by James Busbee • photos by Daniel Ball
or someone who spends much of his professional life standing in
one spot, Maestro Alan Balter is a man on the move.
The conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra is in worldwide demand for guest appearances. In a given month, Balter, 53, may be onstage here in Memphis, jet halfway around the world to Prague for a recording session, fly to New York City to give classes, visit Israel or Brazil for a guest conducting session, and then return to his Midtown home. It’s a consuming schedule, and it’s why, after 14 years, he’s giving up his post as music director and conductor of the Memphis Symphony. Come May 30th, he’ll move on, bringing to a close a singular career in Memphis symphonic music.
During his tenure, the Memphis Symphony has risen from a collection of part-timers to an ensemble of national prominence. Consequently and concurrently, Balter’s reputation – and his opportunities – have grown as well. On the eve of his final performances in Memphis, Balter discusses his life and work in Memphis, his goals for the symphony, and his hopes for the future of Memphis music.
Drawn to Music
Alan Balter estimates he was just 4 years old or so when he started tinkering at the piano, and was 6 when he began lessons. “I was simply drawn to music,” he remembers. “I was fascinated by the sound, by the feel, by the symmetry and the asymmetry of what I heard. I loved playing with the ideas in my head and then actually hearing them at my fingertips. I didn’t know ‘classical’ music from other music, so whatever I heard, I played.”
Growing up in New York, Balter was a shy child, and he discovered
that music provided him with a way to interact. “When I was in
elementary school and they offered us instruments to study as
part of the music program – remember music programs? – I chose
the clarinet,” he says. “I loved the piano, but I wanted a more
social experience with my music. I wanted to share it with other
people. Again, this was my need to communicate, and music provided
the best venue.”
Balter gravitated toward the clarinet because a friend’s father played the instrument in a jazz combo. The improvisational elements of jazz deeply affected and influenced Balter. “I hold that skill in very high regard,” he says, “as it gives one an important sense of freedom, knowing you can always improvise your way out of trouble if you take a musical risk that doesn’t work out.” That appreciation of musical freedom would later serve Balter well in his conducting.
Balter spent nearly 20 years playing in professional orchestras, including eight as principal clarinet in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. But for one versed in improvisation, there comes a point when you want to take the reins yourself.
“I began to sense that [my conductors] were experiencing something that I wasn’t,” he says. “It had something to do with where you are in the music, especially in an orchestral situation. As an instrumentalist, the music was at my center, I could feel it inside, but I was not quite at the center of the music. As I watched these conductors, I wondered what it would be like to be at that center. That is the fascination for me. When I conduct, I am at the center of the music.”
Balter’s aptitude for conducting sent his career onto a higher plane. He began as an apprentice conductor of the Atlanta Symphony under Robert Shaw, and was later appointed assistant conductor. In 1976, he won first prize in the prestigious MIN-ON International Concours for Conductors in Tokyo. Prior to coming to Memphis in 1984, he conducted Baltimore’s symphony for several years, and also served as music director and conductor of the Akron Symphony, a position which he still holds.
The acclaim for Balter’s performances has been international and substantial. National Public Radio has called him “one of three or four of the most important young conductors in America today.” The Washington Post praised him as an “exciting musician with remarkable poise and even more remarkable artistic vision.” He has recorded with both the Akron Symphony and the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and in 1995 released “Jazz Suite for Clarinet and Symphony Orchestra,” written for him by David Baker.
Author David Ewen once wrote a biography of conductors called Dictators of the Baton. It implies an egoism about the profession of conducting that Balter finds distasteful. “I have heard some conductors say that they ‘play the orchestra like an instrument,’ and that, somehow, is what makes them tick,” he says. “Nothing could be further from my mind when I conduct. My role has several parts: one, setting the musical goals, sometimes very specifically, sometimes more as intuitive guidelines; two, motivating the group of musicians to follow those guidelines; and three, serving as a ‘communication facilitator.’” As conductor, Balter must keep a group of musicians who are scattered all over the stage at the proper volume and tempo for the context of the music. “The members of the orchestra should be able to see in me the music, and should be able to focus, through me, like a lens, on what is happening in other parts of the music and on perhaps quite distant parts of the stage.”
“He is absolutely committed to the music,” says Frank Shaffer, a timpanist who has played with the symphony since 1975. “He wants the symphony to realize everything he sees in the score. He’s taught the ensemble to play with precision, to play both softer and louder than it’s ever played before, and he brings out everything the composer intended in the piece.”
Making Changes
Of course, Balter’s duties as music director of the symphony are not limited to onstage performances. His vision also extends to such non-artistic matters as the performers’ compensation. Before Balter arrived, performers were paid on a per-hour or per-performance basis, meaning they had to scramble to find other employment and couldn’t dedicate the necessary time to practice and performance. Balter changed all that. During last year’s labor dispute between orchestra musicians and MSO management over wages and obligations, however, Balter remained officially neutral, choosing to remain a go-between among all parties. He says he does agree that the musicians are underpaid, and would like to see more support for the musicians to help the symphony grow.
“He founded the core orchestra in Memphis,” says Martha Ellen Maxwell, president of the Memphis Orchestral Society. “We now have a core of 34 musicians for 38 weeks. It’s a higher-quality ensemble that plays well together. Guest conductors and artists are very complimentary, almost to the point that their surprise is an insult – they didn’t expect us to be that good.”
Even with his responsibilities as conductor and musical director, Balter continues to play the clarinet professionally. “Many people ask how I still find time to play as well as conduct,” he says. “Each provides a different kind of experience for me, and I would not want to have to choose one over the other.” In fact, playing, not conducting, made for one of Balter’s most memorable moments in Memphis.
“My first concerto appearance with the Memphis Symphony ... was extraordinarily moving to me,” Balter recalls. “When you spend years telling a group of musicians how to play, you run a huge risk when you finally pick up your instrument and show your stuff. You have to produce what you have been saying all those years. I was touched at the support the members of the symphony gave me. Further, the opportunity to make music with a group of musicians with whom you have spent years establishing a musical language is a rare opportunity indeed.”
Others have remarked on Balter’s instrumental prowess, as well. Shaffer tells a story of Balter’s early days with the symphony: During a rehearsal with the woodwinds, Balter asked them to “play with resonance through the rest,” the period of silence in a composition. “Everyone looked at him like he was crazy – how do you play through a rest?” Shaffer recalls. “But anything Alan asks for, he can do on his own instrument. He demonstrated on the clarinet – after he stopped playing, he breathed through the clarinet, and you could hear the resonance connecting through the rest to the next beat. Well, everyone’s jaw dropped a few feet, and after that, there was very little resistance to him – people realized he knew what he was talking about.”
Since Balter’s arrival in 1984, Memphis has seen a perceptible rise in the prowess and notoriety of its classical music. “The Memphis classical music scene has changed mainly because the quality of the orchestra has improved so dramatically,” Balter says. He credits the growth of the orchestra’s season, the creation of a core orchestra, and the substantial improvement of the ensemble as a stimulus to the non-symphonic classical music scene, as well. “There has been the addition of more chamber music series of high quality, and a depth of performance opportunities that is impressive,” he adds.
Under Balter’s direction, not only has the orchestra become a first-class “classical” symphony, but its ability to play music of extremely varied styles has made it more a part of the entire community. Balter traces his desire to broaden the range of the Memphis Symphony to his childhood, when he didn’t differentiate between musical styles. It’s an approach he hopes has broken barriers in a way that other art forms have not.
“I didn’t differentiate between ‘classical’ and other styles, and I certainly didn’t judge,” he says. “We try to create a sense of inclusiveness that is inherent in the art form. However, this inherent inclusiveness isn’t always apparent, whether it is because of ‘classical snobbery,’ or the reverse snobbery of a portion of the public who knows it is supposed to respect what is happening in classical music – it is good for you, like medicine – but doesn’t feel comfortable or welcomed.”
The Sunset Symphony
Most Memphians probably know Balter as the conductor of the Sunset Symphony, the famous riverside concert that closes the Memphis in May International Festival. The program generally features well-known pieces like Beethoven’s Fifth and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, but just because they’re more popular favorites doesn’t mean Balter holds them – or their public performances – in any less esteem.
“Music that appeals to more people isn’t necessarily inferior in quality,” he says. “What we play on a hot summer’s evening while watching the sunset may very well be different than what we choose to listen to in a more intimate and subtle venue. True, the strokes must be broader in that outdoor space, with outdoor acoustics and huge distances and almost no intimacy with the performers. In spite of that, we have had performances of Chinese traditional music, an American premiere of a New Zealand piece, and, during a piece of symphonic music from Nairobi, Max Roach played a 20-minute improvised drum solo that had all the subtlety, nuance, and intellectual and emotional interest you could want. There was no ‘playing down’ [to a less classically aware audience] there.
“We must resist, however, the marketing temptation to always seek the lowest common denominator, to paint in the broadest, most accessible strokes,” he continues. “That will probably result in more seats sold today, but the longer-term result will be degradation of the art form and ultimately loss of interest in it.”
Balter is pleased with the entire Sunset Symphony program, seeing it as an opportunity, not a burden. “Our Sunset Symphony concerts are extraordinarily popular, and the Memphis Symphony is one of the most well-known U.S. orchestras in its community,” he says. “My only disappointment has been that the symphony organization has not been able to capitalize on that popularity and convert it to increased audience support for our more subtle and thoughtful venues and repertoire.”
So how should the symphony improve its presence in Memphis? In a world where even the most popular music acts have the shelf life of yogurt, what could bring a more non-traditional (read: younger) audience to the symphony?
Balter feels the problem may lie in the traditional concert venue.
“Our format has remained essentially unchanged in the last century,”
he says. “Particularly in America, audiences sometimes tend to
regard the medium as too precious, resulting in the sense of the
music as having a glass case with those purple ropes on stanchions
around it. Beautiful, but don’t touch. There are some homes like
that: absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, but you would find
it difficult to live there. I feel that music ought to be livable.
Perhaps the traditional format for a concert [the 2-hour, sit-down,
with a 15-minute intermission] is no longer the only way to appreciate
all symphonic music.”
Gimmicks, he feels, are not the way. “I am not talking about adding laser shows to Beethoven symphonies,” he says. “But there are other ways to bring the presentation of symphonic music into the 21st century. We have made some progress here, but much more is possible, and the Memphis Orchestral Society and the new music director will need to be willing to look at those possibilities with an open mind and a willingness to be flexible without sacrificing one iota of quality.”
That new director is as yet undetermined, but will receive somewhat of a trial by fire. “Next season, we will have six guest conductors,” says Maxwell. “Each one is phenomenal in their own way. They came from a pool of over 200 applicants. From 45, we required videotapes of their performances. We interviewed 14 and chose these six to guest-conduct.” The next conductor of the symphony will be chosen based on those performances.
The Life Ahead
For his part, Balter plans to continue teaching and guest-conducting. He’s not yet certain where he will live, New York City or Ohio, but he will continue in his position with Akron, a move which has raised some parochial eyebrows here. Why leave us?, some have wondered. Why not leave them? It’s a question which causes Balter some consternation. “Several things influenced my decision,” he says after a pause. “There were more things pulling on my schedule, like guest-conducting and teaching. I decided that I had to rearrange my life, because I didn’t want to not do everything well.” Also, Balter and his wife, Niki, each have a parent living on their own up north, which influenced the decision. Finally, most of the activity awaiting him is in the Northeast, such as his teaching work at the Manhattan School of Music and the Mannes School of Music in New York City.
“In the end,” Balter says, “you’ve got to think about where you’re headed, what your vision is, and whether you’ve met most of the challenges you’ve set for yourself.” In Memphis, he’s convinced he’s done the best he could do for the city and its symphony.
“This city can and should be proud of its symphony, as an artistic and stylistic entity,” Balter says. “It can play with excellence in a variety of styles – from Brahms and Beethoven and Rachmaninoff to Duke Ellington and Elvis Presley.”
Still, as far as he’s brought the symphony, Balter recognizes that there is much work yet to be done. At the top of the list is a first-class concert hall and performing-arts center. “Without that,” he says, “Memphis will always be running behind other cities. Music, theatre, opera, and dance all are total experiences. The setting for those experiences must be suitable. From the first entry to the concert hall, to the way you get to your seat, to the way the orchestra is presented on the stage, the experience must have an understated elegance, reflect a sincere respect for the art form and the concert experience, and above all, the acoustics must be of the highest order. There can be no compromise. The cost of compromise would far surpass the price of holding fast to what is right. If the total experience is not complete and right, the public’s interest will not survive past the novelty of the new space.”
But such an undertaking could be phenomenally difficult, given Memphis’ proclivity for plunging even the noblest pursuits into paralyzing bickering and politicking. “I find the Memphis psychology very difficult to fathom,” he says. “We have so many wonderful intentions and somehow, despite marvelous people, we have trouble putting those together sometimes, and achieving the results we all want. That’s not unique to Memphis, but it’s particularly puzzling about the Memphis community.”
Which is not to say that he won’t look back on his days in Memphis with fondness. “The experiences I’ve had with the symphony and with the people here are treasures, and I will keep them forever. My wife and I have met some irreplaceable friends here. That’s what I treasure most about a place, who I’m with and what I’m able to accomplish with those people,” he says. “My goal has been to make the orchestra more a part of the daily lives of Memphis’ citizens.”
Balter tells the story of an African-American man he met in Memphis
who recognized Balter and praised his work with the orchestra.
“Then he added the following statement: ‘But, you know, it’s not
our music,’” Balter recalls. “I had always thought of music as
the language that belonged to everyone and would transcend barriers
and bring people together. Here I was being told that it was music
that was part of, in fact helped define, the barriers. I was determined
to do something about that. We have broken many of those barriers,
and I am most proud of that.” 
Alan Balter’s final performances in Memphis will be at the Sunset Symphony in Tom Lee Park on May 23rd, and at Harrah’s Symphony in the Gardens at The Dixon Gallery and Gardens on May 30th. Contact the Symphony office at 324-3627 for more information.