Interview with artistic director Elena Dubinets

This article was also published (in Dutch) in Preludium, the magazine of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and The Concertgebouw.
By Martijn Voorvelt

With Elena Dubinets, the Concertgebouw Orchestra is gaining a true cosmopolitan as artistic director. Originally from Russia, she emigrated to Seattle nearly thirty years ago with her (Ukrainian) husband and has spent the past few years working in London, where she also feels right at home. “Our identity is not only formed by the country we come from – I think we can no longer afford to see it that simplistically.” These are the words of the author of Russian Composers Abroad: How They Left, Stayed, Returned. “I had already published books before, but on other subjects. Russian composers are not actually my speciality. The idea for this book arose from my own experiences as an émigré.”

Surprisingly, as a musicologist in Moscow she focused on American music. “The borders had just opened, and we were hearing a lot of music for the first time. On the occasion of a festival on American music, I was asked to write an article for what was then called Sovjetskaja Muzika (and since 1992, Muzikalnayja Akademija). From then on, I specialised mostly in experimental music, from Henry Cowell, John Cage, Morton Feldman, and George Crumb to the early minimalists. I was the first in Russia to write about this music.”

The crossing

Dubinets ended up in the US a few years later by coincidence. “My husband got a job at Microsoft, so in 1998, we emigrated to Seattle. After a while, I became the programmer for the Seattle Chamber Players.” Via that ensemble, which included musicians from the Seattle Symphony, she found her way into the orchestral world.

In 2003, she became Vice President for Artistic Planning at the Seattle Symphony. “It was a period in which I really had to learn the practice of programming, as my background was mostly theoretical. I also had to get used to the fact that everything needed to be funded. In Russia, orchestras and other musical institutions are state-funded. That’s why we all grew up with classical music. In America, it’s completely different: state support is practically nonexistent. The orchestra did not have a big name. We had to work very hard to find an audience.” She succeeded mainly by listening carefully to what was happening in the community. The launch of an in-house recording label in 2013, overseen by Dubinets, provided a huge boost. “We won Grammys for five consecutive years, and in 2018, were named ‘Orchestra of the Year’ by the British magazine Gramophone, based on a readers’ poll. That was a significant recognition.”

The crossing 2

A management change that same year prompted her to look for new opportunities. She became Chief Artistic Officer at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, but it was short-lived: the pandemic brought orchestral life to a standstill. Stuck at home, she received a phone call: would she be interested in a job at the London Philharmonic Orchestra? “Everything was being done via Zoom, which was still quite new at the time, and I found it difficult to read their emotions – you miss out on a lot in online conversations – but they still chose me for the job.”

Once again, she had to get used to a completely different way of working. “The board of the London Philharmonic Orchestra consists largely of orchestra musicians. They themselves determine what happens. Another unique aspect of London is that the city has multiple excellent orchestras, and none of them have own concert hall, so you have to work together to avoid stepping on each other’s toes. It’s very intense: each programme is performed only once, and there are at least two different productions every week.”

Commuting

In London, Dubinets’ original programming is highly valued. Seasonal themes create coherence and a connection to current affairs. Themed Moments Remembered, this season focuses on the relationship between music and memory. “Our concerts in London are adventurous and include many unknown compositions, but it works – we have earned the audience’s trust in our programming.” The fact that she is starting work in Amsterdam while her last London season, themed Harmony with Nature, has not even begun yet, makes her a bit sad. “But I will visit London regularly. We travel a lot anyway – my husband still lives in Seattle, we have a daughter in Barcelona – we’re commuting as lot these days.”

Broad perspective

Whether she will work with seasonal themes at the Concertgebouworkest too, she can’t yet say. “Every orchestra has its own community. I first need to understand what matters to the people of Amsterdam and the Netherlands. In this orchestra, traditions are bound to always continue to play a significant role. I like unusual, inspiring and provocative programmes, just like Klaus Mäkelä, whom I have spoken with several times, but whatever you do has to also resonate with the community. You need to offer people challenges that they can engage with. Finding an audience is not just a marketing issue. The world is changing, and we need a broad perspective on that change. This should be reflected in our programming. If people start realising that the concert hall is a place where they can share inspiration, emotions, and empathy, they will hopefully feel that the orchestra is there for them.”