Friday, December 13, 2019

Playbill.com: Maestro Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser Brings the Joy of the Season to His Concerts [Dec.14]

Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser
(Ben Larivière)


By Steve Holt

December 12, 2019

For the past several seasons, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser has delighted San Francisco Symphony audiences with his easygoing and engaging podium presence. He returns this month to conduct a range of SFS concerts, including SoundBox (Dec 6–7), Deck the Hall (Dec 8), and Music for Families: Holidays Around the World (Dec 14). Here he talks about how he connects with audiences young and old.


Is an audience full of kids different from a regular concert audience?
[Laughter] If you don’t engage them you feel the energy leave the room very quickly! But they give you a lot of energy too; you come out on stage to uninhibited applause and yells. There’s also a lot of pressure to explain things in a way that’s fun, exciting, and understandable for young people who may not even have English as their first language.



What do you try to accomplish with a concert for children?
While the main thing is being able to engage the kids, another important aspect is to challenge them. I have a demonstration where I teach them how to recognize when the orchestra is sharp or flat. They can hear that. I always keep in mind that it isn’t just a kids’ concert; it’s a future violinist’s concert, or singer, or conductor, or donor.

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