Isaac Grier grew up in a musical family right here in Flint. His entire family sang in the church choir and his mother Robbie was the church organist. He recalls that his family would often spontaneously break into song, mostly gospel, at the drop of a hat. So, it’s no surprise that he was naturally drawn to a career in music.

Grier attended the Flint Summer Music Academy in 1985 and was exposed to and fell in love with the genre of classical music. He credits choral directors Carolyn Mawby and Mary Alice Stollak with influencing him and nurturing his musical abilities. As a student attending Flint Central High School, Fritz Petrich, choir director, taught him about the order in singing and how to listen to the other voices in an a cappella choir to create a more uniform, harmonious sound.

A “lightning bolt” moment occurred in 1991 when he attended the Northwestern University Summer Music Camp as he heard professional vocalists rehearsing and got a true understanding of solo classical performance. It was shortly after this that he gave up playing saxophone to devote himself full-time to singing.

After graduating from Flint Central, class of ’93, Mr. Grier went on to earn his Bachelor of Music from Xavier University and his Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music. While at Xavier, Grier performed leading roles in Amahl and the Night Visitors by Menotti and Trial by Jury by Gilbert and Sullivan. At the Manhattan School of Music, Grier was featured in numerous productions, most notably Madame Butterfly by Puccini and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten.

The opera dream role for Isaac is Frère Laurent (Friar Laurence) in Romeo et Juliette by Charles Gounod, which he performed with the dell’Arte Opera Ensemble in the summer of 2008. He loves the opera for its romantic qualities, and identifies with Laurent because the character mirrors Grier’s real life qualities; calm and gentle-hearted, with a desire to bring balance to everyday life.

Currently, Grier is a performer with the dell’Arte Opera Ensemble  in New York City, where he continues to hone his craft while learning everything he can about the opera business from administration to lighting and make-up.

Grier will be fulfilling a life goal when he performs with the Flint Symphony Orchestra before his hometown audience of family, friends and eager listeners. Yes, he is a little nervous, but he knows that once he begins to sing, the anxiety will disappear, as it always does.

Isaac Grier, baritone, is the Guest Artist at the February 20 FSO Classical Concert, which is part of the Black Classical Music Family Festival, held each year as part of the Flint Institute of Music’s celebration of Black History Month.

By Amy Trottier

Amy Trottier is the Social Media Coordinator at the Flint Institute of Music, this is the final post in a three part series that came from her conversation with Enrique Diemecke.

As Maestro Diemecke has pointed out, Mahler was both a man of his time: illustrating musically Nietzsche’s “Superman” philosophy and Freud’s theory about the universe that exits in the subconscious mind, and a man ahead of his time: incorporating non-symphonic musical styles and instruments in his pieces. 

 “Mahler was searching to explain life, why we are the way we are, and how to become the person you were meant to be, not fearful or dangerous, it was an inward search,” The Freudian concept of looking inward, to answer life’s big questions, and even to find happiness, was completely revolutionary to a society used to looking outward, to the church, or other societal constructs, for meaning and answers. Similarly, Diemecke points out, Mahler asked listeners to let go of entrenched concepts of classical symphonic music, and open their minds to a newer, freer genre, without limits.

Diemecke believes that Mahler’s Seventh illustrates man’s struggle to “free his spirit from the tight restrictions of 19^th century European society,” thereby perfectly representing the struggle between the established traditions of 19^th century Western Philosophy and the new Modernism of the 20th century. With the Seventh Symphony in particular, Mahler created the bridge from musical Romanticism to Modernism, paving the way for modern composers like Schoenberg and Stravinsky.

Not surprisingly, Mahler was the first composer to exorcise his personal demons in his music, a kind of musical psychoanalysis. For example, the notes written in the margins of the original draft of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony illustrate the torture he was experiencing over his wife Alma’s alleged infidelity “The Devil is dancing with me…Destroy me/ Let me forget that I exist!” and addressed directly to Alma, “To live for you! To die for you!” It was during this time of anxiety and torment that Mahler sought the expertise of Sigmund Freud. Their meeting in the Netherlands on August 26, 1910 was to be the first and only time the two men met. Diemecke believes that something transformative happened to Mahler as a result of his session with the famed psychoanalyst. He loves to speculate about what went on, since neither man ever disclosed what was discussed, “Who knows, maybe they explored the universe in our minds!” he laughs. Whatever did occur, seemed to bring Mahler relief, because he sent this telegraph to Alma immediately after his meeting with Freud, “I’m filled with joy!” And indeed, those who knew the composer well say he seemed content in a way he had never been before, and remained so until his premature death in 1911.

So, as you listen to the Flint Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler’s Seventh Symphony on Saturday open your mind, set your imagination loose and discover the universe that exists inside us all.

Winning the Byrd competition last March was a huge honor, and I am thrilled to be performing the Reinecke Concerto with the Flint Symphony Orchestra on the 23rd of January.

The Reinecke Concerto is an extremely fun piece to play largely because it is a highly expressive piece. In addition, the piece is also somewhat new to me, so it is still very fresh and exciting for me to experience the work differently every time. Preparing a concerto for a performance with an orchestra, or for a competition, typically spans several years of practicing, score study and trial run-throughs for patient friends and family. For the competition, I performed the flute concerto of Jacques Ibert, which is an extremely difficult piece, and subsequently, I knew that I would need to have several trial performances of it before bringing it to the competition. I feel as though I grow with a piece exponentially every time I perform it, and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to share my interpretation of the Reinecke with the Flint community.

I have visited Flint on numerous occasions to perform at the Music at St. Paul’s Series, and it is always satisfying to play for such appreciative audiences. I first competed in the Byrd competition when I was about 19, and these opportunities came about after the artistic director at St. Paul’s heard me at the competition.

The competition last March was actually my third (and final!) attempt, and I constantly remind my students that a life in music is regularly created though perseverance, dedication and simply never giving up! I currently teach a wonderful studio of aspiring flutists at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Although it is a huge change from growing up in Toronto and going to school in the New York City area, I enjoy my job immensely.

Having the opportunity to have a career based in both teaching and performing is a dream come true. I decided to play the flute in the 7th grade because it would easily fit in my backpack, meaning that I could ride my bike to school! Coming from such humble beginnings, it was certainly way beyond my wildest imagination that I would have such a truly rewarding life in music. I will forever be indebted to the Byrd competition and those who organize it for this experience.

Conor Nelson is Assistant Professor of Flute at Oklahoma State University. Recent performances include engagements with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra and the Philharmonia of Yale. Nelson is the 2009 winner of the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition and will perform Reinecke Concerto in D Major for Flute and Orchestra with the Flint Symphony Orchestra on January 23.

Amy Trottier is the Social Media Coordinator at the Flint Institute of Music, this is the second in a three part series that came from her conversation with Enrique Diemecke.

Maestro Diemecke chose what is widely acknowledged as Mahler’s most difficult and modern work, his Seventh Symphony, for the FSO to perform this season. “This symphony is a challenge,” Diemecke admits, and that is precisely why he chose it. Diemecke explains that Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony is the “axis” of symphonies. “Mahler patterned the development of his Seventh after Beethoven’s, with lots of suites and a long introduction.”

Mahler wrote his Seventh Symphony over two summers in 1904-05. This was a period of upheaval and deep grief in the composer’s life that included the death of his four year old daughter and his resignation from the Viennese Opera due to growing anti-Semitism. With its dark opening and two “night music” movements, the Seventh Symphony explores the dark corners of the soul. Yet, it is also a triumphant symphony, with light loudly breaking through in the BIG finale.

Diemecke explains that Mahler drew inspiration for his compositions from the natural world and this is especially true of his Seventh Symphony. The composer was experiencing a severe case of writer’s block when he sat down to compose his seventh symphony. He retreated to the Dolomites in an attempt to release his creative energies, but to no avail. Profoundly depressed, he returned to Mairenigg where he took a row boat across the lake to his Villa on the Wörthersee. As he listened to the stroke of the oars, the theme for the introduction came to him, and from this point, he worked as a man possessed. “You can hear the oars in the water!” Diemecke exclaims of the introduction, which begins slowly and builds to a tremendous climax merging into a march, then abruptly plunging back to the slow introduction.

‘The second movement is a serenade.” Diemecke points out that this is the first of the two Nachtmusiken or Night Music sections of the symphony. “The inspiration for this movement was Rembrandt’s painting “Night Watch,” notes Diemecke, giving the listener the feeling of watchfulness, as if something is about to happen. The theme that emerges is part march and part song.

“The third is more connected within itself, it is scherzo,” notes Diemecke. “It is magical, quiet and rapid. Goblins and magical creatures come out into the evening; those are the thoughts and dreams swirling around inside our heads.” Indeed, while listening to this movement one can “see” the witches and goblins waltzing in the moonlight.

“The Fourth movement is also a serenade, the second of the Nachtmusiken, but andante. It is more intimate, like between two people. It, too, is magical,” notes Diemecke.

The brightness of the dawn follows the four night scenes with thunderous drums. A fanfare of spirited trills proclaims the glory of daybreak. This finale is a victory and includes the fiery march from the first movement. “The first and last movements are HUGE, in comparison to the rest of the work,” notes Diemecke.

Mahler said, “A symphony must be like the whole world, it must embrace everything.” Unfortunately, audiences were not ready for “world music” at the dawn of the 20th Century. When Mahler’s Seventh Symphony premiered in Prague in 1908, it was not well received. However, Diemecke believes that audiences of today are less rigid than they were during Mahler’s lifetime and that the composer’s time has finally arrived. Maestro Diemecke feels that in order to truly enjoy Mahler, the listener must keep an open mind, “Allow your soul to command you! Use your imagination, don’t resist it!” So, remember to listen with your soul as you let the Seventh wash over you and don’t be afraid to “embrace everything.”