Garrett Keast

Hey, Michael. Great to see you, man.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah, sure. The Wiener Staatsoper.

The Wiener Staatsoper, sure.

Well, it's, yeah, thank you. Well, it's great to see you, Michael. Um, it's, you know, it's amazing how I guess we, we somehow made it through the transition. You know, it always feels like you're right though, in a way, it always feels like a transition. Um, we've been here eight years now. Oh my God. Our two little boys were born here. It's kind of amazing. Um, and uh, it was a big transition from, well, you know, it wasn't a transition from Texas, I must say, but you know that, of course, that we met in New York. And I was in New York City for 11 years before here, where I really began my career. But, but uh, but I, I understand the story is a little more interesting from Texas, of course.

Yeah, it's amazing. I, I, we, we came over here when I was 21, and we came to, I came to starting conducting in New York City when I was 10.

Ah, yeah, well, I mean, that's what's been so great about working in Europe and being, being, especially being based in in Germany. Because I began my my first, my career here in in Europe at both at the Paris Opera, where I was an assistant on several projects and then was given my own performances. But then that helped me get into a position at Deutsche Oper Berlin. And uh, and that was really amazing, because you're really thrown into the repertoire system. This big German opera house like you're speaking of, like your experience was also, working in this big rep house where they're doing three performances of La Bohème in the season only, you know, and in the middle of everything else and it's got to go up with one, one stage orchestra rehearsal and perhaps one orchestra rehearsal or not, you know, and things like that. So, um, yeah, it's, it that was just really, I think, it's a really good place to kind of, um, work on your chops and just to, to really, um, you know, get some, get all this beyond all this basic experience, you know, where you just have to get in and conduct Magic Flute one night, the next day for the for the music director preparing, uh, you know, Valkyrie or something and preparing all the ladies in Valkyrie or something like that. And then the next day, oh, we have a concert we're preparing and I'm working with the librarian on all these, these Rachmaninoff parts or, you know, just endless things like that.

Yeah, sure. That was uh, the premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas's Bluthaus, which is, we did it in Bonn and we did it also in uh, Festspiel, uh, Schwetzingen Festspiele. Down near Mannheim. Yes, I mean, there's, that's what's been so great. And then the other part of the equation, like you mentioned, is working, uh, my first season I worked at, uh, the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg because I had a great introduction there via Christoph Eschenbach, as his assistant on Mahler 8. And then we did uh, Unsuk Chin and uh, Koechlin, Charles Koechlin, all this, uh, Le Bal de Loge and Unsuk Chin's, um, uh, Alice in Wonderland, I mean.

And really cool things that, you know, just weren't possible quite in my career two years prior in New York City.

Richtig, yeah. Yeah, richtig, naturlich. Yeah, on my end you broke up for a second.

Ah, ja, verstehe ich. Ich weiß, welche in welche, welche Haus war das? Ich, ich habe vergessen.

Oh, Zurich, yeah, yeah, fantastic.

Yes, but I was an assistant at there. I, I have not conducted yet the Vienna Philharmonic, but I have, I have, uh, conducted the Tonkünstler Orchestra there many times. And also the, uh, Wiener, Wiener Kammerorchester.

Yeah, I think really people are people. It is, I, it's interesting. I mean, it helps to have, it just helps to have experience. I mean, I'm not 29, of course, I'm going on, I'm going on, I'm gonna be 49 next year. And uh, and I think it's, uh, you know, you just come to it with such a different experience after being with so many, um, important orchestras, important orchestras and all kinds of orchestras, every level orchestra I've worked with in Europe, basically. Um, and uh, yeah, so I, and I, but one thing that's interesting about it, and I would say that here in in Germany too, like for, for instance, last season I did a Bernstein Gala with the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra Berlin here. And I think I've learned over the years. I used to in the beginning try to speak only in German. But I've learned over the years, being an American, that and just, you know, just be myself, be friendly, be outgoing, um, not overly outgoing, just be cool with a, with the orchestra, with the players, you know, do a good job, come in really well prepared, have something to say, then it can work really, really well and it does help to be an Ausländer. It does help to be, you know, a foreigner in our business, just like it does in the States in a lot of ways. I, I've found that to be the same in a lot in in a sense. And and I think often when I'm conducting an orchestra here in in Germany or anywhere in Scandinavia or something, it it I speak, well, in Germany I speak half in English. I speak, I and I talk about things, I make a little joke, a little quip, I speak in English, I say hello and I do, I do all the, uh, I just say hello and like we're going to begin it. Takt Nummer sechs, uh, Takt, Takt Nummer sechs und sechs und sechs, you know. I say, I say all the beginning starting places, the details, some of the specific details in German, and then I go to explaining things in English, and I can be myself, I have a personality. If I'm trying to do things in German, I have no, I turn into a square box, you know.

I have to be careful with my words here, but, uh, yeah, I mean, I think, well, in Germany there is a tradition to have big bands kind of playing off to the sides of orchestras. They, they do have a tradition, for instance, NDR, NDR, um, uh, radio up in Hamburg does have a big band orchestra, big band. They have a big band and so does WDR and so does, I think SWR and lots of them. But, um, but yeah, for instance, I did this Bernstein, big Bernstein piece in the Staatsoper in Hamburg, and that orchestra is the Philharmonic Orchestra in Hamburg and it's a really fine orchestra. Kent Nagano was Music Director. I mean, the, and we did a lot of things together there with the ballet. And, and so we're doing this Bernstein, um, dances this last couple seasons. And you know, what I've noticed about Northern German orchestras, they kind of play brass plays things too long. So, da-da-da-da-da-da. And I just had to tell them to shorten everything up. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, you know, like short, quick, have fun with it, you know, and, and if, and you just tell them like that and sing it for them, and I find they come around. Yeah. So, they can play, sometimes they can play a little too heavy, you know, and too long. And,

What I think is great about it is I think a lot of us, I know we, we, you and I have talked about this a lot last few months. I mean, a lot of people had perhaps more time to think about it, to to focus on what they should be working on, what their goals should be, um, in terms of writing music, in terms of interpreting music, in terms of what kind of music they should be focused on, or the kinds of projects they want to see, um, come to life. And so that's what it's been for me is is really refocusing myself and on what I want to be, uh, you know, what I want to be spending my time on, and what I want to be focusing on, what I think I can make a difference in, what types of music I can make a difference in, you know. So, uh, when it comes to what, it's a very good question. I mean, we none of us really know what's going to happen in this next few years, but I do feel, I mean, I am, I am buoyed by the recognition that here in Germany and in most of Europe, it looks like the season's going to begin in in October. And end of September, October is when the season begins. Everything's going to be most, more or less knocked down in size, but the concert's going to happen. And so,

I do, Yeah, There's already been, Deutsche Oper Berlin already had an opera, opera performance a few weeks ago.

Yeah, I mean, it's, we've had masks have been the rule from the very beginning in any store, in any, um, any indoor public place.

There you go.

No. Yeah, they're, I mean, I was talking with the manager of the orchestra, the Konzerthaus Orchestra a few weeks ago, because they had a big concert, outdoor concert, but with lots of space. Um, they will separate, they will have, they have a, I don't remember how many seats exactly. I think there's 1500 seats or so in the house. And they can only sell 400 of them, he said.

Yeah.

Sure. Well, I imagine, yeah, that's a very good question. Um, but it's gonna be done with space. It's gonna be done with a with with space and lots of adjustments and, and I don't know that every opera will be done, you know. I know for instance, I'm, my season begins, uh, well, it was supposed to begin with a tour, an orchestra tour in September, and it's ca it's postponed till next season. But the, uh, I will go to the Finnish National Opera for a big new piece called Jekyll and Hyde, and it's a huge orchestra. And we've already been working around that by, we have, they have had, they have such a fantastic numbers in in Finland that, uh, they only have like 398 deaths for the whole period, and I think they're almost down to nothing in terms of cases. But, so they, their hope is that we can use the full 85 piece orchestra in the pit. That's their first choice and first hope. And they think there's a good, they, they seem to, I think they think there's a 40-50% chance we'll do that. The second choice is, we'll have pre-recorded the entire piece, so that, um, they can, um, broadcast all of it through the, um, through the, uh, sound system. And the other choice is to do their smaller, several smaller, um, ensemble pieces. So we'll, if that happens, we'll do the smaller ensemble things live, which is much more intimate and much more real and touching, and then the larger pieces will have to be broadcast. So.

Ah, uh, music director of my second orchestra.

Yeah, I mean, there's, I'm up for a couple music directorships. So that's a big important part of my career. I mean, more important than even that is really I think, uh, you know, I feel like it's been, it's been fantastic for me. I was always, I grew up more on the symphonic side a bit. But I was always a choral singer. So I, I, uh, was very much wanting to learn the operatic side. But I wasn't really a serious pianist. I was a trombonist, a violist and this choral singer. So for me, I, I wanted to catch up on the operatic side. And, and I worked calling titles at Houston Grand Opera and the Met Metropolitan Opera, and then I became associate conductor at New York City Opera, and then I started doing a lot of opera as well, regionally in the United States, which was great experience for me and helped me come over here. And so in my, I, in a way, I think, even though I wasn't a pianist, I always wanted to do things the old school way. You know, I wanted to really have the opera house experience. It was really important to me. And I think it's, I think it's actually, uh, super important for for conducting symphonic concerts. So I kind of feel like after doing all this opera house experience, which I of course want to continue with, now I can go back to my real roots, which was the symphonic repertoire where I grew up with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach, and this is a huge repertoire that I'm fascinated by, I love, I, I admire, and I, I want to be involved in all that. So, so yeah, that's, so really the more important aspect for me than even becoming a music director is really to step more and more onto the concert circuit in Europe and in the States.

Well, I think I'll answer the, well, I think I'll answer the second one first if you don't mind. Because I have a funny quip about it. But I mean, it's, it's a funny piece to me. I the Carmina Burana, you know, super famous piece, everybody wants to do it. It's always a knockout for the audience, everybody loves it, you know. Um, but it's a piece I never liked. I don't really love the piece. I don't love to listen to it. I don't love to study it. Yeah, I, I imagine. But, but then I was asked to jump in and do it in Munich a few years ago and I just, and I did it and it was a complete blast. I had a ball. I had a ball with the, with the chorus and with the orchestra, and it's just, it's poppy and fun and energetic and it's, you know. I, I have found that, and another piece that reminds me of that, uh, uh, the Philip Glass Hero Symphony. I had to do that in the Hanover Staatsoper a few years ago in the ballet. Not crazy about it. But I mean it was fun at the time. You have to make, you know, it is important and I tell all the, every conductor, every musician is this, this is so important, is that you have to make it everything you can. You have to put your heart and soul into everything you do. Otherwise, it's just, it's just terrible when you don't, you know, you have to, you have to make it come to life, you know, every piece. Um, pieces I, pieces I would, I'm just dying to do, you mean?

Oh. There's so many, but um, well, one piece I'm really thrilled about, it's on the schedule. I don't know if it's going to happen, is Poulenc's Gloria. It's a fantastic, fantastic, beautiful piece. I, I conducted, and another piece I really want to do again is the Poulenc, uh, um, Dialogues of the Carmelites. I conducted that a several years ago. It's just amazing music.

Yeah.

Love that piece. And then Dialogues of the Carmelites, I want to come back to. I mean, one, I, I, you know, I studied a lot of Wagner, Wagner's operas as, you know, we spoke a lot about that.

Um, I am very interested in conducting some of those pieces in the future. I mean, I conducted Fliegende Holländer a few years ago. But I'm, Tristan is a fascinating piece to me. Um, but then, but then there's really so many great pieces that you don't even have to do all those things. I mean, there's, there, Chichester Psalms, I'm crazy about, you know, I love that piece. Um, the Songfest, I'm working on now to present in September here in Berlin. I'm learning that right now. It's a wonderful piece, so many wonderful poems.

Sure, sure.

I'm always amazed how much American music is performed in Europe. It's, there's a lot. They do a lot. And, uh, I mean, they mostly do the top, most famous five or six composers, I must say. So, I mean, you mostly hear Bernstein, John Adams, Philip Glass, Copland, and maybe Barber, you know. So, I mean, but there are a lot of other things you do hear bits and pieces of too. So, um, but every season, the major, I mean, every, I would say every major opera house in Europe every three or four seasons does an American piece, you know. Uh, when I was at the Royal Swedish Opera, they were doing Candide, right when I was, right when we cancelled everything there. Um, so, there's a lot, there's a lot being done. I mean, it's amazing. And so, being an American here, I've automatically been thought of as somebody to ask to do that. And then, um, and so I have done, you know, three or four symphonic engagements a season, mostly focused on American music for the last three or four years and, and occasionally an an opera or ballet or something like this. So, I, and what I think is amazing about it is that what, I mean, I'm an American guy from Houston, Texas and spent my a lot of my early years in New York. When I go to an orchestra and I speak to them about how to, and I sing for them how to play Copland or how to play John Adams or how to play, you know, your music, it sounds legitimate. I, I speak the right way about it, you know.

And I can sing it the correct way, and I can get them to play it with the right articulation or the lightness or whatever it is, the transparency. And I think that really comes across and they, uh, they I've, what I've, so that's what, as you and I have spoken about many times, is that, uh, in the last three months, is I, I kind of recognize, and it's been fantastic for me this, I mean, it's, it's been a really terrible time in the world, and I know it's been a tough one for you this a few months ago, two months, two and a half months ago. Um, and I and I've lost a few friends to COVID-19 already. Um, back home. I think, um, but for me, the the free time I've had, and forced free time, um, was amazing because it made me recognize that, oh yeah, Garrett, you know, and in your career as a conductor or as a or as a violinist or as a pianist or whatever, everybody says, well, you need to focus on something. What is your focus? And for me it was for a while, it's like, well, I really love Haydn, I love Mozart, I really can do that well. I know I have a great sense. I think I have a, I think I have a pretty good sense for how those articulations work and that phrasing works and a lot of buoyancy and, and I can, and I, and I love that. So, that was one thing I was saying, or Russian music. I did a lot of Rachmaninoff symphonies and Tchaikovsky and all those things. But when I recognized these last three months is that, oh yeah, but American music, I already am asked for. I love it. I I'm passionate about it. I know a lot of you guys back in the States that are live writing music right now. And so, it just makes more sense for me to, makes makes, makes complete sense and aligns with me straight through my body, straight through my feet to the floor, you know, that I should be focused on American music. And, you know, in my 60s and 70s, I, yeah, I want to be the guy that's asked to to conduct Copland's Third Symphony or to, you know, to do Chichester Psalms or to do, um, your Archangel, you know, all these things. I want to be somebody that gets to do those things. And if I'm not working on that now, I'm working on my glide slope, you know.

Yeah, I think you can.

Okay.

Yeah, sure.

Yeah, I mean, well, that's a good question. I you wonder how that stuff comes up in your mind and how that comes through your body and how that actually works. You know, in high school, I remember, I was in the band. I was a trombone player in the band in Houston, Texas. So I, I didn't really my mother played orchestral music often on the, on the, um,

Yeah, well, thank you. Well, I think,

Ah, well, you're right. It's been amazing. It's, this, I mean, we've been here since March 17 or 18, we got back from Sweden. Um, it's been really, it has been really great. Uh, tonight I'm not there putting the boys down. They're going down, down right now, basically. Because here where I'm speaking, it's like, I don't know what time it is, it's like 2:30 or something. It's 8:30 in the evening here. And, um, so, and, uh, sometimes I hear a little note back from my wife, "Oh, Oliver had a tear tonight. He was really missing you when you weren't there." But, um, but often, of course, I'm gone for two weeks at a time or a week at a time or three weeks at a time. Every, every single variety I'm gone for a period of time. And, um, and, uh, so they, it's been amazing in that way that we've had all this family time and, and it's and and I do feel really lucky and pleased to be here in Germany where things are going really well and it's taken care of quite well. But, um, ah, when it comes to music and people and the reasons why we do this and the, you know, I always find that amazing to me because I mean, like your, like you're very kind to say, I, I love people. I, I love being in a room with people. I, I, I love the music too. I can sit in a room and listen to recordings all day long. But when it comes to conducting, somehow for me, I, I mean, I always was interested in of course leadership in some way, but it was, but music is for me the most interesting way to be involved with people. And I, I just love trying to get the most out of a group and work with people and, and smile while I'm conducting when it's the moment to, and, and enjoy the process and collaborate, you know, to really collaborate with people and, that's, that's what it's all about. I mean, it's nothing, there's nothing better than that, you know. It's, it's not about, uh, conducting every possible performance of Brahms Symphonies you can. It's about connecting and it's about making music. It's about, it's just about being like a chamber musician. Just like I think it is playing chamber music in any kind of group.

Thank you so much, Michael. It's been really, really fun. Great to see you.