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Interview:
Interview with Aaron Berofsky: Aaron Berofsky- violin professor at University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance, concertmaster of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. C: Hi Professor Berofsky, how are you tonight? A: I am doing well, thank you. C: To begin, when did you first join the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra? A: I started in the year 2000. C: Why did you want to join the orchestra? A: Partly to have another outlet to perform, and when you are concertmaster you get to perform concertos. Also it gives me an opportunity to have a connection to the community you don’t automatically have when you are at the university. At concerts you can reach out to a different audience. The music director is also very friendly. Additionally, the concertmaster position in any orchestra doesn’t open up very often, so it just seemed like a good idea. C: Why not join the Detroit Symphony Orchestra? A: (laughs) Well, first of all it is not open, but also, being in that orchestra would require a huge time commitment. At the university for the string department and the others, they require you to be here full time, and not only part time. It would be an either or thing. C: What do you like about the A2SO? A: The concerts are spread out enough that I can handle it time wise. The music is also great. C: Do the A2SO do anything different from other orchestras that you like? A: I think they are doing a lot of things that other orchestras are doing in reaching out to the community and education them more in classical music. Orchestras didn’t have to think that way in how to make sure that people would be interested in classical concert. We just did a kids concert a couple nights ago, and the auditorium was full. It was nice to see that many people out there. I used not like kids concerts as much because the music was not as serious, but I love them now that I have kids myself. I think they do a good job in making people listening to their music. Especially making them listen to classical music. C: How is it being a section leader? A: It can be very tricky. You can be a strong leader or you can not be. I try to find a balance in being helpful and clear. I don’t want to be too insistence or overpowering. It is more responsibility. It is a nice challenge. C: Do you play in all the concerts? A: I play in most of the concerts, I do all the classical concerts. Sometimes I have to miss concerts due to other performances or chamber music concerts. I do try to do almost all of them, as much as I can. C: Is the anything that you would like to see improved or changed in the future? A: Building more consistency. They do a great job, but it still something we can work on. C: Well thank you very much for your time. A: Sure, anytime. |