Conductor's wealth of experience

Tito Munoz is grateful for his considerable European experience. Photo / Dario Acosta

Tito Munoz makes his debut with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

On Thursday, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Slavonic Dances concert marks the New Zealand debut of American conductor Tito Munoz. At 30, Munoz is convinced his background as an orchestral violinist and concertmaster brought him to pick up the baton.

"I've always liked leadership roles," he explains. "I've always had a firm idea of what I want and a vision of how to get that across to people. And the only appropriate way to do that is to sit in the front seat."

Three years as assistant-conductor with the legendary Cleveland Orchestra means he has worked with some of the best.

"Cleveland is a special place," he says. "It may be a little bit isolated but there is a level of excellence in the musicians that I have yet to see surpassed. Their discipline and pride in their playing is so high. They strive for the very best every time."

Munoz will never forget deputising in Cleveland for music director Pierre Boulez, who was out of action, under medication for glaucoma. "He was still around, however, and wanted to be involved. In fact, he was coaching me during the rehearsals. It was strange checking with him, out in the hall, what the balance was like, as if he were the assistant conductor."

The young American received very special insights from the French maestro.

"It was a joy to work with Boulez on music with which he'd been deeply connected. He told me at one point how he told Stravinsky he shouldn't have orchestrated one particular passage like he did. Comments like that can add a whole new perspective to a score," he laughs.

Boulez is just one of Munoz's admired conductors; names like George Szell and Sergiu Celibidache are also in the top ranks of his "favourites".

"I'm a fan of old recordings," he explains. "Mainly because there's no editing - you actually hear what they did. Nowadays, with so much editing going on, you don't know what's real and what's not."

As well as his three years in Cleveland and work with a host of American orchestras from Alabama to San Antonio, Munoz is grateful for his considerable European experience. From 2010-2013 he was music director of both the orchestra and opera house in the French city of Nancy. He talks of his work over the Atlantic as "getting some repertoire into the blood", including the stage premiere of Gerald Barry's operatic version of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

"That is a wild piece," he laughs. "Probably the most difficult thing I've ever done. He likes challenging people," is Munoz's assessment of the Irishman Barry.

Next week, in the Town Hall, Munoz opens his APO concert with three of Dvorak's Slavonic Dances; after that, the territory is far less familiar. The Five Sacred Trees is a bassoon concerto by John Williams, celebrated for his music to such movies as Star Wars and Schindler's List.

The solo is handled by the orchestra's principal bassoon, Ingrid Hagan, a fellow American with whom Munoz has worked in the States.

As for the music, "John Williams is an interesting composer," Munoz muses. "A lot of his concert pieces can be very cinematic and this is one of those."

The other major offering on Thursday is Lutoslawski's 1954 Concerto for Orchestra.

"It's such an exciting piece but not done very often in the States," Munoz shrugs. "This is one of the ultimate challenges for an orchestra and deserves more performances."

Performance

What: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, Thursday at 8pm