One Maestro, Two Orchestras: James Gaffigan Discusses Leading Two European Orchestras
James Gaffigan, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera 4. Credit: Ole Wuttudal.
In June 2021, James Gaffigan was appointed as Music Director of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, Spain, for four seasons. Less than a year later, in February 2022, it was announced that beginning in the 2023/24 season, the in-demand conductor would serve as Music Director of the Komische Open Berlin in Germany for four years until the summer of 2027.
Gaffigan’s recent appointments are the latest in an already accomplished career that includes conducting renowned orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Dresden, Vienna Symphony, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de Paris, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
During a recent interview from Paris, Gaffigan discussed his double duty in two distinctly different venues, his approach to conducting, his love of music ranging from classical music to rock and roll, and how his youth in Staten Island has led to his international renown.
James Gaffigan: Staten Island Roots
James Gaffigan grew up in New York City with non-musician parents who always had music playing in the house. He credits the Staten Island public school system for his access to instruments and a world-class musical education.
“In the band program in elementary and junior high school in Staten Island, my first band director was also performing on Broadway. It allowed me to have access to that other world of classical music, of Broadway, even from Staten Island,” Gaffigan says.
As much as he enjoyed visual arts, movies, and reading as a child, he realized early on how deeply and viscerally music touched listeners.
“Even as a kid, I wanted to discover why music had such an effect on people,” Gaffigan states. “But music was something I realized that from a very young age, this would be the main part of my life.”
He initially played piano and guitar, focusing on jazz and rock, respectively. As he learned to read music, he also started to learn the clarinet and bassoon. The latter instrument he adopted due to both necessity and whimsy.
“My father said I would need a scholarship to continue studying music, and suggested I pick one that not as many people know how to play,” Gaffigan laughs. “I came from a world of a lot of rock and popular music, and I loved it. And I also read that Frank Zappa loved the bassoon and bassoon players.”
So, the choice was made. But as much as Gaffigan loved rock music, it didn’t move him the way his first listen to Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 did. At fourteen, he began a deep dive into Stravinsky, Bach, and Wagner. “My friends were obsessed with Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons, but this music was my escape from reality.”
Even in high school–LaGuardia High School and the Juilliard School–Gaffigan realized that as much as he loved performance, he wanted to learn more about bringing the disparate parts of performance and the different contributions of performers together as a conductor. “I loved music too much to just be playing a role in it; I wanted to understand more about it. What I find fascinating about my job is that I get to work with all different types of people, from different backgrounds, different ages, different countries and languages. And I remember even in high school, I knew I wanted to do that.”
Coaching as Conducting: Gaffigan at Lucerne
Just as Gaffigan knew from an early age that he wished to be a conductor, he was drawn to Europe early, too. On the one hand, the allure of musical history was the romantic reason. “That’s where the music that we adore comes from–Germany, Austria, France,” he states. On the other hand, there were the practical and financial considerations of European cultural institutions to consider.
“I knew I didn't want to be music director right away of an American orchestra, because there was a lot of fundraising, a lot of nitty gritty stuff you need to do for the institution. I was intimidated by that, and I wasn’t ready for that.” Because of the government investment in the arts across Europe, Gaffigan felt that he could “focus primarily on the music.”
After stints as the assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra (2003-2006) and associate conductor at the San Francisco Symphony (2006-2009), he was invited as a guest conductor for the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra several times, and they offered him the position of chief conductor in 2011.
“When Lucerne offered me the position, I jumped on that because it's one of the greatest modern halls in the world, the KKL Lucerne,” Gaffigan states of his decade at Lucerne, a time of growth and experimentation at the famed Swiss orchestra. During his time, the Lucerne’s international reputation grew with a robust touring schedule and frequent recordings of their innovative and eclectic performances.
“In my opinion, I think they're playing better than any orchestra in Switzerland now and I'm not tooting my own horn. It's not just me,” Gaffigan says. “It's the hires we've made of all these amazing new musicians. It's the fact that they wanted to be better, more versatile, to expand the repertoire.”
When Gaffigan states “it’s not just me,” he’s not playing coy. He is regarded as one of the most collaborative and receptive conductors out there, one who offers artists much leeway, knowing when to let them soar and when to pull them back in. It’s a muscle he’s been developing for years.
“The common misconception about conducting is that it's an ego trip. It's actually quite the opposite,” Gaffigan explains. He states that the conductor is not making music, not making any sounds at all, really; there is a whole sea of breaths, beats, and pauses coming from the musicians playing together. “I love gathering people together, helping them breathe together and phrase together.”
“It’s like being a coach of a great team,” is how Gaffigan explained the role of conducting to his father, a salesman. “There’s all this talent in front of you, and you’re just helping them work together. That’s it.” All sports fans know, however, that the most victorious, well-respected coaches always demur about their strategies, that they shift the success solely to their athletes.
Furthermore, Gaffigan believes that a good conductor must be flexible and collaborative. “I don’t come in with a plan for the rehearsal, but I want to hear what the artist has to offer, especially when it's a singer, or soloist, and then adapt with the situation we have at hand. If you come in too prepared, you may fail because you're not taking into account the people in front of you. The best stage directors, and filmmakers like the Coen Brothers, they're also flexible to the people they're working with, because there's no other way to be.” That is how he describes his great success at the Lucerne, through teamwork. He credits his “extraordinary partner” at Lucerne, Executive Director Numa Bischof Ullmann. “He never said no to anything artistic, and he made it an amazing playground for me.”
Gaffigan extended his contract at Lucerne, but left at a bittersweet moment. He raised the international profile of the orchestra, but many of his grand plans–including concerts in South America and Asia–were all canceled due to the pandemic. “If I knew Covid was coming, I would have extended for another three years, and that's rare after 11 years. I was really lucky, and we grew together, not away from one another. I'm really proud of what we accomplished in a decade.”
Two Orchestras, Both Alike in Dignity
After eleven years (including his abbreviated final season) at the Lucerne, Gaffigan assumed his new post as Music Director at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (Les Arts) in Valencia, Spain in June 2021. Les Arts boasts a relatively new orchestra (the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana was founded in 2006) in a stunningly designed opera house and performing arts venue designed by Santiago Calatrava, but Gaffigan had never seriously considered a career in Spain.
“We did many tours to Spain from Lucerne, but I never think of Spain when I think of classical music,” Gaffigan admits. Invited by Artistic Director Jesús Iglesias Noriega to meet the orchestra, Gaffigan was struck by the positive energy and the verve of the orchestra’s musicians. He accepted the open position and began his four-year position in the 2021/22 season. “They were so hungry for information, with all the qualities and energy of a youth orchestra, but the professionalism of a Cleveland or of Munich orchestra,” Gaffigan says. “This seemed too good to be true.”
Adding to the wealth of offers, Gaffigan also accepted a five-year position as Music Director of the Komische Oper Berlin, beginning in the 2023/24 season. “Opera has been a love of mine for a long time, and now I have two very different opera houses.”
Gaffigan points out that while Les Arts produces “huge grandiose opera,” such as Enrique Granados’ Goyescas, Puccini’s La bohème, or Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, Komishe Oper Berlin produces “wacky new productions that also push the boundaries of what we think theater is.”
The audiences, too, differ. In Valencia, Gaffigan notes that the crowd dresses well, taking pride in high culture, whereas in Berlin, the audiences are more diverse in age, status, and dress. “It’s like a rock concert at Komische Oper. You see old and young people, members of the gay community, drag queens and transgender people, Berlin’s Turkish culture, every type of person you could imagine from all different socio-economic backgrounds. And it's always packed, because people just want to be there.” What Gaffigan hopes to do at Komische Oper Berlin is embrace the experimental, but to elevate the musical level. He admits that this will take time and work.
“But I work with them both in the same way,” he states. “They're both at a high level musically, and they want to develop more, have a more cohesive sound and style. And I love helping with that.”
“When you get older,” shares the 42-year old Gaffigan, “you start accepting who you are.” For him, that means splitting his time between Valencia and Berlin, means a more stable domestic life, and an opportunity to see his family more. “The only down part is I have really eliminated most of my guest conducting which has been so much fun until now, but I will have more opportunities to be with my family without catching a plane every other week.”
This self-epiphany also means knowing that the two drastically different opera houses draw upon his diverse experiences and wide-ranging musical interests. “I'm a combination of loving Tristan und Isolde but also Sweeney Todd. I'm a combination of loving both Xenakis and Bjork, Led Zeppelin and Mozart,” Gaffigan says. “Music is music.”
