Keeping the Orchestra on Track

 

SSOʼs new conductor says each concert will be an event

by Darlene Polachic
for The Saskatoon Sun
August 1, 2010

If Victor Sawaʼs enthusiasm is any indication, Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra patrons
are in for a rare treat in the upcoming season. Sawa is the new conductor of the SSO.

Sawa says he represents the typical Canadian oxymoron: a Canadian conductor.
“Nobody makes it as a conductor if youʼre a Canadian.”

But Sawa did, indeed, make it, although he claims he had absolutely no musical
influence until he was 13.
“I grew up like an inner-city kid in Montreal,” he says. “All we had at home was a record
player with no records. My classical music exposure was the Disney movie Fantasia.

“In school we were always being tested for one thing or another, and when I was in
Grade 8, a test showed I had a good ear for music. They advised me to go into a band. I
shared a clarinet with two other kids. In those days there was no such thing as washing
the mouthpiece or swabbing the instrument.

“One day we were taken to hear the Montreal Symphony and that was it. I knew
immediately I wanted to be the dude in the middle with the stick.”
Sawa continued playing clarinet and decided to pursue a career in music “even though
my parents wanted me to be an engineer or a scientist. Dad bought me my first clarinet.
It cost $285, and took him three years to pay off.”

At the end of Grade 8, Sawa auditioned for the Conservatoire de Musique in Montreal.
“It cost $15 a year to take lessons from orchestra members, but you needed an 80
percent or more average to stay in. I swear they made a special category for me. I
started in Pre-Prep 3, auditioning out of band book scores.”
Victorʼs days were packed. He attended high school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the
Conservatoire from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. “I did homework after that,” he says, “and then had
to be at band practice at 7:30 in the morning.”

Following high school, Sawa studied music at McGill while continuing at the
Conservatoire. After earning a bachelors degree, he went on to the New England
Conservatory of Music in Boston for his masters. The tuition was high, but at the
conservatory he was able to study under such greats as Leonard Bernstein and Seiji
Ozawa.
“I took conducting as a major at McGill and a minor at New England, but my plan was to
be a clarinetist. When I graduated, I got a job in Canada (almost unheard of) and was
made principal clarinet in the Kitchener Symphony Orchestra.”

In the mid-1990s the position of conductor opened up with the Calgary Philharmonic.
Sawa says, “I wondered, could I do it?”
He was hired, and in 1994, moved with his wife Lesley, their daughters Michiko and
Mariko, and son Jake to Calgary. Three years later, he accepted the position of
conductor with the Regina Symphony Orchestra, a position he still holds, as well as that
of conductor of the Sudbury Symphony. Along with his new SSO position, he quips, it
doesnʼt leave him much time for freelancing.

Does Sawa have specific plans for the Saskatoon Symphony?
“Absolutely,” he says without hesitation. “My plan is to make it a winning franchise. I
intend to do my best to make Saskatchewan a major powerhouse musically.

“We need to bring orchestras into the 21st century. The old 19th century traditions have
to change. In the old tradition, orchestras and their patrons were like a club that didnʼt
want you as a member. Today, itʼs all-embracing. The change began after (the war)
when Bernstein began to speak to audiences.”

The audience, Sawa says, is No. 1.
“I want to make people aware that the symphony is not like a root canal. Every concert
we put on will be an event and you should come away saying, ʻYeah! That was a great
experience!”
The SSO is advertising the 2010-11 season as being “joy, excitement, triumph, passion,
and romance.” The Masters Series opens on Oct. 9 with Feelinʼ Good featuring pianist
Angela Cheng and works by Michael Swan, Brahms and Dvorak. “This will be a meat
and potatoes concert,” Sawa says, “with warm and fuzzy classics — guaranteed music
therapy.”

The Jan. 15 concert, Russian Romance, features pianist Martin Leung, who is also
known as “the YouTube pianist,” or the person who plays the music for Mario Bros.
video games.
Sawa is an avid video gamer in his leisure time and saw Leung at a Video Games Live
event.
“He is a masterful pianist, and I immediately invited him for a concert in Saskatoon,”
Sawa says. “Martin will play Mario as an encore. We plan to reach his local fans through
Facebook and expect to have them pack the auditorium along with our regular patrons.”

The SSO Pops Series will show the lighter side of the symphony and will feature Sawa
along with classically-trained pianist, singer-songwriter and pop superstar Chantal
Kreviazuk; ABBAmania; and music from Oscar award-winning hits in SSO Goes to the
Oscars®.
Other highlights include Handelʼs Messiah on Dec. 8, and Victorʼs Holiday Special on
Dec. 11.

What does Sawa expect from the audience: “You gotta cheer,” he says, “and I wouldnʼt
mind a wave. Iʼm also thinking about vuvuzelas . . . “
Humour is extremely important to Sawa, especially in music.
“The classics shouldnʼt be boring or stuffy,” he says. “There will be enough humour in
concerts to make them fun.”

Jill Reid, general manager of the SSO, is happy to report that the Symphony finished
the year with a budget surplus.
“That made a great season ending,” she says. “We also have our ongoing Sustain the
Music Matching Funds Challenge where donations to the symphony are matched by the
Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation.”
The profile of the SSO is further enhanced by its new marketing team consisting of
Sharon Hildebrand and Mike McCoy.

© Saskatoon Sun