included input from the staff, his advisor, and board members, and a survey of orchestra musicians—and determined that he had not made sufficient effort to meet the agreed upon expectations and work toward repairing his relationship with the RPO. It was only at this point that the board, after serious consideration of the consequences, took this matter to a vote on November 28, and decided to terminate Mr. Remmereit’s contract.

Factors Considered

The decision to terminate Mr. Remmereit’s contract was made through thoughtful deliberation, and with a number of factors being considered, including the following:

• the input and reaction of the musicians
• the input and reaction of other RPO artistic leaders: Jeff Tyzik, Michael Butterman, and Christopher Seaman
• the ability to sustain our operations with competent and capable personnel
• the impact on major sponsors and patrons of the RPO
• the reaction of the general public
• the effect on year-end donations  

After months of trying to remedy the situation, and assessing all of the above, the vast majority of the board agreed that the best option for the long-term future of the RPO was to release Mr. Remmereit from the contract, as the contract permits it to do. Our assessment of these factors has proven to be accurate and we are very comfortable with our decision.

Moving Forward

The RPO is more than any one individual. While a music director is the public face of an orchestra, just as important are the musicians who make the music. Our musicians have proven time and again that they can play at the highest artistic level with many different conductors and music directors.

The RPO has a vibrant pops program and a world-class principal pops conductor in Jeff Tyzik. It presents educational programs under the capable baton of Michael Butterman, and performs many free community concerts that reach 30,000 people each season.

Mr. Remmereit’s departure does not signal a loss of focus on innovative programming. We will be engaging many talented guest conductors in the future as we begin a search for a new music director. We are confident we can find someone who will bring passion and energy to the position. The RPO’s commitment to education, the community, and artistic excellence in music making remains constant. We hope you'll continue to support our remarkable musicians as so many have done over 90 the past years.

A Statement from Jeff Tyzik

As many of you know, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra board of directors decided on Wednesday that 2012-13 will be Arild Remmereit’s final season as music director of the RPO.

We wanted to share comments from Jeff Tyzik, the RPO’s Principal Pops Conductor since 1994 and a Rochester Music Hall of Fame inductee:

"In my 20 years as a member of the artistic leadership of the RPO, I have been with this orchestra through many difficult times. Every organization undergoes changes, and I know that the RPO will weather its current difficulties to emerge as a more unified, stronger Rochester institution. I have complete confidence in our board leadership, staff, and musicians to deal effectively with our internal matters.

Here in Rochester, we are blessed with a great orchestra that has always played—and will continue to play—at the highest artistic level. The RPO has a bright future as a cherished part of our community, and I thank you for continuing to support us."

 

 

Fifty years of James Bond

To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise, the RPO presents Classic Bond on Friday and Saturday, February 15 and 16, 2013, at 8 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. The 23^rd Bond film, Skyfall, released today (November 9, 2012) in the U.S., prompted us to ask RPO Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik for his Top Five favorite James Bond themes…

1.      The James Bond Theme (Monty Norman):  This is from the very first Bond film in 1962, Nr. No, and remains the iconic, evocative, signature theme for the entire franchise.  Frequent Bond composer John Barry arranged the piece, and claimed he wrote it as well.  But Monty Norman won several law suits against publishers, and continues to receive royalties from the work. 
Hear it here:  youtube.com/James Bond Theme

2.      Thunderball (John Barry & Don Black, sung by Tom Jones):  After United Artists scrapped John Barry’s & Leslie Bricusse’s original theme entitled “Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” because they wanted the theme to have the same title as the film, Barry teamed up with Don Black to write “Thunderball” for the 1965 Bond film. Tom Jones fainted in the recording booth after singing the song’s final, high note, of which he said:  “I closed my eyes and held the note for so long that when I opened my eyes, the room was spinning.”
Hear it here:  youtube.com/Thunderball

 3.      Nobody Does It Better (Marvin Hamlisch & Carole Bayer Sager, sung by Carly Simon):  Written and recorded for the 1977 Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, it was the first Bond theme to be titled differently than the name of the film since Dr. No, although the phrase “the spy who loved me” is included in the lyrics. The song was Carly Simon’s longest-running hit, and received an Oscar nomination for Best Song.

Hear it here:  youtube.com/Nobody Does It Better

4.      Live and Let Die (Paul & Linda McCartney):  Written for the 1973 film of the same name, this was the best-selling Bond theme ever at the time.  It reunited McCartney with Beatles producer George Martin, who both produced the song and arranged the orchestral break. Originally, film producer Harry Saltzman wanted an African American female to record the song for the movie, but McCartney would only the allow the song to be used if Wings performed it. Saltzman, who had previously rejected the chance to produce A Hard Day’s Night, decided not to make the same mistake again and agreed. Both the original version and the Guns N’ Roses remake were nominated for Grammys.
Hear it here:  youtube.com/Live and Let Die

5.      Goldfinger (John Barry, Anthony Newley & Leslie Bricusse, sung by Shirley Bassey):  Written for the third Bond film in 1964, “Goldfinger” is said to have started the tradition of Bond theme songs being from the pop genre or using popular artists. The piece is a favorite of frequent Bond composer John Barry, who said it was “the first time I had complete control, writing the score and the song.” The musical score, in keeping with the film's theme of gold and metal, makes heavy use of brass and metallic chimes, and is described as “brassy and raunchy” with "a sassy sexiness to it.” Hear it here: youtube.com/Goldfinger

 

 

Cry a Little, Then Dance: Copland's Clarinet Concerto

Aaron Copland knew the first movement of his clarinet concerto was a real tear jerker: "I think it will make everyone weep," he predicted to his friend Victor Kraft after completing the piece in 1948.

Serge Koussevitsky must have thought the music to be pretty powerful too, because in the summer of 1950 he asked Copland to orchestrate the concerto's first movement as an elegy for strings. Nothing came of that idea--Copland shot it down rather quickly--and in November Benny Goodman finally premiered the complete concerto that he had commissioned from Copland almost four years earlier. (In the video above, the two team up with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1976.)

With a jazzy, jaunty second movement, the Clarinet Concerto--which Rochester Philharmonic Principal Clarinet Kenneth Grant performs on November 8 and 10 with the RPO--was a big hit on the New York City Ballet's 1951-52 season as the music for Jerome Robbins's Pied Piper. It was also part of NYCB's summer 1952 European tour, where critics labeled its spirited nature as distinctly American.

The Rochester Philharmonic performs Copland's Clarinet Concerto with Principal Clarinet Kenneth Grant as soloist on November 8 and 10, part of a program that includes music by Jeff Tyzik, Michael Daugherty, and Leonard Bernstein.