It's not often that a conductor can bring a deeply personal connection to the music and composer of a work they're preparing. Sure, the conductor may know the composer and even have a good relationship with them, and they bring a passion for the music they're conducting. Teddy Abrams will lead the Louisville Orchestra in the music of his mentor, Michael Tilson Thomas, a father figure and his teacher since he was a child.
MTT's song cycle, "Meditations on Rilke," is work rooted in the stories of his father (also named Teddy) who spent some years playing a cafe/bar piano in Oatman, Arizona. There he'd play popular tunes requested by the patrons, mixed with Gershwin, Schubert, and anything else he could recall.
Abrams talks about his close connection to the Michael Tilson Thomas, his musical style and influences, and what you might take away from the Rilke songs.
