Conductor Andrew Grams is making his fifth appearance with Tucson Symphony Orchestra this weekend to open the MasterWorks chamber series.
But you may have to strain a bit to see him when the orchestra plays Corelli’s Concerto Grossi — a first for the TSO.
You won’t find him behind the podium, waving his baton to direct the pace and arc of the music. Instead he’ll be in the orchestra, likely sitting near TSO Concertmaster Lauren Roth, his violin at the ready.
For only the second time in more than a decade, Grams, a Juilliard-trained classical violinist, will play his violin for an audience.
“It’s just really delightful music,” Grams said earlier this week describing the Corelli as quintessentially Baroque, with all the classic rhythmic and harmonic repetition that define the genre. It’s music that takes Grams back to his childhood when his parents regularly played a cassette tape of Baroque music — Grams said it was called “Greatest Hits of 1750” — around the house.
The Corelli concerto is actually a concerto for three; the first and second violin and cellist all get solo turns.
Grams, who made his debut with the TSO in 2013 and was here last spring for Carl Orff’s choral masterpiece “Carmina Burana,” played the Corelli last January with his orchestra, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra in Illinois.
“I hadn’t played my violin in probably well over 10 years. In the middle of the rehearsal process, I had a few different conflicting thoughts or feelings,” said Grams, who played violin with the New York City Ballet Orchestra from 1998-2004. “One was, ‘Oh my God, how did I let these people talk me into doing this!’ Another one was, ‘Wow this was actually fun. I really do miss playing’.”
Grams said he agreed to take on the duo roles this weekend because of his trust for and admiration of the TSO musicians he has gotten to know over the last three years.
“One of the reasons why I agreed to do this project was probably because this is one of the few other places that I would feel comfortable doing something like this,” he said. “I really enjoy working with them.”
Grams, who was among several conductor vying to be TSO music director over the past several years, returns to lead the orchestra in Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 with guest pianist William Wolfram on Nov. 11 and 13.
