A Q&A with Artistic Partner David Robertson
David Lewellen
PUBLISHED
Tagged Under: 2026.27 Season, Conductor, Guest Artist
After several well-received guest engagements in recent years, conductor David Robertson begins his artistic partnership with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra from October 23-25, leading the first of three subscription weeks in the 2026-27 season. Robertson spoke recently with Backstage writer David Lewellen about his new artistic partnership with the MSO, the upcoming season, and creative programming.
Q. You’re joining the MSO this season as artistic partner. What does that partnership look like for you?
A. It’s an opportunity to have more than one conversation with the orchestra over the course of the season. The creativity of the musicians comes into play, and you have a chance to do something you can’t do anyplace else.
Q. How does that apply to the program you’re leading in October, with ballet music?
A. The entire program wouldn’t have taken place if it weren’t for Sergei Diaghilev, the ballet impresario. He’s famous for commissioning the three great ballets by Stravinsky, but he also got Debussy and Ravel to write these pieces for him. And the Chopin pieces that we’re performing were orchestrated by Stravinsky for ballet performance, before his more famous work with Diaghilev.
Q. And why is it a good fit for Milwaukee?
A. I did French music with them the last time I was here, and they’re very good at this. They’re not like a tourist in Paris. They could walk into the best French restaurant and order from the menu in flawless French.
Q. The MSO is between music directors this year. Does that represent an opportunity for you to come in and do programming like this?
A. It depends on who the music director is. Some like to bring other conductors in for special things; others may think, “No, these are my toys, you stay away.” And Ken-David Masur was very generous.
Q. You were the music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for 13 years. St. Louis has been lauded for building a successful orchestra with high artistic standards in a medium-sized city. What went into that success?
A. It’s a very talented group of individual artists. Every musician has their own artistic trajectory of things they want to do, and if everyone feels challenged and stretched, the collectivity benefits enormously. That feeling can come from standard repertoire. We did The Planets together, and afterward, one of the musicians said to me, “That’s the first time I’ve ever liked that piece.” But in some way, all of these people need to be challenged to keep their remarkable talents sharp.
Q. Tell me more about the guitar celebration that you’ve scheduled for Milwaukee in January.
A. I have a guitar, but I don’t play it very often in public. It started as a pandemic project with (composer and guitarist) Steve Mackey, and it grew from there. Now we’ve got this group of seven guitarists with very different backgrounds — classical, rock, contemporary — performing all sorts of different repertoire, some with full orchestra, some with chamber accompaniment, some solo. It’s a spectacular example of the diversity of guitars, and we’re bringing it into the orchestral family. We have one piece for eight guitars.
Q. Are you the eighth?
A. Yes. If I travel with a guitar, it makes me look cooler than I really am.
Q. What made you think of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for this program?
A. The orchestra has a natural curiosity. Last time, I did some pieces with them that they hadn’t done before, and you watch to see if the orchestra sighs, or if they say, “This is cool.” There was enough of the “This is cool” that I thought, let’s try it.
Q. You’re married to pianist Orli Shaham, who is coming to play with the MSO one week after you conduct. That seems like odd timing.
A. That’s the way schedules work. We’re together two or three times a season, four if we’re lucky. One of our favorite performances together was in Milwaukee. She was marvelous, and the orchestra did not say, “oh, Chopin piano concerto, boring orchestral part.” When I said, “Can we do it like an Italian bel canto opera?” they said, “Sure,” and it was really great. But that doesn’t happen often. She can see other conductors, and that’s OK.
