FORT BRAGG, CA — Symphony of the Redwoods announced that Bryan Nies, former Associate Conductor of the Oakland Symphony who trained at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and at the Tanglewood Institute in Boston, is the new conductor for the Fort Bragg-based orchestral group.
Nies, who first trained in Chicago for piano, trumpet, and French horn, comes with a range of conducting experience from musical theater to symphonic works to opera to contemporary pieces. He has performed as a guest conductor in various cities nationwide, conducted for the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra and for the Festival Opera in Walnut Creek, giving a sold-out performance for Bizet's Carmen.
His long tenure with the Oakland Symphony included a position as Conductor of the Oakland Youth Symphony, which toured in Australia and New Zealand. He has also previously taught musical theater at Stanford and voice at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His career began after he achieved a place in the brass section of the Chicago Youth Symphony with only three years of training on the French horn.
He credits his first mentor, high school music teacher Mr. Hillquest, whose guidance taught him what music can do. Nies explained, "Music teaches analytical thinking as well as leadership and teamwork." He added, "I cannot be quiet about the importance of music education."
In all his other roles in the public sector, Nies said that conducting gave him the skills for "learning to talk to people, to work with people, to lead and highlight their strengths in other work." He noted, "I utilize more experience as a conductor for marketing, events, and other business than any of the other things I learned for those jobs."
Nies was raised in Chicago and attended Northwestern University, earning a double major in music and neuropsychology in 1997. After routinely working as an accompanist for an opera singer in training, he came to the Bay Area to work for her small opera group. Once here, he said, "I fell in love with the Bay Area."
Although he had various experiences conducting in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, he noticed opportunities to join a music company, opera company, or an orchestra group were plentiful compared to what little was available in his current home in Baltimore. On the fateful day of September 11, he was driving with all his belongings through Missouri toward the Bay Area when his car radio broadcast the news of what was happening on his home coast.
Nies intended to stay on the West Coast. However, he does describe a summer at the Tanglewood Institute in Boston as "one of my most fortunate, luckiest things." He received a Leonard Bernstein Fellowship to train in conducting. He said he would "never forget that first audition in Boston Symphony Hall with many of the Boston Symphony players."
Apart from the experience of standing before the prestigious group, he discovered that what one learns in conducting class is not how it goes with a real orchestra. Nies recalled, "It was that first realization of the difference between what is taught in academia and the way professionals actually work. It can be a wide chasm."
He added, "It was one of the most educational moments I've had, being under fire, just in the middle of it, and I had to react to the orchestra." His ability to immediately adapt to the natures of seasoned musicians paid off. At the end of the summer, reviews in the Boston Globe about Nies' Tanglewood concert performances raved about his talent. It wouldn't be the only high praise from music reviewers.
Nies works with a variety of musical genres such as opera, symphony, stage musicals, chamber groups, and even children's chorus. He is open to experimenting with video game music, playing a live music score for a movie, and other contemporary and popular music programs.
He is not averse to mixing genres in the same program, such as pairing Haydn with Aaron Copland and a current composer. Nor does he follow custom by selecting a symphony because of its worldwide renown. For example, Nies mentioned the popularity of Dvorak's 7th, 8th, and 9th symphonies. However, he prefers to highlight what he calls "the underperformed 5th symphony."
He explained, "I hope to find the great in every genre. It leads to more interesting concerts." This flexible and creative outlook also encompasses his dedication to giving a young musician an opportunity to move ahead in her career by tapping a young French horn player for a concerto. He learned the value of extending a hand from Michael Morgan, the conductor who had mentored him at the Chicago Youth Orchestra and then again at the Festival Opera in Walnut Creek.
Nies said that after 23 years of living in the Bay Area, he has grown familiar with Mendocino County. The Highway 101 drive from San Francisco to Fort Bragg seems like a barrier until you come upon the coastal redwoods. He explained, " You have this incredible community of scientists and creative people. You have art galleries everywhere, an interesting connection of creative and intellectual, just interesting people all around."
With this outlook about the Mendocino Coast, Nies arrived for his guest conducting audition for Symphony of the Redwoods. He recalled, "It was wonderful to see a great group of dedicated musicians that have the talent to do anything you ask of them and are eager to collaborate with you."
He described his first rehearsal in Fort Bragg as "awkward. You don't know them, and they don't know you." However, at the first break, he said, "It turned into this warm community of people getting together, catching up on old times, having tea and cookies."
He continued, "It fosters a sense of teamwork and a sense of being together that is icing on the cake." Nies was so taken by the symphony's musicians that he left the audition/concert practice, "feeling that if I got the opportunity, I'm taking it right away. There's a great core of potential and musicianship already there and established. It was a no-brainer for me."
Nies' goal for the audience here is to make them "part of the performance," so they feel free to respond to the moment. He hopes to "get the audience as excited as I do." He invites concertgoers to come to say hello. "Let me know what you're interested in, " he said. "Tell me what we can do to bring your friends, your kids, anyone you know."
Symphony of the Redwoods plans to open its season in November. In the meantime, the last Garden Concert at the Mendocino Botanical Gardens is set for August 13. Attendees need only pay the standard entrance fee to the gardens to enjoy the music. In late September, a gala will celebrate Bryan Nies as conductor and introduce him to the public.
For more information about Symphony of the Redwoods, with venues at the Cotton Auditorium and the Mendocino Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg and at Preston Hall at the Presbyterian Church in Mendocino, go to: symphonyoftheredwoods.org.
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