On Saturday, November 21, the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra was conducted by the three DMA candidates of the Faculty of Music’s conducting area: Chad Heltzel, François Koh and Samuel Tam.
Chad Heltzel’s first conducting experience was at the age of 16. As a teenager, Heltzel’s main area of study was in piano at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. While attending Interlochen’s summer program for high school students, Heltzel signed up to take part in a conducting class where he was selected to conduct his fellow peers in a divertimento by Mozart. Heltzel did not pursue his conducting career until long after his graduation from the Interlochen Academy and completing his piano performance studies at Rice University. His return to conducting came only during his doctoral studies in piano performance at l’Université de Montréal. Heltzel conducted and played J.S. Bach’s first piano concerto and Mozart’s piano concerto No. 27.
“It was so much fun, I absolutely loved it,” says Heltzel. Motivated and excited, he went on to pursue his passion for conducting at the Pierre Monteux School for conductors and the Orpheus Academy in Vienna.
Heltzel’s debut in operatic conducting took place in Montreal where he was able, with the help of the Montreal West End Operatic Society, to gather his own orchestra and put on productions of Johann Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus and works by Gilbert and Sullivan such as Patience and The Yeomen of the Guard.
Heltzel’s work in opera has led him “to be an adaptable and flexible conductor, because one must be able to meld with the singer’s musical line, internalize that and then direct the orchestral musicians to create a unified sound. Having the musicians and singers truly listen to each other in order to create a harmonious ensemble is my ultimate goal.”
Other influences and inspirations for Heltzel are found within the great German conductors of the 20th century such as Herbert von Karajan and Carlos Kleiber. The admiration that Heltzel has for the music performed by these great conductors assists him when studying a new score. Heltzel will listen to recordings, read program notes, and play piano reductions until he is completely immersed in the piece. This keen understanding allows Heltzel to direct an ensemble of musicians to achieve a polished performance of a singular interpretation with stylistic consistency in any musical setting.
On Saturday, Heltzel will conduct Wagner’s Prelude to the Mastersingers of Nuremberg.
Jacob Feldman
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