McFerrin brings innovative craft to Royce performance
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 22, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 UCLA Performing Arts One of music’s most versatile and
innovative artists, Bobby McFerrin conducts The
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra at Royce Hall this Sunday.
By Howard Ho
Daily Bruin contributor
Saint Paul, Minn., may not be well-known as an artistic mecca,
but the city boasts over 40 stage companies and two major
orchestras.
One of those orchestras, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, will
play at Royce Hall under the direction of Bobby McFerrin on Sunday
evening.
That’s right, Bobby McFerrin ““ the jazzy, beboppy
artist who made a hit out of “Don’t Worry, Be
Happy” ““ is conducting a chamber orchestra. As if that
weren’t enough, he will also bring his unique brand of
improvisation to the concert featuring the compositions of Vivaldi
and Bizet.
“Bobby came from the jazz world, where spontaneity and
improvisation are important,” said Steven Copes,
concertmaster for the SPCO, in a phone interview from Minnesota.
“I don’t think that there’s a stigma when he goes
to the classical world; people are in awe of his vocal
talents.”
The 33-member SPCO was created in 1959 by Leopold Sipe. The
names of its past conductors and directors read like a
“Who’s Who” in music. Dennis Russell Davies,
known for collaborating with Philip Glass, acclaimed violinist
Pinchas Zukerman, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison and
John Adams, arguably the most important American composer today,
were all leaders at one time or another at St. Paul.
As the current creative chair of the orchestra, McFerrin, who
joined in 1994, sits in the same spot that Adams and Harbison once
did.
“Bobby is the most exuberant, imaginative free spirit you
could imagine,” said Bruce Coppock, managing director of the
SPCO “His genius allows him to do things with his voice that
seem impossible.”
As the son of an opera singer, McFerrin was introduced early on
to music, beginning music theory training at the age of six. Though
McFerrin first gained mass appeal with 1988’s
“Don’t Worry,” he had already won three Grammys
for his forays into jazz and was heard by millions weekly for the
theme from “The Cosby Show.”
McFerrin made his conducting debut with the San Francisco
Symphony in 1990. Since then he has made a successful transition to
more traditional classical conducting, but he retains his energy
and jazz influences.
“Whenever he hears something specifically that he wants,
he sings how he wants it played,” Copes said. “He
demonstrates with his voice. He brings a lightness and
doesn’t like to get bogged down in details.”
On his set in Royce, however, the versatile McFerrin not only
conducts, but by also performs. During the Vivaldi Concerto in G
minor for two cellos, SPCO’s principal cellist Peter Howard
plays one cello part while McFerrin will sing the other. In
addition, McFerrin will perform his solo vocal improvisations.
According to Coppock, McFerrin’s singing of the cello part
sounds remarkably organic.
“McFerrin has a body of tunes that is quite
extensive,” Copes said. “He can pull from his brain
freely. He changes his solo set every night. The way he manipulates
around the highs and the lows of his voice are amazing.”
While the SPCO’s creative chair employs McFerrin’s
musical talents, it also employs his teaching ability. As an
instrumental figure in the Chamber Orchestra’s Neighborhood
Network of Education, Curriculum, and Teachers, McFerrin, along
with the other members of the orchestra, brings educational musical
experiences to over 6,000 students in the Minneapolis-St. Paul
area.
“We believe music is central to people’s
lives,” Coppock said. “Having some relation to music is
a life skill, like math. We feel a responsibility to play a
proactive role in bringing music into children’s
lives.”
“McFerrin is good at communicating with kids, as he has
kids of his own,” Copes continued.
As one of the premier chamber orchestras in America, the SPCO is
a tribute to its humble twin cities origins ““ and who better
than McFerrin, the consummate crossover artist, to bring St. Paul
out of obscurity.
“St. Paul is truly a cultural capital,” Coppock
said.
MUSIC: Bobby McFerrin and the St. Paul Chamber
Orchestra perform at Royce Hall on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. For ticketing
information, contact the Central Ticket Office at (310)
825-2101.
