Some of you loyal readers will have noticed that there are subtle changes in the appearance and content on this site. Over the next few months, these alterations will continue, as we think it is time for something different. Performance content will be more complete, the news section will be updated more frequently and even the look of the site will be changed. Hopefully, no service will be disrupted during this period and you will continue to visit often.

Each season, there are a number of world premieres to be presented. Most of the time the works are either short or take up no more than 25 minutes.

It is somewhat unusual for me to be making a debut with an orchestra these days. With a limited guest-conducting schedule, due to running two orchestras, I have to be a bit more selective about where I will be guesting. So it was surprising to many that I spent a week in La Coruña with the Galician Symphony Orchestra.

This part of Spain is in the northwest and has a population of only a quarter million people. You would think that only a provincial band would be located there, but in reality, it boasts one of the best orchestras in the country. It did not hurt that I have a particular passion for Spanish food and wine. It also helped that my good friend, Michel Camilo, was the soloist.

When we left off last month, I had finished a set of performances in Detroit with the Tchaikovsky 5th Symphony. Usually I do not repeat a work in consecutive weeks, but as it happened, the same piece was scheduled for my return to Lyon.

A question I am asked quite often is, “What are the differences between American and European orchestras?” Here is the ideal opportunity to try to answer this.

Fall is a beautiful time in Michigan. The baseball team has made it to the playoffs for the third year in a row. Apples are plentiful from the orchards in the area. The music scene is springing back into action.

Although it is the start of my sixth season with the Detroit Symphony, it really is more like the third. Back in 2009, I only had a limited number of weeks to lead the orchestra due to previous commitments. The next year a heart attack put me out of commission for three months. And in the following season—well—our weeks together were cancelled due to a debilitating labor dispute.

Vacation is over. No more Mai Tais. The only surfing to be done is on the Internet. I had not…

As I write this, vacation is about to come to an end. Having a nice long stretch of time off proved invaluable. Among other things, I wrote a piece for woodwinds and strings that will be premiered in the 14-15 season. This was something I had planned for a long time but needed an extended period in order to complete the work. It has turned out to be just what I intended.

There was a lot of baseball viewing, both in person and on TV. The Tigers are looking pretty good for the playoffs. One thing that was surprising: no matter where I went, when I wore a Tigers cap, people invariably stopped me to comment on either the team or the city. This really never happened when I was in St. Louis. Guess it was assumed that things were okay there.

VACATION!

This is a word that I have not had in my vocabulary for quite a while. After an extremely busy season, winter, spring and summer, I am taking several weeks off to recharge the batteries.

July provided some more than pleasant musical experiences. First up was a series of concerts at Greenfield Village. This is a property that tries to replicate early American society, with period costumes and customs. It is also the site where the Detroit Symphony Orchestra plays an annual set of concerts celebrating the Independence of the United States.

For most of my career I have avoided cycles. It has been season after season of as much variety as possible in my repertoire choices. But this past year has been quite different.

There was the Beethoven Symphony Cycle in Detroit as well as the four Ives Symphonies. In Lyon we have been inundated with Ravel. And to close out the season, there was a complete grouping of all the Rachmaninov works for piano and orchestra.

Starting with the day of arrival, I began keeping a journal of thoughts regarding the 14th Cliburn competition. All the entries are as I wrote at the end of the day, with nothing altered.

June 4, 2013
It’s hot here in Fort Worth, and not only outside. This is the final day of competition to determine the six finalists in the fourteenth Van Cliburn Piano Competition. After ten days of solo playing and chamber music, the thirteen judges will reach a decision around 11 o’clock tonight. These will be the pianists who play concerti with me.

By the end of May, it appeared that Stravinsky might have had the last laugh after all. 100 years after the premiere of The Rite of Spring, the actual season of spring decided not to show up around much of the U.S. and Europe. Unseasonably cool and sometimes cold temperatures prevailed and all the flowers were confused.

The weather was much better inside the concert halls, although in Lyon, we had a different venue to contend with. Our Auditorium is closed for the next several months, as repairs are being made to the heating and air conditioning systems, as well as a restoration and general cleaning of the organ pipes. This meant that we had to find a place to play.