Benjamin Zander [the conductor of possibility]

By: Editor | August 17, 2009 | Ten by Ten

Benjamin Zander moved from England to Boston while completing post-graduate composition work at Harvard. In 1979, he became the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and has led the BPO ever since. He’s also established himself as a world-renowned conductor, speaker and teacher. Zander opens the BPO season in October with Brahms’s Violin Concerto and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7.

How would you describe the feeling of happiness?
I’d describe it as full participation, engagement and response. I always look for the shining eyes.

What do you consider your greatest career achievement?
Opening the hearts of countless people to music, to classical music.

Is there anything that you are sorry for?
Many things — every time I’ve said or done something that has disempowered somebody else.

How would you describe your current political point of view?
Excited about Obama.

Who is your favorite musician/composer and why (feel free to list up to five)?
I didn’t say why, but I did say Mozart, Mahler, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert, and that leaves out about 10 of my favorite composers so we’re in trouble here. There would also be Schumann, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Shostakovich. There are many, many other composers that I really, really love, but those are the main ones. And I would say the reason is obvious: because they are the greatest composers. Also, I would like to add Bruckner to the list. They are the greatest, but I can think of at least another seven who are almost equally great: Haydn, Dvorak, Debussy, Bartok, Britten.

Please arrange the following four subjects in order of importance to you: science, religion, politics, art.
My life is art. The second one is that I love politics. Third, I have absolutely no use for religion. And fourth, I don’t understand science, but of course I know how important it is.

What is your favorite quote?
My quote is a quote by Rosamund Zander, author of the Art of Possibility, which is quite nice: “The leader is the relentless architect of the possibility that others can be.” That’s a beautiful, beautiful quotation.

What is your greatest source of inspiration?
The art of possibility — that means not just the book but also the whole approach to life.

Define love in as few words as possible.
Full participation, engagement and response, which is exactly what I said for, “How would you describe the feeling of happiness?” Oh yes, those shining eyes!

What is your greatest fear?

It would be the degradation of the environment, because if we’re all under 20 feet of water, there’s not much use to any of this.

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