Kyle Kellams: This is Ozarks at Large. I'm Kyle Kellams. The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, SoNA, closes the season Saturday night at the Walton Arts Center with the concert "Behind the Mask: Romeo and Juliet." Guest conductor Tamara Dworetz will lead the symphony. She came to the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio yesterday to deliver a preview. With her: SoNA Executive Director Ben Harris. He says preparing for Saturday night's concert included something new.
Ben Harris: One of the pieces on the first half of the program is a very modern piece that actually has a part written for kazoos. We did not own kazoos, so we had to source these things. And this was a topic of discussion around the office — OK, what color should they be? Should they be plastic, metal, wood? We actually found a YouTube video of a guy doing a shootout of those three different materials of kazoos, and we decided that the red plastic definitely sounds the best. But we went a step further and got the wazoo, which is a kazoo with a mega horn attached to the top of it. Needless to say, this is going to be a fun program on Saturday.
Kellams: So when you're preparing — I'm going to make an assumption — have you ever conducted kazoos before? This is my first time. And I don't mean this in a joking way: does that take anything different? Does adding a brand new instrument —
Dworetz: Percussionists, you have to trust them because they are so versatile. They have so many different instruments that they're expected to play, so they have to prepare and know, have a feel for how to play it. Of course it does use their air. I can't think of another instrument off the top of my head that also does. So that might be a small learning curve, but I think it's going to be really fun and I can't wait to hear them. We could experiment with different sounds because it's my first time as well and see what works best at that part of the music.
Kellams: All right. So let's talk about some of the music on the program, beginning with Romeo and Juliet, which is gorgeous — I don't think there's another word that accurately describes this piece. What's it like to conduct?
Dworetz: Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev is some of my favorite music, because no matter how much you know about music, you can experience the full emotional spectrum that Prokofiev is presenting. He used the orchestra in such an inventive way. He really is intentional about which instruments and which pairing and blending of instruments he uses. And he also is pretty inventive with the harmonies. There's some pretty in-your-face, dissonant harmonies — he's not shy. It really just cuts straight to your heart. And as long as you know just the basic overview of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, it's very easy to understand what's going on and to have a really imaginative experience when you're listening.
Kellams: If the composer isn't shy, does that require the conductor and the musicians to not be shy?
Dworetz: Absolutely. My job as a conductor is to basically be the advocate for the composer. And when the composer is no longer living, I have to do my best to uncover what I think they were trying to say. I try to be a little bit of a detective-psychologist and try to understand what Prokofiev was going through at that time, what writing that music was doing for him. It's not just about the score — it's about the context and what was going on in the world and what he might be trying to express beyond the notes and rhythms.
Kellams: What else will we hear Saturday?
Dworetz: We're going to start the concert with Dvořák's Carnival Overture. And then we have a little suite, which conductors like to do — putting together three mini pieces. The first one is Nielsen, who's a Danish composer — his Maskarade Overture — then Anna Clyne's Masquerade, and then Khachaturian's Gallop and Waltz and Gallop from his Masquerade Suite. We're going to play those all in order, which might be a sort of world premiere suite. I don't know if those have ever been put together in that order before. It'll be kind of cool to hear back to back these different takes on hidden identity and masquerade through music.
Kellams: What does it take for you to think about how pieces are going to work together when you're putting together pieces that, as far as anyone knows, haven't been heard together?
Dworetz: When you put together a larger program, you want to start with either something lighter or something that's just going to really engage the audience from the get-go. The middle should be contrasting. And then usually — this is just a traditional structure, of course there are others — the end is maybe the most in-depth or the most profound. So that's kind of what we did within this suite. The Nielsen is a little lighter. The Clyne could have been last — I was debating between Khachaturian and Clyne — but I think we put the Clyne in the middle because the Khachaturian is just so easy to listen to, and I think a lot of people will recognize it. So I think it'll be a really good little dessert on the end of that little suite.
Kellams: You're passionate about music beyond conducting. You want to take music to children, you want to take music to the community. Why is that so important to you?
Dworetz: My mom was one of the first women in the Michigan marching band. I went to public school and started music in my public school program. I've just seen through my life, growing up in Atlanta, through classical music, jazz, pop music and hip hop, how much music adds to our lives. I really want classical music to be accessible for everyone. I don't want to force it upon anyone, but I want everyone to understand how it can add to their lives and be exciting. A lot of people just don't know what they don't know. So to provide an opportunity for classical music to reach out into the community — which SoNA is already doing so well — because it's a means of self-expression, it's a way to help kids find their own voice and be empowered and gain self-confidence. And you have to listen to have a conversation — you can't just play your solo with the blinders on. It really develops listening skills. I always say orchestra is kind of like a team sport: you're developing your own skills as an individual, but you're also developing skills about how to be on a team. Education is a really big deal for me, and it's great that SoNA is already so invested in education and supporting Northwest Arkansas music education.
Kellams: Thank you both for coming in.
Harris and Dworetz: Thanks for having us.
Tamara Dworetz is the guest conductor for Saturday night's season finale of SoNA at Walton Arts Center. Music begins at 7:30 p.m. Before the concert, a creative conversation with Dworetz will take place. More information at sonamusic.org.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
