Maestro and the Music
By: Sarah K. Miner
Photos By: Joni Schrantz
If you can catch up with him, you might find Gregory Vajda pausing at a coffee shop for his customary double espresso. No fussy coffee drinks like lattes or cappuccinos; only espresso for the resident conductor of the Oregon Symphony, worldwide guest conductor, composer, clarinetist and father of two sons.
Originally from Budapest, Hungary, Vajda was a permanent guest conductor of the Hungarian State Opera and a freelance musician before coming to the U.S. as the assistant conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Vajda relocated from Milwaukee to Portland at the start of the 2005 season to join the Oregon Symphony in his current role as resident conductor. More recently, he added the title of artistic director and conductor of the Music in the Mountains festivals in California.
Vajda, an internationally acclaimed conductor, leads concerts and operas in several U.S. states and Canada in addition to numerous music festivals throughout Europe. During the 2008 season, Vajda appeared at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic. He has conducted his own compositions at the Auditorium of the Louvre and recorded his orchestral work with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Vajda’s frequent trips to Europe are also an opportunity to visit Hungary and his two young sons, ages 7 and 9, who live there with their mother. He has a peaceful relationship with his former wife, and that is good for their children he feels, stating that he is glad that the children have such a good mother, especially with his work and travel schedule. To them, he says, “‘Daddy works in America.’ That’s part of their life.”
Vajda stays connected to his children with video chats and phone calls between visits. Technology makes it possible to communicate regardless of where he is. In summer, they usually spend over a month together, and this year his sons will join him in Portland.
With the public transportation and easy access to trains, Vajda feels at home in Portland; it has many similarities to European cities. “As a European, Portland is appealing,” he says. After five years, he says that he has come to appreciate this city for its small-town culture and vibrant downtown city life. He enjoys the many art and music festivals that our city offers, such as the Northwest Film Festival and the Portland Jazz Festival. Music connects Vajda to the community, especially when he is composing a
commissioned piece.
By their very nature, musical pieces are often structurally complex, therefore people may wonder what creating a composition actually entails. For Vajda, the challenge is not so much what to write, but how to organize the myriad ideas into one score. The nomadic life of a conductor gives him a great deal of time to work on commissioned or inspired music. “Conductors don’t really live anywhere,” Vajda says and compares a conductor’s lifestyle to that of a singer or circus performer: “We are on the road all the time.” Travel time isn’t downtime between events. With his laptop computer, a MacBook, and music composition software, Vajda often composes during flights or train travel.
Fatherhood has shaped his music with inspiration and opportunity. He recently wrote a score entitled, “Conversations with Children,” which was inspired by a book on child psychology. In it, he included a short composition by one of his sons.
During the month of February, Vajda will lead the Oregon Symphony in the last in a series of three children’s concerts. As a parent, he recognizes that children are a unique audience. “Kids don’t have expectations. Conducting kids’ concerts is just an exciting thing to do.” For children, if approached appropriately, the symphony is awe-inspiring and uplifting, and they are “blown away by the power of symphonic music.” Vajda believes children make a more challenging audience because they are so honest in their reactions to music.
In addition to his roles as conductor and composer, Vajda is also a clarinetist. He only performs a few times a year, primarily for Oregon Symphony fundraisers, and he played to introduce himself at Music in the Mountains in California. Since he performs infrequently, Vajda practices for a month or two in advance of each event to hone his skills and raise his level of play in preparation for the performance. As a composer and conductor, Vajda especially values these events. “The physical connection to music is so important,” he says.
While Vajda studied music from an early age in secondary school and later at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, he insists that his children should choose their own paths. “There’s no parental pressure to do music, just opportunities,” he says. While living with him for a year, his older son attended a music camp for children. There he was introduced to the violin and chose to continue with that instrument. When one of his sons expressed an interest in becoming a musician, Vajda responded by saying that it is far more than just a job. “This is a lifestyle,” he cautioned his young son. “Don’t do it unless you are sure this is who you are.”
As for his hectic travel and performance lifestyle, Vajda is certain that he provides a good example to his children by being an authentic person. “I feel I am a better parent if I am honest about who I am and what I do. If I am good with myself, I am a good parent.”
Sarah Miner of Portland writes, knits and home educates her two daughters. Connect at sarahminer.com or twitter.com/sarahkminer.
