Arts & Culture Magazine - November/December 2007 - (Page 21)

: : Interview Interview with JOSEPH CAULKINS Relatively speaking, Joseph Caulkins, the new artistic director and conductor of Sarasota’s Key Chorale, is as comfortable scaling icy rock faces at 10,000 feet as he is on a podium in front of chorus, orchestra and audience. As a technical mountain climber, he has defeated over 70 peaks throughout the United States and Europe, including summits in Colorado, Wyoming, North Carolina, Washington, and the French and Swiss Alps. In the months before his first rehearsals with the Key Chorale, Caulkins and his climbing partner prepared for and climbed just under 53,000 vertical feet in two weeks when they tackled Forbidden Peak, Mount Shuksan and Mount Rainier in Washington State. The soul-nourishing ascent up a mountain is something he looks forward to every summer as a welcome counterpoint to the “hamster wheel” experience of preparing for rehearsals and performances during any given concert season. “One of the roles of a conductor is to be a great teacher and inspiration so it is important I am motivated and inspired,” says Caulkins. “Climbing is the quickest way to fill my soul—to recharge and define myself.” Raised in Iowa, Caulkins speaks in a comfortable, straightforward manner about both his passions—music and mountain climbing—but it is the music that brings him to the flat landscape of Florida. For the past six years, he has served as the associate conductor and director of choruses at the Southwest Florida Symphony in Fort Myers. Before that, he was conductor of the Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra and director of the St. Procopius Chamber Choir & Orchestra at Benedictine University, both in Illinois. After taking the time to acquaint himself with each individual singer, Caulkins began rehearsals with Key Chorale in September in preparation for a busy season. The first performance on their schedule was Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Florida West Coast Symphony in October, followed by a full program of choral works by American composers Charles Ives, Williams Billings and Aaron Copland in November. Though it seems like an overwhelming amount of music, Caulkins is very pleased with the progress. “In the first three rehearsals we’ve made such strides,” he adds. “It moves very quickly when you tackle things in the right sequence and with the right priorities.” Photo by Bill Sumner. Climb Every Mountain with Joseph Caulkins of Sarasota’s Key Chorale. By Gayle Williams. Caulkins credits much of what he knows about efficiently preparing choruses and orchestras for major works to the time he has spent studying with and observing the great Robert Shaw at his Choral Workshops and with the Atlanta Symphony. “Shaw broke down things into smaller parts, working on one thing at a time in a systematic way. It seems slow, but taking incremental steps clears away technical issues for the singers,” he explains. “When they are doing all the same things at the same time, then ‘being expressive’ just happens.” By the same token, a disciplined, methodical approach to score study is what Caulkins learned from another great choral master conductor and Baroque specialist: Helmut Rilling. “He taught me how score study affects rehearsals, how much time it takes to get inside a piece and what it takes to really learn the job well.” Caulkins seems to emulate Rilling’s relatively restrained style and precise efficiency in rehearsal. Yet in performance, it is another matter. “Rilling just comes unglued, it’s so electric and exciting,” he adds. “I try to do that during performance—to save something magical for that one moment in time, to give everything you have to inspire the people in front of you.” Like mountain climbing, conducting is a long process of planning followed by extreme moments of inspiration. It is all a matter of perspective. When Caulkins is hanging in peril on a glaciated mountaintop, he says the rest of life’s actions and decisions seem very easy. “Going up the mountain changes the way you view the world. But your ability to come down and bring it with you is the best gift of all.” 2007-2008 SeaSon: nov 16. Hear America Sing. Music by Charles Ives, William Billings, Aaron Copland and others. St. Thomas More Catholic Church. april 3-6. Masterworks. Mahler Symphony No.2 Resurrection. Florida West Coast Symphony. May 4. Mysterious and Divine. Music by Andre Campra, Edward Elgar and Morten Lauridsen. St. Thomas More Catholic Church. arts and culture magazine : : 21

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Arts & Culture Magazine - November/December 2007

Arts & Culture Magazine - November/December 2007 Contents Extra! Extra! Modern Times Gallery Interview - Jopseph Caulkins Exhibitions Dodi Reifenberg and Bradley Wester Profiles Center Stage Carnevale Horse Feathers Grill & Lounge Dancing on the Stage of Life Gallery Guide Calendar of Events

Arts & Culture Magazine - November/December 2007

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