Broadway
Destiny
was his
by Martha Thomas
Jack Everly fell in love with musicals the minute he heard Kismet .
ack Everly has been the principal pops conductor for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2004 , when he took over the post previously held by Marvin Hamlisch . Maestro Everly , who is also principal pops conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra , the Naples Philharmonic and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa , was conductor for the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years , appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov .
Did you listen to a lot of music growing up ? As a kid , I was crazy about classical music . My parents loved musicals and popular music of the time . Their idea of popular music came from the 1940s and ’ 50s . My sister loved the Beatles , but by then , I was a snob . My mother taught me to play the piano . We ’ d inherited her mother ’ s grand piano . I ’ d sit next to my mom when she played . I had genres of music coming at me from both ends . I loved classical and I came to love musical theater because of my parents .
Do you remember a turning point when you fell for show tunes ? The first Broadway show recording I ever heard was on an LP at my neighbor ’ s house when I was a little kid . We were running around , playing , screaming , and suddenly I heard a recording that their mom was playing . I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at the speaker . The mother said , ‘ What ’ s wrong ?’ I said , ‘ What ’ s that ?’ It was Kismet . Here was this wonderful hodgepodge based on the music of Alexander Borodin , a Russian composer , reimaged as a Broadway show for Alfred Drake . Everything about it , the singing , the orchestrations — I found it riveting . A few years later , that show was revived in New York City with Alfred , and it went on tour and came to Indianapolis . So there in the early 1960s , I saw a complete reproduction of the original 1953 production , live on stage , and my life changed .
Were you into music in high school ? I had the most wonderful orchestra teacher . We had great music programs back then . In fact , my orchestra teacher came to the gala when we opened this season in Indiana . One of the pieces was Saint-Saëns ’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso . I told the audience , ‘ We all revere great teachers , and this piece has always meant a lot to me because I first played it in high school .’ He was in the fourth row , and I said , ‘ Ralph , thanks for being a great teacher .’ It was wonderful to be able to say this in public . Ralph encouraged me to arrange and to write . We went to Washington , D . C ., and actually played something I ’ d
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