Gazette Isaac Kramer Dec 09

Isaac Kramer off the record OC Gazette Magazine December 2009

Amy Hood: How’s the weather over there in Boston?

Isaac Kramer: It is cold. It’s only 30 degrees, but it’s very cold for me [laughs]. I’m actually coming home tonight.

AH: What are you going to squeeze in while you’re back?

IK: My brother got the lead in his high school musical and I’m doing a conducting competition. The South Coast Symphony has a “Young Stars of The Future” competition.

AH: What’s one of the things you miss most about Orange Co.?

IK: In-N-Out Burger. I also lived in a house in Laguna that overlooked the ocean, so I really miss my ocean view.

AH: What’s one thing you don’t miss?

IK: Having to drive.

AH: How did growing up in Orange County impact you?

IK: When I was two years old, I was a very restless child. My parents are both musicians and my mom would take me to her local orchestra, The South Coast Symphony. Most kids’ heroes are Superman. My hero was my mom’s conductor, Barry Silverman, who is now my teacher. I was the little two-year-old who would go to concerts and sit perfectly still, but if I wasn’t in a classical concert, I’d be running around like mad. I also grew up in the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra. That impacted me tremendously to get that kind of experience. We got to play side by side with the Pacific Symphony in concerts. Going to OCHSA really molded me too. I really owe them a lot of gratitude because without them I wouldn’t be where I am. My first year there in 8th grade I played Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. I’ll never forget that. I was the principle trombonist in the orchestra and we went on tour to Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House.

AH: So the first 18 years of your life have been pretty successful. Are you excited for the next 18?

IK: Oh yeah. The next 18 is where the real stuff happens.

AH: So what’s the real stuff since Carnegie Hall‘s been done?

IK: My dream is to be the music director of a major symphony orchestra. I’m planning on pursuing my master’s in Orchestral Conducting, and then my goal is to become an assistant conductor at a really great musical institution and eventually have a position as a music director. I am extremely open-minded. I would be just as happy to conduct ballet as I would be to conduct opera or musical theater.

AH: Is there a specific outfit you’d like to direct?

IK: I would love to work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I’m a huge fan of their new conductor, Gustavo Dudamel. He’s incredible. It’s all about working hard. My education is one of the most important things to me because it is what I will depend on for the rest of my life in my professional career.

AH: Since contacting you for this interview, you have stepped down from your position at the Boston Metro Opera. Was it hard getting respect because of your age?

IK: Well, I was young, I was new on the Boston scene and I didn’t have a reputation. And the two directors found that a lot of people were complaining that I was appointed to the position because I’m not well-known yet and I’m only 18 years old. I don’t think people were comfortable with my being 18 and being their boss. So the directors told me that they were going to move me down to Associate Music Director. So I resigned. That’s not really what I signed up for.

AH: It’s not easy being a kid prodigy, is it?

IK: I don’t consider myself a prodigy [laughs]. I’ve just been really lucky.

AH: What’s it like being an unemployed college kid like the rest of your peers for once?

IK: You know, [laughs] it’s actually quite humbling. I’m back to my work-study program as an usher for the concert hall here. The thing is, I didn’t go into music for financial reasons. I went into music because it’s my passion. Music is not the place if you want to make a buck. Well, rap or some other form can be a way to make a buck, but classical music isn’t. Everyday I learn something new at the New England Conservatory. My goal is to retain as much new information as possible every day from my classes.

AH: Speaking of popular music, do you ever get that you look like the Jonas Brothers?

IK: [Laughs] I’ve never heard that before.

AH: Do you listen to popular or current day music?

IK: Oh yeah. But what I call current day music is very different probably from most people. I love soundtracks. And my favorite movies are Bond films. I have every Bond movie.

AH: What did you think of Jack White and Alicia Keys’ remix of the Bond theme?

IK: I think it’s such a nice touch to have modern stars do the first title of every Bond film. I also really love Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. B.B. King. Eric Clapton. Leonard Bernstein said it best, “There’s two kinds of music. There’s good music and there’s bad music.” That’s how I live my life. I don’t separate music by genre. There’s great music and music I don’t care for.

AH: When you say bad music, can you expound?

IK: Now I have to think of what I can say that won’t offend anyone. I have never been a fan of country music.

AH: Who inspires you?

IK: My greatest inspiration is Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was not only generally the most respected American conductor, but he was also just the most respected musician and an incredible composer. He knew how to take music and make it apply to people and touch people that didn’t know anything about classical music. He turned on the young people to it. He was the first conductor to take classical music, put it on a cd and get it popularly sold.

AH: What’s your favorite musical?

IK: West Side Story.

AH: If you could take credit for any piece of music in history, and claim it as your own, what would it be?

IK: I wish I wrote The Rite of Spring by Stravinski. It’s a work of genius.

AH: The most embarrassing song on your iPod?

IK: Probably my Beach Boys collection.

AH: How are you assimilating into Boston culture? Is it the diametrical opposite of here?

IK: Oh yeah, it’s the opposite. It’s quite educational. It’s just everything in a different light. It’s great for me to be here because in Orange County classical music is not nearly as appreciated as it is here in Boston, and that’s something I really want to change. I would like to devote part of my life to changing the classical music scene in OC. One person who’s doing an incredible job of it is the music director of the Pacific Symphony, Carl St.Clair. Carl is a world famous conductor and it’s amazing how he’s devoted himself to the community in Orange County. I would love to do what Bernstein did with the Young People’s Concert. I want to go back to high school orchestras once I graduate. I just really want to try to bring classical music into people’s lives who normally wouldn’t have it.

AH: In parting, do you have any words for the young’uns reading this?

IK: Bernstein said, “To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan and not quite enough time.” That’s something I live by.

{ INTERVIEW BY AMY HOOD }

LINKS

Click Above to Visit The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Bio Page on Gustavo Dudamel

He began his music career at age six. While the rest of teendom was watching TRL, he was being accepted into The Orange County High School for the Arts, where he helped create the Young Artists Philharmonic, which he is still presiding conductor and music director of. Fresh out of high school, while a full-time freshman at the New England Conservatory, he was hired on as the music director for the Boston Metro Opera for it’s inaugural season. He’s already performed at Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House and directed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. That’s just the first 18 years of his life. Talking with one of the most qualified and ambitious unemployed college students in Orange County...

Click Above to Visit The Pacific Symphony’s Site and to Learn More About Carl St.Clair