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Symphonic success
By Megan Carneal
mcarneal@mscd.edu

Photo by Jeremy Billis • jbillis@mscd.edu Maestro Alejandro Rivas conducts the Metro State Symphony Orchestra Sunday at the King Center. This was Maestro Rivas’ debut performance.

Violin bows thrust in unison violently through the air and percussion rumbled through the audience. On Oct. 8 the concert hall in the King Center was filled not only with the sound of the Metro State Symphony Orchestra but also the buzz of a successful debut for Maestro Alejandro Rivas.

Rivas decided to come to Metro from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio to conduct this semester after seeing a job posted in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“I came here for the interview, and I was so happy with everything I saw here, and I like the orchestra,” said Rivas, who is originally from Venezuela. “The prospective colleagues that I saw and I met here when I came to the interview (and) all the musical faculty are really great people. I like them a lot, so that’s also why I decided to come.”

However, the decision was not an easy one, as Rivas had to come to Denver by himself, leaving his wife and three children back in Ohio so that his wife could finish her own contract as a professor of Spanish and Hispano-American literature at Wright. Rivas’ wife has one more quarter at Wright before she and their children can join Rivas in Denver at the end of November.

Rivas was born into a family of conductors. His grandfather, father and mother were conductors, and Rivas took up the baton when he was 20. Maintaining the tradition, Rivas’ 13-year-old son has also started conducting. Rivas was a musician before becoming a conductor and started playing the cello at the age of 10.

“I come from a musician’s family, and of course I was exposed to classical music since I was a little boy,” Rivas said. “I heard always these concertos with (the) cello, and I just love that instrument. The first opportunity I had to take one and have lessons with a professor, I just did it.”

Rivas reminisced with a smile about excitedly asking his father to find him a cello so he could start playing right away. He also plays piano, but it is not his principle instrument. “I play (piano) for myself,” he said.

His passion for music is evident to his students. A fellow cellist and principal player for the Oct. 8 performance, Jared Minaga, said Rivas has a strong attention to detail and consistency and has also helped the students play together better and listen to each other instead of just playing individually. Minaga was very pleased with the addition of Rivas. “He really brings the notes off the page,” he said.

As much as the Metro students have enjoyed Rivas, he has also enjoyed working with them.

“They are all good kids. I enjoy working with students always. They are very attentive (and) collaborative,” Rivas said.

During the Oct. 8 performance, the preparation and dedication of both the students and Rivas was apparent. Rivas said the students had been practicing since the last week of August, with eight rehearsals before the final performance.

“It has been a hard eight weeks working with the orchestra … I am just so happy to come and conduct and enjoy the music we are doing,” Rivas said.

The performance featured three pieces: Jean Sibelius’ Neo-Romantic “Finlandia,” Maurice Ravel’s playful, impressionistic “Ma Mère L’Oye,” and Robert Schumann’s Romantic “Symphony No. 4 in D minor.”

“They represent different periods in music history. They are, all three, well-known works that not only the audience is going to enjoy, but also the orchestra,” Rivas said. “I wanted to pick something that encouraged them and make them feel immediate love for what we are doing.”

Rivas also selected these pieces because he wanted to challenge his students. He said that setting the bar high, especially for the first performance, would give the students an opportunity to see how far they could push themselves.

The students had no problems with the performance as Rivas led the orchestra. His movements reflected the music perfectly: subtle and gentle during the softer interludes, violently thrashing during the crescendos, when he would stretch out down to his toes, appearing as large and grand as the music surrounding him. During brief intermissions from this intensity, a look of sparkling satisfaction could be seen on his face.

Rivas will perform with the symphony orchestra again at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 12 in the King Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $10 for the general public, $8 for seniors, $5 for students and free to Metro students with a valid Metro ID.