Local symphony highlights final music director candidate

William McClain stands before Millikin University classes as much or more than he stands before orchestras. So he is a teacher as much or more than he is a conductor.

Understandably, he sees that as a perfect background and practice to lead the mostly volunteer Columbus Symphony Orchestra, comprised of people from a range of occupations pursuing music as an avocation rather than a vocation.

McClain will be the ensemble’s final music conductor candidate to be featured this season in a concert Sunday at The Commons downtown.

“I’m very accustomed to working with all skill levels,” he said during a recent three-and-a-half-hour drive to Columbus for the local symphony’s rehearsal. He was traveling from his home in Decatur, Illinois, where he is an associate professor of music at Millikin.

But. amid that very thought, he humorously acknowledged that he wished he could basically wave his conducting baton and make his car bluetooth technology work properly in concert with his cell phone as he drove and spoke.

“This car,” he said, “is just too fancy.”

The music director and conductor of the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra and the Millikin Chamber Orchestra has seen his share of fancy, you might say, in his career. He has appeared in major venues across the United States and abroad, including Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Sheremetev Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.

He currently performs on viola with the Augusta Symphony Orchestra and the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra in Georgia. He is a former member of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and the Tri-Cities Opera Orchestra.

His program, “Voices of Our Land,” for this weekend centers on three composers who played a major role in the formation of an “American” orchestral sound. The works he will conduct are:

• Aaron Copland: “Variations on a Shaker Melody.”
• Aaron Copland: “Buckaroo Holiday.”
• Antonín Dvorak: “Romance in F minor, Op. 11.”
• Amy Beach: “Gaelic Symphony.”

“Each of these composers told Americans to find their voice in the classical, orchestral music world,” McClain said. “Until this point in history, most American composers were mimicking the romantic and post-romantic styles that came from Europe.”

Beach’s departure from that, for example, includes the sounds of folk music and bagpipes. In the other pieces to be performed, there are plenty more elements for the audience to listen for, including Copland’s distinctive Western impact. But the associate professor understands that the this is a concert and not a class.

“I want people to be able to simply sit back and listen,” he said. “I want them to be able to just sit back and have fun.”

When McClain himself simply sits back and casually listens to music, such as during his drives here for rehearsals, he gravitates to everything from classic Shirley Caesar and Aretha Franklin gospel to the pop of classically trained Alicia Keys. He saves his review of score notes and related tasks for when he is cooking dinner.

“After this drive, I want to be fresh for the rehearsal,” McClain said. “So I need something to pump me up and keep me happy.”

The native of Washington, D.C., mentioned that he has been impressed with the local symphony, labeling the players “very responsive.” He measured players’ talent and skill level at the opening of the first rehearsal by a basic barometer: “Their rendition immediately sounded like the piece.”

Before McClain finished his conversation, he laughed once more about the technological challenges in his car. Shouldn’t such a seasoned maestro be able to make all things work in unison?

“Well,” he said, “that is, after all, precisely my job.”

About the concert

Who: William McClain, the final music director candidate of the season, leading the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in the concert “Voices of our Land.”

When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2.

Where: The Commons, 300 Washington St., downtown Columbus.

Information and tickets: csoindiana.org.