There are many joys of being Music Director of the Delaware Symphony: working with wonderful musicians; playing stellar repertoire; engaging with our loyal audience; kindling a love of what we do with new audiences. One of my greatest joys, though, is a relatively private one: programming a season.

My mother was a professional musician. In that capacity, through one of her countless connections, she received a small shipment of LPs stamped in important gold embossing “Promotional Copy”. There was a Hungarian orchestra playing Richard Strauss, Istoman playing Tchaikovsky 1, Entremont playing Rachmaninoff 4th piano concerto, Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony (Previn), and finally, Mahler’s 7th with Haitink. Each of these recordings, made lasting grooves on my brain and my spirit. I loved them.

What makes art great? And what quality elevates art from the realm of decor to greatness—independent of broad appeal?

As a parent of two 13-year-olds, I am, not gracefully, dealing with the ‘teen years’ in stereo—that time when we begin the lifelong process of reconciling our pasts with our future—both becoming an adult, and, as the interweb says, adulting.  

When I moved to Wilmington more than a dozen years ago, I was so pleased to be near one of my favorite childhood haunts: Longwood Gardens.  Growing up outside of Philadelphia, my family made regular, if infrequent, visits—and I loved it there.  Many nights I would fall asleep puzzling out the layout of the land.  On moving back to the region, I became a regular at the gardens, and my imperfect mental map was, visit by visit, revised into a more reliable one.  

I think the ‘phone off’ plea is perhaps less about distraction and embarrassment, and more about granting permission. By turning our phones off, we allow unencumbered engagement with an art that begs for total immersion and temporary exile from the outside world.

Presenting program highlights that were included in Delaware Symphony Orchestra marketing materials.

The Delaware Symphony has been an integral part of the cultural fabric of our Brandywine Valley for well over a century.  Started by A. I. duPont as a small orchestra for powder mill workers it grew over the decades eventually becoming the fully professional orchestra it is today. And at each stage of its growth, the DSO has found ways to connect with the community it serves.  

“Papa, what if they hang you for this?”

On December 5, 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died.  He left behind more than 600 completed works and at least one work unfinished—his Requiem.