Orchestrating the Symphony

by

Music

Between the notes of how the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra’s programs soar

The scene at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts suddenly gets quiet. The first violinist has played a musical note, and the full orchestra responds with a single note. The musicians are ready. The audience is sitting in anticipation. After several seconds the door to the stage opens and the conductor, Jose-Luis Novo walks out at a fast clip. The audience applauds. Maestro Novo takes a deep bow, smiles, and turns toward the orchestra. He waits for silence, raises his hands, and his classic music selection begins. I look around the hall and notice a slight smile on everyone’s face. Listening to classic music is one of the joys of life, which the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra (ASO) superbly provides. 

To get to this point, Maestro Novo carefully selected each member of the orchestra following a rigorous audition. The theme for the 2026–2027 season of the ASO is titled “In Nature’s Realm.” This is the 65th season of the ASO and the popular conductor is beginning his 22nd year at the helm. We spoke in early July about the upcoming Signature Series, and I can report the Maestro was enthusiastic about his repertoire. The names of the nightly concerts include inspiring titles: “Echoes of the Earth,” “Forces of Nature,” and “Myths & Mountains.” When asked about his process for selecting the works he starts with a pragmatic approach. “The programming process needs to fit in with many parameters,” he explains. “We work with the budget that is available. We consider what the audience wants to hear, and we add some experimental things. We try to create a theme for the whole season.”

The Executive Director of the ASO is Erica Bondarev Rapach who played violin in college and spent two years with the Volgograd Academic Symphony Orchestra in Russia after graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University. She works closely with Maestro Novo and appreciates his mythology. “Jose-Luis is the visionary behind what pieces are played,” she says. “He is very thoughtful about the pieces he puts on for each concert. He thinks about the journey is he’s going to take his audience members on.” Erica explained a surprising practice of Novo’s, “He will ask special guests and soloists what they would like to play and then builds his program around that.” 

Maestro Novo explains his thinking about asking special guests for their preferences, “We are getting the best out of the soloist,” he says. “They play better with something that works for them.” 

Rapach gives high credit to the very first chair of the ASO Board, Anna Greenberg, and the first executive director, Patricia Edwards. “We have to thank them for taking the orchestra from an ensemble that was more about getting folks together and loving music to a bona-fide professional 501c3 organization.”

Many years ago, I became intrigued by classic music while watching Leonard Bernstein’s “Young People’s Concerts” live broadcasts from Lincoln Center in New York City. Bernstein made the music interesting to me, as did the Beatles and many other popular bands of the era. Erica confirms the value of my early introduction to classical music. “There is research that shows most people became interested during childhood and became patrons later in life. Getting young kids exposed to music and giving them opportunities and access to music at a young age is important.” She continues, “We have an academy that we started nine years ago. About half our students are on a need basis scholarship so money is not a barrier to participation.” Maestro Novo is enthusiastic about the youth program. “We prepare two concerts every year—one at the end of the winter semester and one at the end of the spring semester. We have a side-by-side concert, so they get to play with the professional musicians. It provides a very strong connection with our own community in Annapolis and the surrounding area.”

The founder and director of the Annapolis Symphony Academy is violinist, Netanel Draiblate. He is a versatile and passionate musician and serves as the ASO concertmaster. This means he is the first violin and tunes the orchestra before the conductor walks onto the stage. Draiblate is the liaison between the members of the orchestra and the conductor.

Maestro Novo is originally from Spain. He came to the United States in 1988 as a Fulbright Scholar and earned a master ‘s degree of Music and a master’s degree of Musical Arts from Yale University. After each concert the conductor and leadership hold a debriefing session to discuss what went well and what could be improved. The team works with the marketing group to learn what attracts an audience to buy tickets. 

Going back to the moment when the Maestro walks on stage, I asked him if he gets nervous. “I’m not nervous, I’m thinking about the music. I like to get a sense of the audience and what they are feeling. I’m perceiving, taking the temperature of the audience and the orchestra at the same time. The moment the concert starts I am perceiving how things are going and where do I want to push. Like a [sports] coach I am inspiring the team to do their best.” Connecting with the listener is a fundamental part of the performance.

Managing a symphony orchestra, providing a suitable venue, commissioning solo artists and special guests is an expensive endeavor. Rapach explains the challenge of funding an orchestra. “Our ticket revenue is never going to be enough to cover the cost of musicians, renting the hall, paying the staff, and marketing. So, contributed income is our lifeblood.”

Maryland Hall was once the auditorium for Annapolis High School. The school was built in 1932 and moved to its current location on Riva Road in 1979. That same year Maryland Hall was created at the original high school location. The auditorium has received important renovations that include comfortable seating and excellent acoustics for the orchestra. Compared to a cavernous Broadway theater where the seats are squeezed in tightly, Maryland Hall allows enough room to breathe and, more importantly, listen to the music.

For the best experience, I find it helpful to listen to the music of the program before attending the concert. The sound of an orchestra brings the music alive in a way a stereo never can. When you are somewhat familiar with the cadence of the music it is more enjoyable. I also like to read about the composer and understand the time frame that the music was written. I subscribe to satellite radio, which includes channels specifically for classical music. When driving gets stressful, a dose of classical music makes the ills of traffic fade away.

Maestro Novo says, “I often talk from the podium to explain to the audience why we have chosen a piece of music; it is not by chance.” Novo was inspired by Bernstein, “He was the best. He knew how to talk to people about music, and you could tell that his passion for music was palpable and he was eloquent. It is relatively easy to share that with other people, and that’s the best we can do as professional musicians.”