Life is a Symphony
for Chris Brubeck

In August, the world premiere of Chris Brubeck's Interplay, a Triple Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, was broadcast on national television as part of a Boston Pops concert under the direction of Keith Lockhart. New ASCAP member Brubeck (the son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck) who is widely known as an accomplished trombonist and a jazz musician for his work in his own groups Triple Play and The Brubeck Brothers, had been asked to write the piece for three of the top violinists in the world: classical Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, celtic fiddler Eileen Ivers and jazz violinist Regina Carter.

The high-profile performance, a smashing success, followed on the heels of other notable symphonic accomplishments for Brubeck. In July of 2000, the Boston Pops premiered and televised his Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra, which he later recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra on a CD entitled Bach to Brubeck. Then last year, Chris was commissioned to write an original Concerto for Orchestra, Convergence, again for the Boston Pops, that was so successful it now looks like it will become a part of the standard repertoire for that orchestra.

Now, other orchestras are calling him for new material. Chris, who has played many different styles of music in many different groups over the years, is genuinely surprised and thrilled with the new direction his career has taken. Shortly after learning that he had won an ASCAP Deeems Taylor Award for the broadcast of Interplay, he talked to Playback's Erik Philbrook about his new role as a "composer."

Had you previously ever tackled a project like Interplay in which you had to write for such virtuoso musicians?

Not really. I had never written anything for violin as a solo instrument before. When the idea for this project was being batted around by Keith Lockhart, the Boston Symphony management and Bill Cosell, they were saying "It would be an interesting idea to have these three different violinists from different schools of playing together, but dramatically how do we do that? And the question was raised: Who understands jazz, Irish music and classical music?" And Keith Lockhart said, "I think Chris Brubeck can do this."

Did you feel you were prepared for the job?

Everything is a building block in your career. Last year, I had written Convergence, which was the commission for the 100th anniversary of Symphony Hall. At the time, I was just thrilled to get a commission from Boston, but when I was finished I realized it was a big deal. I could go back another step. The reason they even knew I existed to ask me to write Convergence was because of the trombone concerto which I had written to play myself with the London Symphony Orchestra.

For Interplay, did you feel that you had to write to each musician's strength, or did you feel that you wanted to challenge their mode of playing?

The most important thing for me was to meet them and see what they were like as people. If any of them were temperamental divas, I didn't want to tie up my life working with three Joan Collinses. We had a big meeting and right away I saw that all three of them were really funny. They were a fun-loving little group, sort of like Charlie's Angels with violins. So what I wrote for them was based a lot on my feelings about their personalities. And the idea of tossing musical ideas around just totally fit their personalities. Then I got all of their latest recordings and studied up on their strengths. I found that all three of their records went into this Latin trip in one place or another, and I thought well here's some common ground. Between the idea of being playful and knowing they had this Latin thing in common, I sort of had this big arc in mind, like throwing ideas around and ending up in this Latin place.

You have now written and played so many styles of music. Do you feel that your eclecticism is now one of your strengths in writing classical pieces?

The greatest thing for me now is that people are asking me to write pieces because of the crazy background that I've had. I grew up loving the Beatles, played in very creative rock and roll bands, then morphed from that into playing lots of jazz. Then I started writing for orchestras, and with my father's group I spent a lot of time in the trenches. So my crazy background has given me a composer's voice where all that stuff is sneaking in all the time. When Keith Lockhart asked me to write Convergence, he was asking me to be myself, which was great. He wanted all this stuff to cross-pollinate and creep in.

What's coming up that you are excited about?

I've been talking to Skitch Henderson about writing a new piece for the New York Pops Orchestra for next Fall.

Was that a direct result of the Boston Pops piece?

It happened after he heard Convergence, and he said "Man, it's a hell of a piece and I'd really like you to write something for us." So I'm very excited about that.

Five years ago could you imagine you would be doing what you are doing now?

Five years ago I had written my trombone concerto. And I had always written material for my own group, but there's a self-important stamp about the word "composer" in the classical sense. I didn't know if I considered myself one. But other people have been telling me that I am one, so I guess I am now. It helps a lot when you are young to get critical feedback. But the thing that I always find most valuable when I write the things I play with orchestras is when people come up to me and say, "we really love your music. It's really cool and classy and fun to play. It reminds us how much we like music." That's one of the best things to hear. I'm really hoping my eclectic career helps keep that spirit in my music."

By Erik Philbrook


TOP