Conductor David Zinman Brings Baltimore Out West

Spend more than five minutes with David Zinman, and you find yourself talking about new music by living composers. The personable and enthusiastic music director of the Baltimore Symphony, which he brings to Los Angeles and Costa Mesa Sunday and Monday nights, is a maven of the modern muse.

“It’s amazing how many good composers there are. They just keep appearing,� Zinman said on the phone from Baltimore, where he is now in his third season, having recently signed a contract extending his tenure there into the season of 1993-’94. He mentions Christopher Rouse, the composer-in-residence in Baltimore since 1986, whose First Symphony “has been very successful this season.� Zinman, as a guest conductor in several American and European cities next season, will introduce that work around.

He also names Tobias Picker, “whose Second Symphony we will play next year�; a Turkish-American named Camram Ince; Michael Torke, “who is only 25, and writes pieces named after colors, like ‘Ecstatic Orange.’ � Then, among middle-aged Americans, John Harbison, “who you know all about in Los Angeles,� and whose First Symphony will be heard on this tour in New York and San Francisco.

One of his stated missions with his Baltimore orchestra, he specifies, is the encouragement and dissemination of “new American music by younger composers.�

Yet, when Zinman first came to Baltimore, in the fall of 1985, he recalls, “I was told that the cause of new music was hopeless with our audiences. I refused to believe it. What I found was that presenting the right pieces in the right context could win the audiences over.

“And if, at least at first, the pieces were short or of medium length, that also helped the listeners. Later, when the audience had started to trust you--meaning me--they were ready for the longer works.�

Though Baltimore has a long tradition of symphonic music, conservatism in programming was the condition Zinman found when he arrived. Even so, he has nothing but praise for his predecessor on the Baltimore podium, Sergiu Comissiona.

“Comissiona took this orchestra from nothing, and made it into something,� Zinman said. “Our challenge is to expand all of its horizons.�

One of the first priorities has been funding. After the loss three years ago of a major donor, the orchestra launched a campaign in February, 1986 to raise $40 million for an endowment fund, to ensure a stable financial base for itself. At that time, the organization had an accumulated deficit of $2.3 million, and management predicted an annual increase in that deficit of $1 million.

As of November, 1987, pledges representing $40,082,219 had been received. In all, 138 donors--78 of them giving $100,000 or more--participated in the fund raising.

“This is a tremendous encouragement for the orchestra,� Zinman commented. “The city, the people, the board of directors (the members of which accounted for $12 million of the total pledge) have with these gifts given us such a commitment. Simply put, this is going to make possible our future growth.�

That growth, according to the 51-year old American musician, includes “domestic tours--like this West Coast trip, our first time west of the Mississippi--recordings, international tours and syndicated radio broadcasts. These are all deficit-making activities, but projects we need for our development--they must be underwritten.�

The seven-city itinerary for the March tour began in Carnegie Hall in New York City, Monday. Friday, the first California stop was UC Davis, followed by Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco on today.

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center hosts the ensemble, Sunday night at 7:30; Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center is the scene of its next stop, Monday night at 8. The new Bob Hope Performing Arts Center in Palm Desert receives the orchestra Wednesday, and the tour ends at the University of Arizona in Tucson, March 17.

In what direction is the Baltimore ensemble moving?

“At the moment, we specialize in the Viennese Classical repertory: Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn. Because of what went on in Baltimore before I arrived, Rimsky-Korsakov is in the back seat for now, along with Ravel.

“We have three main concert series. The first, called Celebrity, offers heavy Classical programming, along with a good dose of moderns. The second, with more performances, has no moderns, and mostly the better-known parts of the repertory. A third is a pop series.

“In addition, we have what we call a Discovery Series, for connoisseurs. That uses a chamber-size orchestra, and the programs contain new music.

“Finally we have a popular series called Casual Concerts, in which we give one of our programs from the Celebrity Series, with one work removed.

“This is performed in Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall--a 2,200-seat auditorium where most of our concerts are given--on Saturday mornings at 11. There is no intermission. The brain-child of John Gidwitz--the orchestra’s executive director--these were originally tried on Sundays, but they didn’t work on that day, because in Baltimore, the stores downtown are not open on Sundays.�

All of the ensemble’s recent growth and development, the music director states, “aim toward the goal of making this a great orchestra.

“Of course, there are no guarantees. With all the good will and encouragement in the world--and we feel like we’re getting it--that goal may not be reached. It may not happen. But we are all certainly giving it a shot.�