New York – Had it not been for the austerity budget imposed on the Lee (Massachusetts) school system during the 1980s, Matthew Savery, who makes his debut at Carnegie Hall on June 5, might not have become a professional orchestra conductor.
At Carnegie Hall Savery will be leading a 22-member string orchestra, with the flamboyant violin soloist Alexander Markov, in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Vitali’s Chaconne – and more. The “more” is very likely what Savery and Markov, close friends for many years, may have cooked up. After all, aside from his stunning career as a classical violinist – he debuted at Carnegie Hall with a widely praised performance of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto — Markov is also a rock star, playing a 6-string golden electric violin in his own band.
And Savery intends to make the most of this performance: “I’m hoping to tear it up. Smoke coming off the stage. I’m going for it.”
Savery is currently in his 21st season as Music Director of the Bozeman (Montana) Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir, and seventh season as Music Director of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra. But growing up in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Savery was a drummer, and hung out at the Berkshire Music School in Pittsfield (“I lived at the Berkshire Music School as one of the ‘Band Geeks’,” he recalls), and thought he would pursue a career as a jazz musician.
“In high school I was a serious jazz player, and was playing gigs at 13 years old,” Savery said, during an interview from his home in Bozeman. ‘From the time I was eight years old, or nine, I was practicing two hours a day. I would practice the drums in my room on the second floor of our house, and people would ask my father, ‘How did you deal with it?’ and he would say, ‘I know where he is.’ He never once complained. Amazing. Still, I hope my own son takes up the flute.”
At that point, however, circumstances intervened, offering Savery a different direction for his musical gifts. Proposition 2 1/2, enacted in 1982 and restricting the amount of revenue towns could raise through property taxes, forced the Lee School District to trim its expenditures. One of the casualties was the music program.
“We needed a conductor for the high school musical,” he recounts, “We couldn’t afford to hire one, so they asked me. I did it, but I had no idea what I was doing. After that, though, a lot of people asked me to conduct recitals.”
His journey from jazz to classical orchestra conducting continued at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. When Savery arrived at NECM, its dean, Peter Row, invited his new student for a conversation in his office.
“It turned out to be a 2-hour chat,” Savery observed. “It was all about my wanting to be a conductor. It turns out I was in the perfect place in the perfect time. That conversation lit a fire in my brain – organically. I went in a different direction. In fact, I played the drums just the other day – first time in 20 years.”
After graduating from the New England Conservatory, Savery went on to earn a Master of Music Degree at the University of Michigan. He then landed a number of posts, including conductor with the Greater Bridgeport (Connecticut) Symphony. It was at this time that he fell love with Catherine Viscardi, a soprano from New Jersey who had won the Jenny Lind Competition hosted in Bridgeport.
“I loved her voice,” Savery observed. “I mean, how stereotypical. Conductor falls in love with soprano.”
Reflecting on his career and how he was able to take advantage of opportunities, he credits the people, including his family, who encouraged him as he developed his musical abilities.
“The Berkshires is a great place to grow up. I was just around the corner from Tanglewood and the BSO,” he said. “There were so many people who supported me, like the Fitzpatricks. And Charles DiNunzio, who was music director at Lee High School He challenged me and kept me focused. And he put me in the position of conducting school musical performances. Who knows what would have happened without him?”
But he also acknowledges that his success has resulted from an awful lot of self-discipline and hard work.
“Practice, practice, practice,” he said. “It’s easy to think that if you don’t come from a big metropolitan area, you don’t have a shot. But I’ve conducted all over the world. You have to believe that it’s possible. Nothing comes easy. The true joy in life is to be at your best because you’ve worked hard to develop your craft. Then when you nail it, nothing is better than that.”
And he is expecting to “nail it” at Carnegie Hall June 5.
“Alexander Markov is a phenomenal player,” he noted of his soloist. “His brilliance is the result of a lifetime of hard work. We’ve been working together for 18 years. We trust each other; we’re like brothers. He is a unique talent, and our understanding of each other comes out of our musical experiences. It’s an ideal scenario for an artist like me.”
And he is looking forward, as well, to seeing so many of his Berkshire friends and acquaintances at Carnegie Hall. A block of tickets is reserved for Lee residents, past and present.
“I’ve been on the road for 30 years, and I’m having a high school reunion at Carnegie Hall,” he quipped.
For information and tickets about this Carnegie Hall concert, click here.
