Nevada Chamber Symphony, Las Vegas Sun, Oct. 14, 2000

Minding the Maestro Lisa Ferguson Saturday, Oct. 14, 2000 | 3:33 a.m. Rodolfo Fernandez is a man of few words -- usually. When he's on stage conducting the 20 to 40 musicians who comprise the Nevada Chamber Symphony, mum is the word for Fernandez, who founded the group in 1985. But away from the stage, in one of his Las Vegas home's music studios that overlooks the back yard (the other is crammed floor-to-ceiling with books and record albums), he talks a blue streak about the symphony, which opens its 16th season today at 3 p.m. with a concert at the Clark County Library Theater. The symphony, he laments, has at times gone unrecognized as a major player on the local performing-arts scene. Meanwhile Fernandez is also the founding conductor of the Lompoc Pops Orchestra in California (155 miles north of Los Angeles). There, he has led musicians who play sold-out performances in the city of 63,000. The sixtysomething Chile native, who sports a wavy mane of salt-and-pepper hair, says he does not understand why the Nevada Chamber Symphony is not similarly supported by Las Vegas' million-plus residents. In heavily accented English, he explains the symphony's past and present, as well as his own. Las Vegas Sun: The symphony is opening its 16th season. Rodolfo Fernandez: We had this dream about organizing a group ... (Las Vegas) had a symphony orchestra in the past. It folded. It had been very difficult to sustain anything in this town in this side of the arts. Music is an essential part of any kind of entertainment. However, the classical music is on the lower side of the scale, so it has not been easy. In 15 seasons, we have played hundreds of concerts. Our pride is we have never canceled a date. Never. From Day One, what we offer to the public, that is what they get. This year we are going to play roughly 16, 17 concerts. Sun: While other local performance groups have fallen apart and disbanded for myriad reasons, the symphony has remained intact. What has kept this group together for so many years? RF: Can you believe about half of the orchestra (members) are the same people who started with me 15 years ago? The people love the orchestra. In this orchestra, personality is very important. We get along very well. There is that kind of acceptance and friendliness and fairness ... They are wonderful players, very experienced players ... We can prepare 16 numbers, 12 numbers, 14 numbers in a two-hour rehearsal. I don't have to work very hard in that sense because we know each other. It's very important that a conductor knows about the way the musicians play. But if you are the musician, you also need to understand the lingo of the conductor, which is awfully few words, but a lot of action. If we were a pickup group, every time we got together there would be many people who are new; they don't know what to do; they don't know how the conductor conducts; they don't know what this means or the other thing, or how the dynamics are being played. I think the last 15 years have been quite an experience. We never knew we were going to last this long. We had no idea. I like to think I was the engine behind this. I just tried to connect one year to the next one and the next one. Sun: You started out as a cellist. Did you always want to be a conductor? RF: I really wanted to conduct for a long time. I played in symphony orchestras and I played in different countries. I played in Europe with the Swiss Chamber Orchestra for three seasons and I played in several orchestras here in America. But every time I would study the conductors ... For me it was another universe and I wanted to get in there. And I befriended some conductors and I became more interested ... You have to have that something -- it's not arrogance. You have to have the assurance that you can be a leader. Otherwise nobody would follow you. Sun: Do you suppose that if Las Vegas had a major symphony hall that it would give the Nevada Chamber Symphony more recognition? RF: It could be part of the problem, (not) having an established home with all of the proper attire, all of the proper furniture. We don't have that. But it could be just part of the solution. We have worked as hard as we can to earn the trust of the community, and we cannot explain ... it doesn't make any sense. Either we have an extravagance (in Lompoc), or the other question is maybe something is lacking around here. Sun: So it's been difficult for the symphony to build an audience here? RF: I believe that we are, I don't mean ignored by the majority of the people, but in some ways neglected. It has been very difficult for us to get publicity ... We don't buy (advertising) space because with the money that we have to pay for an advertisement, it's one musician that's going to be deprived. So the priorities are the musicians always come first. A good performance comes first. Publicity? Too bad. archive