GREAT FALLS — The Great Falls Symphony will welcome it's fourth conductor candidate Saturday, who brings an international perspective to the podium.
From growing up in the Netherlands to his current role as assistant conductor at the Academy of Vocal Arts, music has always been a part of Robert Kahn's life.
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"My parents played music, cello and piano. So there was always music around and they would always take me to concerts as well," Kahn said.
He got his first clarinet at age 7 and also plays the piano, but the concert experience had a profound impact on him.
"Going to concerts was also a really big influence for me. They would take me to Amsterdam, to the Concertgebouw Orchestra, which in retrospect is one of the best musical experiences they could have asked for, because it's just an amazing orchestra and an amazing hall," Kahn said.
As he got older and started thinking about conducting, he continued studying the clarinet, which he paired with his interest in physics.
"It was really during my studies that I thought conducting is kind of perfect for me because it has music, which I love, but it also has this aspect that I love about physics, which is kind of the analysis and the kind of brainy aspect of conducting," Kahn said.
Kahn, whose resume includes time as a cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was drawn to Great Falls for its sense of community. It's something that he feels music can play a role in.
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"I think we live in a time now where we're more connected than ever before in a way, with the internet, with everything, with social media. But in another very real way, I think we are getting more lonely as a society. And I think music is a real source of community or can be a real source of community and inspiration. And that, I think fundamentally is what I hope to achieve with my music making, that I inspire people and I bring people together and give them hope and give them connection," Kahn said.
Kahn also teaches students at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and believes music education is as important as ever.
"There's something that there's an energy that kids and youth orchestras give you that you can't find anywhere else. And I think as an orchestra in a community like Great Falls, there's I think a big responsibility to invest in music education," Kahn said.
While music is an international language, Kahn says orchestras in Holland are a little different than in the United States, mostly in the way they are funded.
"Most of the funding for orchestras comes from the government. And that can seem like a great thing. Often in America, people wish we had more of that, and I wish that as well," Kahn said. "But in America, it's much more connected through donors, through supporters in the community. And I actually love that because it means that as an orchestra, as an organization, we're directly connected with our source of funding rather than with politicians who one group might be happy to fund the arts, but then somebody else comes in and they want to cut the arts."
On Valentine's Day evening at 7:30 p.m., he'll lead the Great Falls Symphony in a performance fittingly called Romantic Journey, a four-piece program that wraps up with Tchaikovsky's famous Romeo and Juliet Fantasy overture.
"Even if you don't think you know the piece, I can promise you, when the time comes, everybody will go, 'Yes,' because this is a theme that, speaking of Disney, has been in every cartoon. I think growing up we've all heard this love theme and it's I think it's the greatest love theme probably ever written," Kahn said.
Kahn has a simple hope for concertgoers on Saturday.
"I think if I had to pick one word, it would be inspiration. I hope they in the orchestra and the audience. People, the people in the audience are inspired," Kahn said.
The Great Falls Symphony performance of "Romantic Journey" begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 14, in the Mansfield Theater. Kahn will host a free pre-concert talk in the theater at 6:30 p.m.
