above: Greenwich Symphony Orchestra led by Music Director Stuart Malina at the Performing Arts Center at Greenwich High School
For the first time in its history, the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra is being led by a full-time, professional leader. Its new executive Director, Suzanne Lio, is an accomplished, strategic nonprofit leader and former managing director/chief operating officer of the Bruce Museum, where she led its $60 million renovation. Lio takes on a role long held by dedicated GSO volunteers with a mandate that includes elevating the orchestra’s public profile and cultivating new audiences at a time when many symphonies find their fanbases shrinking.
She’ll have a ready and gifted partner in Music Director Stuart Malina, who begins his third GSO season eager to continue raising his baton—and the orchestra’s high-performance bar—through his innovative programs and a passion for making classical music relatable and, yes, even cool.
Speaking of cool, Malina, a Scarsdale native who holds degrees from Harvard, Yale and the Curtis School of Music, won a Tony Award for his collaboration with Billy Joel for the orchestration of the Broadway musical Movin’ Out. He’s also a classical pianist who has played for audiences around the world.
In anticipation of the GSO’s new five-concert season, we spoke with Lio and Malina about what’s in store for audiences old and new.
SUZANNE LIO
Executive Director
GM: You told me you were “not a classical music person” before taking this job. So how did you end up at the GSO?
Suzanne Lio: I got a call from Peter Tesei (former Greenwich First Selectman and the GSO’s board chair), and he says, “Boy, do I have a job for you!” I was taking some time off to recharge after leaving the Bruce—I honestly wasn’t even really thinking about work—and he tells me the GSO wants to hire its first executive director. I said, ‘I don’t have a background in music. I played the clarinet in middle school, and I was lousy.’ He says, ‘That’s not what we’re looking for.’ He told me the focus was on rebuilding the symphony. They are in an exciting place. And they wanted someone who could help them with that.
And that was interesting to me.
GM: After decades of volunteer leadership, why hire a professional executive director now?
SL: Really, I think the board signaled where they wanted to go when they hired Stuart Malina. He’s a creative genius, a Tony Award-winner and has this masterful way with an audience. He’s so comfortable speaking from the podium that he just draws you in. All symphonies have found it’s harder and harder to reach audiences. I think people who are not familiar with classical music feel like they can’t participate and are not welcome. The thing we’re trying to convey is that we want you here if you’re a most learned scholar or someone who just wants to come and have a mental health break and listen to the beautiful sounds of this amazing orchestra. My focus will be on spreading the word. That needs to happen.
GM: What have you learned since taking the role?
SL: Well, the first thing is that we have an incredible orchestra and an incredible venue for people to listen to them. The community doesn’t really know what it has. We’re a professional orchestra with professional musicians and professional stagehands. Really everything we do is forward and top notch. People hear about the Performing Arts Center at Greenwich High School and the images conjured are bleachers and basketball hoops. Not at all! We work in a theater created by great acoustic architects. It’s an amazing place to listen to music.
GM: You often hear people say, “I don’t get classical music.” How do you build new audiences when most peoples’ tastes skew pop?
SL: There’s an entry point for everyone. Maybe it’s one of our Sunday concerts where we open the top balcony for families and you can bring the kids and no one really cares if they aren’t being ‘perfect.’ We’re doing so much to make the music relatable. Whether it’s the maestro talking from the podium, or one of his video chats before a concert or our spectacular program notes, we’re connecting the audience to the music. This is a great night out happening in our own backyards. You don’t have to hire a driver and go to the city and hear the New York Philharmonic. We have an orchestra composed of some of the best talent in the region. Music has always been composed to be shared, and it’s so much better listening to it live than on a streaming service.
GM: At the Bruce, you led an incredibly ambitious effort to build a new museum. Can we expect something similar from you here?
SL: That’s an interesting question. It was the GSO that was really behind getting the Performing Arts Center built. So, I think right now the focus is on building an audience. Symphonies all over feel threatened, and Covid was terrible for this organization. Greenwich is a town with a lot of cultural offerings, and that’s a good thing; but we’re this gem that people just don’t know about. I want to introduce the next generation of folks to the amazing things we’re doing. As I’ve said, I’m not a classical music person, and the first time I heard our orchestra play I have to say there were tears in my eyes. I said, ‘I am so lucky to be here right now.’ And I want everyone to experience that. These musicians are that good.
GM: Speaking of musicians, let’s go back to your clarinet playing days. Was it really that bad?
SL: Oh, so bad. Terrible. You can quote me on that. My cat would claw her way out of the room. If I had to go back in time and got the chance to try again, I would take up the cello. The clarinet was just not meant for me to play.
—
STUART MALINA
Music Director
GM: Now that the symphony has hired Suzanne, what is your creative vision for the future?
SM: For me it’s about steady growth. I believe every concert should be better than the one before. I inherited a really lovely orchestra from David Gilbert [GSO music director for 46 years], and he created a culture of joyful music making. If you can keep an environment where the musicians are truly happy, I think the audience can tell. And now that I’ve been with the orchestra for two full seasons, I think we’ve done some wonderful things we can build upon. For example, last season we incorporated multimedia into our last performance. That kind of thing is new for us but was really well received.
GM: Is adding visuals to concerts something you’ll do going forward?
SM: It really depends on what you’re doing. For that concert, it was a lovely collaboration. We were doing a piece by Holst called “Planets.” Each movement is about the planets and the Roman gods that represent them. It’s a beautiful and great piece, and the videos were of all the planets. It was almost like a choreographed dance. It was geared toward a younger audience and engaging them, and for that piece of music; it just worked really well.
GM: You mentioned joyful music. Is that a secret to audience building?
SM: Tapping into joy is certainly part of it, but there are so many elements. I always believe that if an audience comes and can tell the orchestra enjoys what they’re doing, they will come along for the ride.
Sometimes it’s also about breaking down the pedestal of classical music for the audience so it’s not so intimidating. Having a deep understanding of music—and classical music in particular—isn’t necessary to enjoy it.
But the one thing I would like to get away from is that idea that music always needs to be happy or enjoyable. Art comes in many forms. It makes me think of that [Edvard Munch] painting, The Scream. It’s uncomfortable to look at, but it’s also impossible to look at it and not appreciate the intense emotion behind it. Music has all that complexity, and that’s one thing I like to share with audiences.
GM: You did a piano performance featuring Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue that was a big hit with the GSO audience. Will you do something like that again?
SM: Later this season, I will play a piano concerto by Gershwin, and our assistant conductor will take over while I play. I like to do this every season because it shows the audience and orchestra a different side of my musicianship, and it’s fun for me.
GM: What’s it like to perform so close to your childhood home in Westchester?
SM: It’s like playing in the hometown arena. My parents come, but so do some of my friends from high school and college. So, it all feels very comfortable and welcoming. I call it my musical homecoming.
And there’s been a great surprise here: I find the Greenwich audiences very open, very accepting and very encouraging. Over the course of two years, I’ve started to push the envelop a little, and every time I do, the audience goes right along with me. That’s pretty special. You don’t get that everywhere.
GM: Any concerts you are especially excited about this season?
SM: Ask me my favorite program and I’ll tell you it’s whichever concert I’m conducting at any given moment. But one of the benefits of having only five concerts a season is that you can really put together a strong program. But there are some things that should be especially terrific. On November 23 and 24 we are playing Dvorak’s New World Symphony, and that should be pretty amazing. We are also play Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and I think that’s going to be another special performance.
Probably the pinnacle will be our final concert of the season [May 31 and June 1], which will feature Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. We will be doing that with a full chorus [featuring the Greenwich Chorale Society] along with four soloists. Most of us are familiar with it; but you have to experience it live to truly appreciate it, and we have the perfect venue for it. I hope you can come.
Photographs: Stuart Malina by Lisa Keegan; others: contributed