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When Carl St.Clair became music director of Pacific Symphony in 1990, it was the culmination of a lifelong fantasy: leading a major orchestra.
“I suppose that somewhere in my mind, I had the dream of conducting an orchestra or an opera,” St.Clair said. “I remember telling my grandmother when I was 6 or 7 years old, ‘I might not have a dime, but I want to be a musician.’ And she reminded me of that when she was in her 90s. I had sort of forgotten it.”
St.Clair, a native of tiny Hochheim, Texas, showed a keen interest in music from an early age. He started piano lessons at 6, played trumpet in his middle school concert band, participated in the marching band and jazz ensemble, even dabbled in rock ‘n’ roll.
Early in his career, St.Clair conducted a new-music ensemble at the University of Michigan. It was an eye- and ear-opening experience for the recent University of Texas grad.
“Until that point, my idea of contemporary music was about Bartok and Stravinsky, you know? I had almost no relationship with living composers, except for those that were in Ann Arbor and at the University of Michigan. But that really lit my fire to understand the importance of working with living, breathing composers.”
St.Clair was introduced to the world of Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony, by his U of M conducting colleague, Gustav Meier. In 1985, he became a conducting fellow there, giving him the opportunity to work with the world’s leading conductors of the time: Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Andre Previn, Kurt Mazur.
Bernstein was St.Clair’s most important mentor.
“The very first day I remember meeting him was at Tanglewood. That day there was (a) Beethoven symphony that we were going to learn. And I thought, ‘I know this, I can really do this.’ And after three hours with him, we had reached measure five. And that day I realized … that I didn't really know anything about that symphony.”
When St.Clair took up the baton at Pacific Symphony, Orange County was completely new to him. He’d visited once before as a football fan, when Michigan was in the Rose Bowl in the early 1980s. But he knew beyond a doubt what to program on his first concert series: Beethoven’s solemn Symphony No. 7.
“Bernstein had (recently) done Beethoven's 7th. So on my very first concert as music director of the Pacific Symphony, guess what? I was going to program Beethoven seven. My father had just died, so I was in a very sort of heavy place.”
The choice also sent a message. St.Clair set a goal for his orchestra from the very beginning as an ensemble that would be equally adept at four specific kinds of repertoire: symphonic classics, delicate and virtuosic fare, challenging late Romantic works and new music.
“That was the plan: (an orchestra that can) work with living composers, then play Daphnis and Chloe, then sit down right after that and play a heavy Mahler or Shostakovich symphony, and (then) do a great Eroica. And that's who we are today.”
St.Clair’s programming choices are governed by his unshakeable belief that everything is chosen for a reason. “Almost nothing I've done has been by happenstance. And this I learned from Bernstein. Everything has a purpose. Everything has a meaning. Everything sends a message.”
A new president takes the helm
When John Forsyte was hired to be Pacific Symphony’s president in May 1998, California was new to him as well. But, like St.Clair, he already had a crystal clear idea about how to approach the job.
“In Kalamazoo, Michigan, which was the orchestra I had in my 20s, I had developed a really close relationship with the music director of that orchestra, Yoshimi Takeda,” Forsyte said. “And I thought, ‘Wherever I go, my next (position) will be one where I know I can have a close relationship with a conductor.’ And by all accounts from my predecessor and from others who knew Carl, he had an exceptional collaborative spirit.”
Forsyte remembers being deeply impressed by his first encounter with St.Clair and the orchestra.
“They were rehearsing Mahler's 5th Symphony. And I was really overwhelmed by the power, and by Carl's passion and preparation. He is a very, very focused, very energized musician. And then off stage, Carl is full of charm and energy and engagement and … personal affection.”
After that first meeting, his task came sharply into focus, Forsyte recalled.
“I thought, it's stable, there's a good board, there's a talented music director, the orchestra musicians are strong, but there was a lot of developmental infrastructure that needed to be put in place. So I saw this just as a personal opportunity for me to surround Carl with what he needed.” During Forsyte’s nearly 26-year tenure, he has overseen a 200% expansion of the orchestra’s budget, among other accomplishments.
The orchestra had been performing in 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall since the fall of 1986, but it faced some serious challenges, Forsyte recalled.
“The orchestra didn't own its own percussion. It didn't really have a legitimate place to rehearse. It was (performing) pops and classics and family (concerts) all in one week – sometimes 16 services per week, double what would be normal for a professional orchestra.”
Forsyte’s first few years at the helm brought financial stability and raised the orchestra to a new level artistically thanks to his and St.Clair‘s efforts. The American Composers Festival was launched in 2000 and lasted for 17 years. A nine-city European tour in 2006 brought increased attention, positive reviews from major critics, and, to some observers, a significant leap in quality and maturity for the still-young ensemble. And a move to the new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall later that year gave the orchestra an acoustically superior home that was the ideal size for its seasons.
