Alastair Willis, music director candidate and guest conductor

Music director candidate Alastair Willis is in Memphis this week to appear as guest conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s performance on Saturday, October 17 at the Cannon Center. This American-born conductor spent most of his childhood in England but returned to study in the States. He has since conducted orchestras across the country and comes to Memphis as one of our exciting candidates. He will lead a program including Johannes Brahms’ dramatic Symphony No. 1 as well as Gustav Mahler’s Rückert Leider. This stunning work features mezzo-soprano Marietta Simpson in her Memphis Symphony debut. If you would like to learn more about Alastair Willis, visit his website by clicking here. He will also be speaking about the evening’s program at 7:15pm in the Mezzanine of the Cannon Center Lobby and will be on stage following the concert for an informal question and answer session.So, we asked him: what have you been reading/listening to/what are your favorites? And here is what he replied!

What I’ve Recently Read:

• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Martenson
• The Company by Robert Littel
• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller
• Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
• Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• many orchestral scores (do they count? -AW)

My Top Three Reads:

• The Bible
• The Company by Robert Littel
• The Harry Potter series

I’ve been listening to:

• Jennifer Higdon, Blue Cathedral – Robert Spano’s recording with the Atlanta Symphony
• Gustav Mahler, Ruckert Lieder – Ricardo Muti’s recording with Vienna Philharmonic featuring mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore and Karajan’s recording with Berlin Philharmonic featuring mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig
• Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 1 – Daniel Barenboim recording with Staatskapelle Berlin , Ricardo Muti’s recording with Philadelphia Orchestra, and Karajan’s recording with Berlin PhilharmoniciTunes Recently Played List:
• Pucinni Madam Butterfly
• Bernstein Candide
• Shastakovich, Chamber Symphony Op. 83a
• Orff, Carmina Burana
• Schumann, Symphony No. 3
• Philip Glass, “Low” Symphony
• Stravinsky, Petroushka
• Golijov, Last Round
• Strauss, Till Eulenspiegel
• Various (Brazilian) Artists, Night in Rio
• David Bowie
• Queen
• Louis Armstrong
• Benny Goodman

Arts & Culture