Baltimore Symphony set to premiere professor’s work
July 29, 2008

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Listen to an interview with Lee Johnson and samples from the album

For Professor Lee Johnson, the wait is nearly over. On August 1, one of the nation’s preeminent orchestras will perform the world premiere of his Dead Symphony No. 6. And in spite of the high-profile nature of the event, he’s not battling a case of the nervous jitters.

“I’m not scared at all,” the Fuller E. Callaway Associate Professor of Music said. “I’ve waited a long time as a composer to have my works looked at by a major symphony orchestra … so the butterflies and stuff are not part of it at all.”

Based on the psychedelic sounds of rock band the Grateful Dead, Johnson’s work will be interpreted by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Aug. 1—what would have been lead guitarist Jerry Garcia’s 66th birthday.

The symbolic date, and the event itself, have been driven by the acclaimed orchestra.

“This time, the phone rang on my end,” Johnson said. “They had read the publicity from the CD and very much wanted the rights to the world premiere. They made it very clear.”

And it appears that they are pulling out all the stops. That evening, the lobby of the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall will contain a counterculture museum featuring memorabilia from the Grateful Dead and other 1960s and ’70s rock ’n’ roll icons. During the performance, a customized psychedelic video display is being created for projection behind the orchestra.

Though Johnson will be on hand to experience it all, he will not be conducting. He says he’s content for the symphony to be introduced on its own merits and not attached to him as a guest conductor.

Since this is a new work, he will, however, take part in rehearsals leading up to the evening. “It’s collaboration,” he said, “and they very much want my involvement. That’s where I can be helpful.”

He fully expects the first live performance to be different from the recording, which was performed by the Russian National Orchestra. Given the source material, he’s certain that this group will have a different approach to some of the “Americanisms” in the piece.

Since the BSO is headed by celebrated director Marin Alsop (the first woman to preside over a major American orchestra) and this performance will be led by noted conductor Lucas Richman, Johnson is confident his work will be well cared for.

“It’s left the world of chance now; it’s in the hands of professionals,” he said.

The premiere is just one indication that the piece is taking on a life of its own. Two more performances are already in the works: the west coast premiere with the California Symphony in January and a Chicago performance at Saint Xavier University in March. Plus, Johnson has already been contacted for his second Associated Press story about the symphony.

“The other orchestras that are playing it also found it on their own,” Johnson said. ‘That’s a new experience. Normally I’m sending things for the maestro’s review … but this piece seems to have a classification all its own.”

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