There is a further tribute, including some comments from members of the
Nashville Orchestra, on Tennessean.com
Although I have not heard many of his recordings, I am very fond of his
Sibelius performances with the Czechoslovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.
He will clearly be badly missed in Nashville but perhaps what he has
achieved there is one of the benefits, sometimes discussed on this
group, of long term tenure, the chance to build a relationship with the
musicians and the community.
RIP
Alan Watkins
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Schermerhorn's passion lifted the arts in Nashville
By ALAN BOSTICK
Staff Writer
Nashville Symphony conductor Kenneth Dewitt Schermerhorn, a passionate
musician and charismatic personality who served as this city's foremost
arts icon for more than two decades, died early yesterday at Vanderbilt
University Medical Center.
During a 22-year tenure, Mr. Schermerhorn guided the orchestra from
bankruptcy to Grammy-nominated recordings and a $120 million concert
hall named in his honor that is under construction. His systematic
reconstruction of the orchestra is credited with invigorating cultural
life here more broadly, helping raise Nashville to ''major league''
status not only in professional sports and popular entertainment but
also in the arts.
Mr. Schermerhorn, 75, who was hospitalized March 22 after complaining
of abdominal pain, succumbed at 2:10 a.m. after a short bout with
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. His remains will be cremated.
A memorial concert and service featuring favorite Schermerhorn music
will be held at 4 p.m. Monday at War Memorial Auditorium.
''I've worked over the last 25 years with some 20 different
conductors,'' said Alan D. Valentine, symphony president and CEO and a
close friend of the conductor. ''Kenneth stands head and shoulders
above the rest as a musician, as a human being and as a collaborator.''
Another person close to Schermerhorn, Martha R. Ingram, the Nashville
businesswoman who has long supported the orchestra and helped mold its
future, said in a prepared statement: ''Kenneth and I shared a passion
for the Nashville Symphony � his from the standpoint of its artistic
growth, mine the financial stability and sustainability of the
orchestra � and it developed into our love for one another. His death
comes at the peak of his career � one that his family and the community
can take great pride in.''
Blessed with Hollywood good looks and a dynamic personal flair, Mr.
Schermerhorn was a tall, thin man with the smooth, cat-like gestures of
a dancer. He embraced the emotionally involved conducting style of the
great Leonard Bernstein, his celebrated teacher, and shared his
mentor's all-consuming passion for music. In conversation, and
sometimes when addressing audiences from the podium, this passion
sometimes inspired rambling soliloquies that revealed how profoundly he
admired great composers of both past and present.
Friends, colleagues and admirers are remembering Mr. Schermerhorn as an
absolutely committed musician whose contagious enthusiasm inspired the
music lovers he helped draw to classical music. And they remembered him
for pushing to unprecedented heights the orchestra he fashioned.
Under his leadership, Nashville's orchestra debuted in 2000 at New
York's esteemed Carnegie Hall; produced a string of Grammy-nominated
recordings on the Naxos label; and positioned itself artistically for
the major move in September 2006 into Schermerhorn Symphony Center on
Fourth Avenue South downtown.
But Mr. Schermerhorn's impact went beyond music. He reinvigorated and
advanced the cause of culture in Nashville, said Mark Wait, dean of
Vanderbilt's Blair School of Music and an accomplished pianist who
performed with Mr. Schermerhorn.
''More than any other person, Kenneth Schermerhorn has led the arts in
Nashville to an exalted level of excellence, and of national
prominence,'' Wait said. ''He made us see and achieve things we hadn't
thought ourselves capable of.''
John Bridges, a former Tennessean music critic who now serves as
director of cultural affairs for Mayor Bill Purcell, said Mr.
Schermerhorn ''was the right person at the right time to bring an
energy and sense of direction to the cultural life of the city. He
simply refused to take 'no' for an answer.''
Steven Greil, outgoing head of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center,
worked alongside Mr. Schermerhorn at the symphony in the late 1980s and
early '90s.
''Kenneth was a 'world class' artist,'' Greil said. ''His knowledge and
depth of understanding of music, his reputation and experience, and his
persona as Nashville's 'maestro' brought honor to Nashville and the
emerging performing arts community.''
Longtime symphony musicians credited Mr. Schermerhorn with transforming
the orchestra artistically.
Veteran oboe player Bobby Taylor, who has been with the orchestra since
before Mr. Schermerhorn's arrival, said: ''Right about the time we
started seeing ourselves as a 'major league city,' our symphony started
getting national and international recognition. It started seeing
itself as a 'major league' symphony orchestra, and he had a lot to do
with that.''
Born in Schenectady, N.Y., on Nov. 20, 1929, Mr. Schermerhorn was the
son of Willis Buchanan Schermerhorn, a professional football player in
the Canadian-American League. When teased about his formidable Dutch
surname, the conductor would note that his Belgian-born mother had the
unlikely name of Charlotte Maria Louisa Tys van den Audenaard.
That Mr. Schermerhorn's life would involve music was never in doubt.
An early memory was listening to symphonic music on the radio. ''When I
heard music,'' he once said, ''I just couldn't stop dancing.''
In 1946, at 17, Mr. Schermerhorn's musical pursuits took a formal turn
when he entered the distinguished New England Conservatory of Music. He
graduated with honors in 1950 and for a brief period played trumpet in
orchestras in Boston and Kansas City.
Drafted into the military, Mr. Schermerhorn spent the early 1950s in
Germany, serving from 1953 as music director and conductor of the U.S.
Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra. It was his first conducting job, and
he toured with the group throughout Europe.
Meanwhile, Mr. Schermerhorn's promise caught the attention of
Bernstein, easily the leading classical music personality of his day.
Upon Mr. Schermerhorn's return to the states, the young conductor made
his way to Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts, the warm-weather
home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, to work personally with
Bernstein.
The bonds they formed that summer held strong throughout Mr.
Schermerhorn's subsequent career.
''He was a person of such musical magnitude, of such easy, frictionless
genius,'' Mr. Schermerhorn once said. ''Whenever I do something that
has a modicum of grace in it, I think that's Lenny's legacy.''
Byung-Hyun Rhee, associate conductor of the Nashville Symphony, said
yesterday that Mr. Schermerhorn played the same role in his career that
Bernstein played in Mr. Schermerhorn's: ''He was my Bernstein.
Interpreting music just right � you don't learn that from school.''
Mr. Schermerhorn's first major professional job came before the 1950s
were out. He was appointed conductor of American Ballet Theatre, an
organization later associated with the great dancer and choreographer
Mikhail Baryshnikov. He would ask Mr. Schermerhorn to lead the premiere
of his own production of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker at Kennedy Center in
1977.
From 1968 until 1980, Mr. Schermerhorn settled in as music director and
conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, which he's credited with
building into one of the better U.S. ensembles. He later served as
music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic � a position he held
during his first involvement with the Nashville Symphony.
During nearly 40 years of Mr. Schermerhorn's career, Herbert Barrett of
New York was his manager. ''Here was a man of extraordinary talent,
boundless energy and humanity who found joy in helping others,''
Barrett said. ''I shall remember him always as a man who brought
pleasure and love to the countless number of lives he touched.''
From the beginning of the Nashville chapter of his life, Mr.
Schermerhorn embraced his role as fine arts ambassador in a city best
known for a different kind of music.
As he began building the orchestra, he allowed himself to be used in
promotional efforts, even dressing up as Indiana Jones and the Red
Baron. He also entered the city's fashionable social circles as a
sought-after personality, his sometimes intimidating cerebral side
softened by dry wit.
Unmarried at his death, Mr. Schermerhorn spent the last years of his
life in the company of Ingram, the wealthy patron of the arts and
visionary of Nashville's cultural future. Acknowledged soul mates, they
traveled the world together, visiting the great concert halls to hear
music, and pursuing their mutual dream of a world-class Nashville
orchestra performing in a world-class hall.
While he oversaw the orchestra's artistic direction, Ingram wielded her
influence in philanthropic circles to motivate area patrons to
contribute financially to the symphony's expansion. The result of that
collaboration is the state-of-the-art concert hall being built downtown
that will become the couple's enduring legacy.
Ultimately, Mr. Schermerhorn saw his role as promoting the most
cherished aspirations of the human spirit. This is from an interview in
2000: ''Pop culture is a money-making affair. But it also tends to be
shallow. Ultimately, there is a spiritual aspect in humanity that
requests � that demands � sterner stuff. And, therefore, the arts are
called into play. They have to play a role, side by side with education
and man's constant search for spirituality.''
Mr. Schermerhorn is survived by a sister, Lenore Schermerhorn, of
Florida; daughters Erica Ancona, of upstate New York, and Veronica
Chasanoff, of Long Island, N.Y.; a son, Stefan Schermerhorn, of Marin
County, Calif.; and five grandchildren.
Instead of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the
Schermerhorn Symphony Center Memorial Fund, in care of The Nashville
Symphony, 2000 Glen Echo Road, Suite 204, Nashville, TN 37215.
Wit and warmth were Schermerhorn�s hallmarks
Those who knew Kenneth Schermerhorn only by sight might have concluded
that this man of aristocratic bearing and specializing in such a
high-brow art form must be the aloof, elitist sort.
But the conductor is being remembered by those who knew him well as a
generous person always ready with a funny joke or kind remark. This,
after all, was a man with so little pretense that he allowed himself to
be represented as a bobble-head doll to help promote the Nashville
Symphony.
''He was very smart, and sometimes I felt like I needed a dictionary to
understand what he was saying,'' recalled Mary Kathryn Van Osdale, the
orchestra's concertmaster and a longtime close associate. ''But he was
also very human and kind. I don't think many people knew of his
generosity. He was very giving of his money and his time.
''And he would always take time to listen to anything we musicians had
to say to him. He would make the time. A lot of conductors take on a
dictatorship role, but Kenneth never did. He always wanted input.''
Nashville pianist Mark Wait recalled a recent act of kindness.
''Just last December, at a dinner party, he learned that my daughter
Mia, who is 12, was studying Russian history, and that she was
particularly interested in Nikita Khrushchev. Kenneth had met
Khrushchev in Moscow in 1959. He sought Mia out, and told her about
that meeting, in all its glorious and comic detail. It was just the two
of them, and she was mesmerized. She'll remember that story, and
Kenneth's kindness, all her life.''
A sports fan, Mr. Schermerhorn especially enjoyed playing tennis.
''Every eighth to 10th shot is pretty impressive,'' he once said.
Such self-deprecating humor � a Schermerhorn staple � extended to his
knowledge of foreign languages, which was extensive.
He acknowledged a ''working knowledge'' of French, German, Italian and
Spanish; said he knew just enough Mandarin and Korean to order a meal
and be polite; and prided himself on having sufficient ''naughty
Russian'' not to be polite.
New hall will celebrate Mr. Schermerhorn
Many observers consider it a tragic element of Kenneth Schermerhorn's
death that he will never conduct at Schermerhorn Symphony Center,
scheduled to open in September 2006.
Alan Valentine, symphony president and CEO, said the project ''now
becomes all the more important for our entire community.''
''With him gone, we owe it to him and ourselves as a community to
finish fulfilling his vision and his dream,'' he said. ''We are about
to change the entire experience of going to a concert. Kenneth
understood how important that was, not only to the future of the
orchestra, but to Nashville as Music City USA.''
Valentine said he expected the $120 million project to continue on
schedule. Now, the opening festivities will be a celebration of Mr.
Schermerhorn's life as well as a celebration of the building, he said.
Here are the thoughts of some others:
� ''The Nashville Symphony basically is Kenneth Schermerhorn, as far as
most of us are concerned. The hall was his crowning glory. He will
always be with us in the hall, which I feel will now be a great
monument to Kenneth. We will try our best to live up to that.''
�Mary Kathryn Van Osdale, concertmaster
� ''There are no words for something like that. All I can say is that
we love him, and that he's going to be in our hearts. We'll be carrying
that with us in the new hall.''
�Anthony LaMarchina, principal cellist
� ''It's just terribly sad. It will be his memorial. All of us should
be so lucky as to leave something so wonderful for the community that
you've been so much a part of making happen.''
�Bobby Taylor, principal oboist.
� ''He was to have led us into it, and we will be denied that great
joy. But now we have a special obligation to do exactly what he did.
That is, to make music at the highest level, to enjoy life to the
fullest measure, and to celebrate artistic achievement. That is
precisely what Schermerhorn Hall will do. There couldn't be a finer,
more vital monument to him.''
� Mark Wait, pianist and Blair School dean
Nashville Symphony highlights
Key dates for the Nashville Symphony during Kenneth Schermerhorn's
tenure as conductor and music director:
1983 � Schermerhorn becomes the sixth music director/conductor of the
Nashville Symphony, which started in 1946.
Nov. 4, 1988 � After months of financial and labor difficulties,
culminating in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the orchestra returns to
action with a pops concert.
December 1988 � Music promoter Steven Greil is brought in to lead the
symphony back to health. The next two seasons show small profits, and
Greil's policies provide a foundation for continuing success.
1993 �Entertainer Amy Grant does her first ''Tennessee Christmas''
concert, which raises $246,000 from ticket sales and sponsorships.
1994 � Stephen Vann, the No. 2 man at the New York Philharmonic,
becomes executive director, replacing Greil, who moves across town to
run the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Vann secures top soloists,
including cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and pianist Van Cliburn but
also adopts a hard-nosed management style that alienates some in the
orchestra and on the staff.
1996 � In a year marking its 50th anniversary, the symphony releases
the first of three CDs on the Magnatone label, the orchestra's first
classical recordings in 36 years.
April 1998 � Symphony 2000, a fund-raising campaign designed to
increase the existing endowment to $20 million, is announced.
June 1998 � New executive director Alan Valentine collaborates with
Schermerhorn to expand the Nashville orchestra's national reputation.
Summer 1998 � Symphony signs a multi-CD contract with the Naxos
classical label.
February 2000 � Famed tenor Luciano Pavarotti performs with the
Nashville Symphony before 17,000 at Gaylord Entertainment Center, the
culmination of a 20-year bid to bring the singer to town.
Sept. 25, 2000 � Under Schermerhorn's direction, The Nashville
Symphony, with soloists Mark O'Connor and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, has
its debuts at New York's Carnegie Hall, capping a multi-city tour.
July 4, 2003 � Schermerhorn leads the symphony's annual Fourth of July
concert, broadcast nationwide on the A&E cable network.
2000-present �Schermerhorn and orchestra have released seven recordings
of mainly American classical music. Composers have included Amy Beach,
Howard Hanson, Leonard Bernstein, George Whitefield Chadwick and
Elliott Carter.
2003-2005 � Over a two-year period, Schermerhorn and the orchestra
receive a total of four Grammy nominations for their Naxos recordings.
September 2006 � Schermerhorn Symphony Center, a $120 million,
state-of-the-art concert hall named in his honor, is scheduled to open
downtown.
Alan Bostick writes about the fine arts and books for The Tennessean.