November 25, 2025 • 23 mins
Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser is the San Francisco Symphony’s Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education, bringing energy, warmth, and a deep connection to every performance.
A native of Calgary, Alberta, he is celebrated for his innovative approaches to music-making and his commitment to inclusivity, education, and community engagement. Beyond San Francisco, he holds leadership roles with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. Daniel has conducted major orchestras across North America, including the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and hosts CBC Radio’s Centre Stage.
His groundbreaking work has been featured in the award-winning documentary Disruptor Conductor, highlighting his dedication to bringing orchestral music to diverse and underserved audiences.
At "Deck the Hall" at the SF Symphony, Daniel brings his signature blend of musical excellence, joy, and connection, making the holiday season come alive for audiences of all ages.
Listen, as he talks to Carolyn about their upcoming performances together.
A native of Calgary, Alberta, he is celebrated for his innovative approaches to music-making and his commitment to inclusivity, education, and community engagement. Beyond San Francisco, he holds leadership roles with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. Daniel has conducted major orchestras across North America, including the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and hosts CBC Radio’s Centre Stage.
His groundbreaking work has been featured in the award-winning documentary Disruptor Conductor, highlighting his dedication to bringing orchestral music to diverse and underserved audiences.
At "Deck the Hall" at the SF Symphony, Daniel brings his signature blend of musical excellence, joy, and connection, making the holiday season come alive for audiences of all ages.
Listen, as he talks to Carolyn about their upcoming performances together.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Daniel Bartholomew Poyser is a dynamic and deeply engaged conductor
who brings a warm presence to the podium, infusing concerts
with clarity, purpose, and heartfelt connection. Beyond the San Francisco Symphony,
he holds influential roles across Canada. He's the Barrett Principal
Education Conductor and Community Ambassador of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra,
(00:24):
the Artist in Residence and Community Ambassador of Symphony Nova Scotia,
and the principal Youth Conductor and creative partner with Canada's
National Arts Center Orchestra. He's led orchestras such as the
New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony,
and more. He also hosts the nationally broadcast CBC radio
(00:44):
show Center Stage, where he shares his passion for orchestral music.
Here in San Francisco, as conductor of dec the Hall,
he brings not just musical excellence, but a spirit of
connection and inclusivity, making this beloved holiday tradition truly resonate
with audiences of all ages. And this year I get
(01:06):
the chance to narrate Deck the Hall alongside him. Please welcome,
Daniel Bartholomew Poison.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Oh, hello, hello, Carolyne. How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I'm good. How are you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I'm doing really well. I'm very much looking forward to
meeting you and working with you on this program.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I me too, me too. I heard that you have
been the me You've been the narrator and the conductor
for ten or so years now, and I heard that
you are relieved that you're going to have some help
in that department and won't have to do two jobs,
being the narrator and the conductor, and you can focus
on being the conductor.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I love the narrating, the speaking, but I've done it
for ten years. Oh right, yeah. So it's just like,
you know, we've done this, and we've done that, and
we have done this joke and that joke, and it's like, great,
let's have somebody else. I'm like, not, you know, I
don't feel like I have anything to prove now, so
(02:11):
let's just like kind of enjoy it and see what
somebody else can bring to it. So we're so excited
that you were able to come off kind of beyond
our hopes and dreams. Actually, So yeah, feel.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
This way too.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And it's so funny is every day we get one
day closer to this, I get more and more excited,
and it gets more and more surreal that I'll be
quote unquote performing with the San Francisco Symphony, which is
so legendary. Right at first when I accepted the opportunity,
I was like, this is cool, And now as we
get closer, I'm going, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, it really is. I still can't believe that I
get to work with them. Yes, even after all these years, that.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Feel for you as a conductor for the symphony.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
It's a dream come true and it's a dream ensemble,
and it's just it's just good as it gets. It's fantastic.
It's the players are wonderful people to work with and
you feel like they're reading your mind musically. So from
a conductor's perspective, you're only limited by your imagination with
what you can do with them, you know, or you
(03:20):
can ask them for because they can do anything, do
really well. So it's just I can't. You know, people
look at conductors and they look at my job and say, wow,
that looks like so much fun. It looks so amazing,
and it's like, yep, yeah, that's exactly what it is,
exactly what it looks like. It's as much fun as
it looks like. It's all those things. You know, it's
(03:41):
really terrific.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
You're working with the best of the best at the
San Francisco Symphony, like they are the best, you're the best.
You put them together and the product has got to
just be incredible.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I cannot wait to experience this.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
That's our goal. We get to the fun part of
doing I think, and you'll experience a different part of
doing these shows is that you don't just do it once.
You can do it four times, right, So you get
to hear your favorite song four times, and you get
to hear the favorite dance, the favorite like moment four times.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So I think you're gonna have a lot of fun.
I think you're gonna have a ball. Actually, what do you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Think the one thing is that I will experience since
you have been the narrator for the past ten years,
the one thing is that I will experience. It will
surprise me in a good way.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Oh, that's a great question. In a good way. I
think it's when we get to the school audience on
the Monday, those kids, like how they respond differently than
the kids with their parents. It's a lot. It's different.
It's different like the Sunday is more even though it's
with kids. Still it's more like they're all just time.
Sorry that but you get more of like a kid's reaction,
(04:51):
so they just have this more like is an immediacy
of reaction to everything that's happening with those kids. And
that's super fun. Also, just you know, text, you can
make it your own. I was getting up there, you know,
for ten years basically just like okay, I'm going to
talk about like this and just like kind of going right,
and I have my set things that I would say so,
but so you can really like put into your own voice.
(05:13):
And I'm going to be doing the same thing with
my bits as well too. Right, So she's written in
her style, so we want to hear your voice. So
that's another thing too. You can make it your own.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
That's what I love too, is I think a lot
of people think about the symphony and I think it's
very formal. It's very polished, and it's like this performance
or these performances, I get the impression without even doing
this yet that not that it's laid back, but you
do have the freedom to share your own voice, to
have some fun with it. It's not like super super formal.
(05:45):
We want the people in the audience. We want you
to laugh, we want you to feel like you're a
part of this performance, to cheer us on, and to
yeah you get it, okay, good good, Then we're gonna
be okay.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, yeah, oh yeah. Absolutely. It's kind of like when
you go on one of those rides at Disney and
you go into like the cave and the ride, and
then the lights come on inside the cave and there's
like a tableau and you look at that, and then
you go through, you drive a little more, and then
there's another scene and then so the whole thing is
part of a story where you're seeing these different scenes.
So that's like the only thing to keep in mind
(06:20):
is that we're trying to keep them like okay, and
now our journey begins and then and then we're and
then we're all so we're not breaking like the whatever
that You will know better than I will, like that,
you know what I mean. So sorry I did say anything.
I'm just like you can read my mind. You're fine,
but I think.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You know what you're saying too.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
It's like I am taking them on a journey. We
are telling a story together. Yeah, I'm kind of teeing
you up for you guys to come in and boom
hit the story that I'm kind of introducing, and then
you come right in.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
With your performance.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I love it because in a way, while I'm not
playing an instrument, I am sort of a vocalist strument
with you guys, you know, And.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So I absolutely think it's kind of paranisely.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
I just can't get over that you did both of
these things for so many years, because I think as
a performer, you're really focusing on your specific craft.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
There's a lot going on.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And even though like for me, the narration in between
performances is, you know, twenty to thirty seconds, I am
very focused on the words, how I'm going to deliver it,
you know what it's going to sound like. And then
for you, when you were doing this in the past,
you're focused on those things, and then you turn around
and you conduct the symphony, which is so crazy because
that's even bigger, and so how you balance both is
(07:37):
beyond me.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So my secret is that I was a junior high
school music teacher for ten years, right and then I'd
also to high school a little bit after that, so
I didn't start off as a conductor. I started off
as a teacher. And when you're teaching, you're doing seven
or eight shows a day, right of talk, turnaround, conduct,
talk show, display video, like, so this is actually like that,
(08:03):
it's super normal. It's super normal for my finest Yeah,
and you're and it's improv as well too, because you
know in terms of like the time and this doesn't
happen in the concerts, right. But it's like you might say, Okay,
I have four and a half classes to get through this,
and then I had the acter ready for the test
and the third class, oh there's a fire drill, sudden
fire drill. You just lost that class. So now you
(08:24):
have three and a half and you had everything down
and you just got to make it work, right. So
that's so that's the thing. It's just like when you're teaching,
you are you're performing, you conduct and then you and
then you talk, and you're doing it seven times a day,
not just two shows, right, and it really is it
really is music seven shows a day, And thinking of
(08:45):
teaches during the pandemic, I knew a guy who was
an elementary school teacher, and he showed me what he
was doing online over the pandemic, and it literally was
like producing a television show for seven hours a day
for kindergarten me. I thought, I don't know how stay alive.
So the teaching part of it, the teaching part of it,
(09:05):
really really helps a lot with that. And I love it.
I love it. I like I like explaining. I love
talking about music. I have a radio like I'm on
CBC Radio in Canada as well as that's just the talking.
So sometimes I just conduct, sometimes I just talk, and
most of the time I talk and conduct.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
You are a true artist.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I mean you have your hands in so many different things,
which I love. I mean, is your brain just constantly
spinning and creating and imagining?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yes, yes, that's the best.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Constantly. Yeah it is. It's a little tiring. I'm trying
to learn how to spot down, but then that becomes
its own thing. It's like, okay, how do I optimize
and maximize by slowing down? And how do I recover
the bend? You know, everything becomes its own, its own
WorldWind universe.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Do you feel like you're a little bit type A
as a creator?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah? Oh, a thousand percent me too.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I'm always thinking.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I'm a producer for a living for a radio show
and co host a radio show, and of course my
work at the at the Giants as their PA announcer,
and I feel like I'm always thinking about what's next
and what could I have done better? And what would
I do differently?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
And how can we know? What do you do? Like?
How do you how do you do you turn it off? Ever?
Or do you know?
Speaker 1 (10:23):
I don't And you know what, Daniel, I'm okay with
that because it's just who I am.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I will try and take time to just watch TV
or chill out, but honestly, I love working and I
love creating. Yeah, you know, and so it's kind of
don't make that much of an effort to turn it
off because I truly enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
See that's great, that's great. I do experience that because
there are times that it's like I'll have a day off,
and a day off for me is like, okay, I
can study the music without any meetings or interruptions. Yay,
I enjoy it. I enjoy it. Now.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Some would say your work on like a weekend or
you're working over time, But for you it's a hobby
that you just so happen to get paid for.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I don't know if I'm saying hobby. It's more like
a like obsession. It's more like an obsession that like maybe.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
That's what it is for me too, and I just
call it a hobby to make myself feel better, but
it's really an obsession.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Okay, fair, fair, We've all done something there.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I feel like it's yeah, I would like there are
some performances that I've seen where I get to the
performance and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so glad
I'm already a conductor or I'm already a musician, because
after that performance, if I wasn't, I would have probably
quit whatever I was doing and try to become this.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Wow, So that's that's a really that's where I'm like, Okay,
I'm in the right I'm in the right place. I
remember being a university and just I took because I
had my music, and then I had my other options
and stuff. It's like some psychology and philosophy and something
that right, but I kind of got tired of those.
But I just remember being in music and when I was,
and it's hard to describe. But when I was doing
(12:02):
music stuff, I never felt like I was doing anything.
It just felt like, yeah, this is just I'm just yeah,
this is just normal. This is just it just was
totally natural. It just felt totally natural to be doing
this all the time, you know. So I'm I think
I'm very very fortunate that way.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
I think that's when you know you're doing what you're
supposed to be doing in life, though, when it just
feels right.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
I mean, how lucky are you to be able to
have that.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
You could be crunching numbers at a desk all day,
or you could be you know, you're doing a job
that is truly made for you, and I can tell
you have such an appreciation for it too, which is
so neat.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I feel, especially when you look at it. I get
paid to come to San Francisco and conduct to San
Francisco Symphony, which is it's just crazy, I know, crazy, no,
And I still feel and I'm really I'm happy that
I feel. I think part of it having started off
as a teacher and not thinking, you know, and being
(13:04):
like maybe one day I'll be a conductor, right, That's
where that's what was for a long time, And now
I get to do this, and I feel very grateful still,
and it's a really it's a really it's a really
good place to make music, like for a young conductor.
So you know, if the musicians are fantastic and they're
also really like you learn so much from them, you know,
(13:27):
there's they the musicians are really your teachers. So yeah,
So I have a question for you just about like
when you are doing your announcements, what are what are
you thinking about? Like are you thinking about the effect
of your voice or are you feeling are you allowing
yourself to feel and letting it and actually be transmitted
(13:48):
through or like how does that work?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Are you talking about it the Giants when I'm announcing.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Yeah, yeah, well kind of like both, I guess Like
the Giants first, I was thinking, particularly you're talking of
that many people live you can't see, Like, what's that like?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Well, when I'm talking to people live on the radio
that I can't see, it's a very different feeling than
when you're at the Giants and you've got forty thousand
people that are literally sitting in front of you in
a stadium. It's very different. The radio is more of
a natural delivery where we're just talking. And so if
my co host and I are having a conversation and
(14:24):
I trip over a word, well that's just a natural conversation, right,
But when you're doing the Giants and you're announcing for
the Giants, it's a little more polished, and you you
hear yourself make that mistake in a very large stadium
with forty thousand people that are going to hear your mistakes.
So you really there's like an added level of stress.
(14:47):
And that's not to say like if I stumble over
a word, which I have, that my career is over.
But as we will circle back to us being perfectionists
as performers.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I drive home and it's a long drive some.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Nights, you know, it's like, how did I stumble over
that word? I knew? So I am more thinking about overall.
When I'm especially at the Giants, I am thinking I
want to be a compliment to this. I don't fans
are not there to hear me, but I'm there to
(15:20):
inform them. I'm there to be a piece of the
big puzzle that is the show that we are putting
on at Giants Vision for the Giants, So my thought
is like, how can I just deliver this so it's.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Enjoyable for people to hear end of story. It's that easy.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And it's kind of the same with the symphony, Like
I'm not they're not there to see the narrator, they're
not there to see the conductor. The people in the
audience are there to see the whole thing, the production, right,
So how can we do the best job we can
do where we're just fitting in as part of this
production where the overall at the end of this, people
are going to leave and say that was a fantastic
(16:01):
performance by everybody, no matter what their job was or
what instrument is overall, and I can't wait to come back,
Like that's the best goal for me.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And that makes sense. That makes sense. I've never really
thought about that, the intimidation, like talking to forty thousand,
fifty thousand people at once.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
But I love that you like flip the interview on me,
Oh you're such a radio guy.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Just it was genuinely curious of like what's that like?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So tell me for people that are listening, tell me
about the music score and what it looks like.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
People are coming are going to hear pieces that they
know and they love regards to Christmas, they're going to hear,
for example, like Christmas Carroll's Christmas songs. There will be
some Christmas characters, some holiday characters, christ characters that come
that comes through. We have music from Tchaikowsky, We have
the Nutcracker from the favorites there. But then we're all
trying to take a look at music from different parts
of the world. So we have some Latin American Christmas music.
(17:00):
We have a story that's going to be narrated by
yourself was the Night Before Christmas? We have Christmas story
that's coming through. There, some gospel. We have some Hanukkah
music as well too, Carols and like the old British style.
The Sussex care About the Young Women's Coral project is
going to be fantastic. And then we have music by
(17:22):
the Trans Siberian Orchestra a Christmas in Sarajevo, which is
the Carol of the Bells. But there's a special twist.
I don't know. I don't want to give away the surprise,
but we're doing something we've never done before in terms
of a very special instrument that's going to be on stage.
We've never done before at this concert. So it's a
concept of it's all about like the stories of the
(17:43):
holidays from multiple perspectives, right, so that anybody can come
and hear music that they'll know, they'll love to recognize,
and stories that they'll know and stories that they don't know. Right,
But that's what it's that's what it's about. So there's
something there for everybody, and it goes, it goes down
pretty it goes pretty fast because there's there's dancing, there's storytelling,
(18:03):
there's different instruments from different countries on stage, so every
moment is different. Yeah, tons of variety for young kids.
That's what that's what it's for, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I would imagine that the San Francisco Symphony also does
a incredible job of decorating for the holidays, where from
when you walk in the door, you feel that holiday spirit.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So this is one of the things where deck the
Hall is a shorter concert, you know, in the big
scope of things, but it's one of the most important
in the season because this is where you know, the
hall is decked out and you go in, you see
the tree. It's the start of the holiday season at
the San Francisco Symphony and It's been a tradition in
(18:47):
my life for ten years or so now, and it
really starts the holidays off. You walk into the hall
and you just you feel it. You feel it, so
it's really special. You know, music is not just about,
you know, just sound waves going through the air. It's
also about who you're with, you know, who's playing it
(19:08):
for you, and where you're hearing it. All of these
things affect the sound. So to be in the Davy's
Auditorium and hear the sound there with the incredible decorations,
it's an event. So it's more than just a feast
for the earth, also a feast for the eyes, and
it's a whole experience and that's what makes it so special.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
And I know for so many people myself included, that
have wonderful memories as a kid going to the symphony
during the holidays with their parents, their families. It's a
tradition for so many people. For me, it was to
see the Nutcracker, and you make a day of it.
It's a great San Francisco experience. You come see the
(19:45):
symphony and maybe you go to dinner after you have
lunch before. And what I love is that here in
the Bay Area. We have this incredible, world renowned symphony
right here.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
In our backyard.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And I want people that are listening to this conversation
to realize, like, this symphony is so accessible and we're
so lucky to have it here, You've got to go
experience it at least once in your lifetime. I think
it will surprise a lot of people about how accessible
it really is, and.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I think they'll be surprised by how much they enjoy
it as well too. You know, it's and this is
not just for the young People's concert, but just for
all the concerts. You know. It's time in your day
where you're not being interrupted. It's time in your day
where you're with people and you're all focused on the
same thing. It's time and your day where you're not
constantly checking your phone or your email. It's time and
(20:37):
your day where you're not being tracked, you know, and
your attention isn't being collected and monetized. It's just and
it's a real experience with like real people doing real things,
taking real risks right in front of you. It's authentic
and in a live performance, you know, there's always risk.
There's always risk because things are So that's what's special, is,
(21:01):
you know, seeing these people going out on a limbit
and then seeing that level of excellence in front of you.
It compares to nothing. It compares to nothing else. So
I think, especially as are you know, as we're moving
towards an increasingly digital world, it just makes the experience
of coming to Symphony and seeing google Plex and the
Young Women's Choral Projects and the San Francisco Boys Chorus
(21:23):
and Mariocci Bonitas and all the characters that we're going
to have and the dancers from the San Francisco Ballet School,
it just makes it even more special. Yeah, to see
all of that in one concentrated, forty eight minute period.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Isn't it incredible. It's so action packed for forty eight minutes.
And by the way, I love what you said about
this time will be uninterrupted for you. We are so
just on our phones and our tablets all the time.
The holidays to me are all about tradition. You always
start thinking, you always think about your life growing up
when you were a kid and we didn't have phones
(21:59):
in taps, and you really did spend the holidays with
your families, baking cookies, looking at Christmas lights on houses,
like celebrating the holidays, and this is a chance to
kind of have that back for forty eight minutes, to
sit in one Davy's Symphony Hall and watch this incredible
performance and just lose yourself a little bit in it.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Where else can you do that?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
It's so hard to do these days, and so what
a beautiful place to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
It's the we work really hard to make sure that
every minute is minute by minute, that everybody is engaged
and enjoying. And I just I just can't. I can't
agree with you more. You know, this is why Deka
has become a tradition for so many San Francisco families
and for the schools that come as well too.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
So how lucky are we to be a part of
this this year? I mean it's like, for you, this
will be what you're eleventh year then? Or are you
going on your.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Bab so something like that. Okay, I think I have
to have to count. I think this is eleven. Yeah, yeah,
this is this is eleventh, you know, which is that?
That's incredible? And I think it's a great moment to have
another voice come in and add and add something to
it and that's you, you know.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
So I'm so excited to work with you, Daniel, and
I so appreciate you spending time with me this morning
and look forward to see thank you at these performances.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
It's going to be incredible, It really will be.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It goes by fast and but we get to do
but we get to do it four times, which is
that's the fun part.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
So we've got two shows deck the Hall San Francisco
Symphony December seventh. There's an eleven am and a three pm.
And then the kids shows on Monday with the schools.
We've got two shows on Monday as well. You can
get more information get your tickets Sfsymphony dot org. Daniel,
I cannot thank you enough for having a conversation with
me today.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Thank you, Carolyn,
Daniel Bartholomew Poyser is a dynamic and deeply engaged conductor
who brings a warm presence to the podium, infusing concerts
with clarity, purpose, and heartfelt connection. Beyond the San Francisco Symphony,
he holds influential roles across Canada. He's the Barrett Principal
Education Conductor and Community Ambassador of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra,
(00:24):
the Artist in Residence and Community Ambassador of Symphony Nova Scotia,
and the principal Youth Conductor and creative partner with Canada's
National Arts Center Orchestra. He's led orchestras such as the
New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony,
and more. He also hosts the nationally broadcast CBC radio
(00:44):
show Center Stage, where he shares his passion for orchestral music.
Here in San Francisco, as conductor of dec the Hall,
he brings not just musical excellence, but a spirit of
connection and inclusivity, making this beloved holiday tradition truly resonate
with audiences of all ages. And this year I get
(01:06):
the chance to narrate Deck the Hall alongside him. Please welcome,
Daniel Bartholomew Poison.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Oh, hello, hello, Carolyne. How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I'm good. How are you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I'm doing really well. I'm very much looking forward to
meeting you and working with you on this program.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I me too, me too. I heard that you have
been the me You've been the narrator and the conductor
for ten or so years now, and I heard that
you are relieved that you're going to have some help
in that department and won't have to do two jobs,
being the narrator and the conductor, and you can focus
on being the conductor.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I love the narrating, the speaking, but I've done it
for ten years. Oh right, yeah. So it's just like,
you know, we've done this, and we've done that, and
we have done this joke and that joke, and it's like, great,
let's have somebody else. I'm like, not, you know, I
don't feel like I have anything to prove now, so
(02:11):
let's just like kind of enjoy it and see what
somebody else can bring to it. So we're so excited
that you were able to come off kind of beyond
our hopes and dreams. Actually, So yeah, feel.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
This way too.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And it's so funny is every day we get one
day closer to this, I get more and more excited,
and it gets more and more surreal that I'll be
quote unquote performing with the San Francisco Symphony, which is
so legendary. Right at first when I accepted the opportunity,
I was like, this is cool, And now as we
get closer, I'm going, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, it really is. I still can't believe that I
get to work with them. Yes, even after all these years, that.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Feel for you as a conductor for the symphony.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
It's a dream come true and it's a dream ensemble,
and it's just it's just good as it gets. It's fantastic.
It's the players are wonderful people to work with and
you feel like they're reading your mind musically. So from
a conductor's perspective, you're only limited by your imagination with
what you can do with them, you know, or you
(03:20):
can ask them for because they can do anything, do
really well. So it's just I can't. You know, people
look at conductors and they look at my job and say, wow,
that looks like so much fun. It looks so amazing,
and it's like, yep, yeah, that's exactly what it is,
exactly what it looks like. It's as much fun as
it looks like. It's all those things. You know, it's
(03:41):
really terrific.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
You're working with the best of the best at the
San Francisco Symphony, like they are the best, you're the best.
You put them together and the product has got to
just be incredible.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I cannot wait to experience this.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
That's our goal. We get to the fun part of
doing I think, and you'll experience a different part of
doing these shows is that you don't just do it once.
You can do it four times, right, So you get
to hear your favorite song four times, and you get
to hear the favorite dance, the favorite like moment four times.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So I think you're gonna have a lot of fun.
I think you're gonna have a ball. Actually, what do you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Think the one thing is that I will experience since
you have been the narrator for the past ten years,
the one thing is that I will experience. It will
surprise me in a good way.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Oh, that's a great question. In a good way. I
think it's when we get to the school audience on
the Monday, those kids, like how they respond differently than
the kids with their parents. It's a lot. It's different.
It's different like the Sunday is more even though it's
with kids. Still it's more like they're all just time.
Sorry that but you get more of like a kid's reaction,
(04:51):
so they just have this more like is an immediacy
of reaction to everything that's happening with those kids. And
that's super fun. Also, just you know, text, you can
make it your own. I was getting up there, you know,
for ten years basically just like okay, I'm going to
talk about like this and just like kind of going right,
and I have my set things that I would say so,
but so you can really like put into your own voice.
(05:13):
And I'm going to be doing the same thing with
my bits as well too. Right, So she's written in
her style, so we want to hear your voice. So
that's another thing too. You can make it your own.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
That's what I love too, is I think a lot
of people think about the symphony and I think it's
very formal. It's very polished, and it's like this performance
or these performances, I get the impression without even doing
this yet that not that it's laid back, but you
do have the freedom to share your own voice, to
have some fun with it. It's not like super super formal.
(05:45):
We want the people in the audience. We want you
to laugh, we want you to feel like you're a
part of this performance, to cheer us on, and to
yeah you get it, okay, good good, Then we're gonna
be okay.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, yeah, oh yeah. Absolutely. It's kind of like when
you go on one of those rides at Disney and
you go into like the cave and the ride, and
then the lights come on inside the cave and there's
like a tableau and you look at that, and then
you go through, you drive a little more, and then
there's another scene and then so the whole thing is
part of a story where you're seeing these different scenes.
So that's like the only thing to keep in mind
(06:20):
is that we're trying to keep them like okay, and
now our journey begins and then and then we're and
then we're all so we're not breaking like the whatever
that You will know better than I will, like that,
you know what I mean. So sorry I did say anything.
I'm just like you can read my mind. You're fine,
but I think.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You know what you're saying too.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
It's like I am taking them on a journey. We
are telling a story together. Yeah, I'm kind of teeing
you up for you guys to come in and boom
hit the story that I'm kind of introducing, and then
you come right in.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
With your performance.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I love it because in a way, while I'm not
playing an instrument, I am sort of a vocalist strument
with you guys, you know, And.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So I absolutely think it's kind of paranisely.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
I just can't get over that you did both of
these things for so many years, because I think as
a performer, you're really focusing on your specific craft.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
There's a lot going on.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And even though like for me, the narration in between
performances is, you know, twenty to thirty seconds, I am
very focused on the words, how I'm going to deliver it,
you know what it's going to sound like. And then
for you, when you were doing this in the past,
you're focused on those things, and then you turn around
and you conduct the symphony, which is so crazy because
that's even bigger, and so how you balance both is
(07:37):
beyond me.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So my secret is that I was a junior high
school music teacher for ten years, right and then I'd
also to high school a little bit after that, so
I didn't start off as a conductor. I started off
as a teacher. And when you're teaching, you're doing seven
or eight shows a day, right of talk, turnaround, conduct,
talk show, display video, like, so this is actually like that,
(08:03):
it's super normal. It's super normal for my finest Yeah,
and you're and it's improv as well too, because you
know in terms of like the time and this doesn't
happen in the concerts, right. But it's like you might say, Okay,
I have four and a half classes to get through this,
and then I had the acter ready for the test
and the third class, oh there's a fire drill, sudden
fire drill. You just lost that class. So now you
(08:24):
have three and a half and you had everything down
and you just got to make it work, right. So
that's so that's the thing. It's just like when you're teaching,
you are you're performing, you conduct and then you and
then you talk, and you're doing it seven times a day,
not just two shows, right, and it really is it
really is music seven shows a day, And thinking of
(08:45):
teaches during the pandemic, I knew a guy who was
an elementary school teacher, and he showed me what he
was doing online over the pandemic, and it literally was
like producing a television show for seven hours a day
for kindergarten me. I thought, I don't know how stay alive.
So the teaching part of it, the teaching part of it,
(09:05):
really really helps a lot with that. And I love it.
I love it. I like I like explaining. I love
talking about music. I have a radio like I'm on
CBC Radio in Canada as well as that's just the talking.
So sometimes I just conduct, sometimes I just talk, and
most of the time I talk and conduct.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
You are a true artist.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I mean you have your hands in so many different things,
which I love. I mean, is your brain just constantly
spinning and creating and imagining?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yes, yes, that's the best.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Constantly. Yeah it is. It's a little tiring. I'm trying
to learn how to spot down, but then that becomes
its own thing. It's like, okay, how do I optimize
and maximize by slowing down? And how do I recover
the bend? You know, everything becomes its own, its own
WorldWind universe.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Do you feel like you're a little bit type A
as a creator?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yeah? Oh, a thousand percent me too.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I'm always thinking.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I'm a producer for a living for a radio show
and co host a radio show, and of course my
work at the at the Giants as their PA announcer,
and I feel like I'm always thinking about what's next
and what could I have done better? And what would
I do differently?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
And how can we know? What do you do? Like?
How do you how do you do you turn it off? Ever?
Or do you know?
Speaker 1 (10:23):
I don't And you know what, Daniel, I'm okay with
that because it's just who I am.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I will try and take time to just watch TV
or chill out, but honestly, I love working and I
love creating. Yeah, you know, and so it's kind of
don't make that much of an effort to turn it
off because I truly enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
See that's great, that's great. I do experience that because
there are times that it's like I'll have a day off,
and a day off for me is like, okay, I
can study the music without any meetings or interruptions. Yay,
I enjoy it. I enjoy it. Now.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Some would say your work on like a weekend or
you're working over time, But for you it's a hobby
that you just so happen to get paid for.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I don't know if I'm saying hobby. It's more like
a like obsession. It's more like an obsession that like maybe.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
That's what it is for me too, and I just
call it a hobby to make myself feel better, but
it's really an obsession.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Okay, fair, fair, We've all done something there.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I feel like it's yeah, I would like there are
some performances that I've seen where I get to the
performance and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so glad
I'm already a conductor or I'm already a musician, because
after that performance, if I wasn't, I would have probably
quit whatever I was doing and try to become this.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Wow, So that's that's a really that's where I'm like, Okay,
I'm in the right I'm in the right place. I
remember being a university and just I took because I
had my music, and then I had my other options
and stuff. It's like some psychology and philosophy and something
that right, but I kind of got tired of those.
But I just remember being in music and when I was,
and it's hard to describe. But when I was doing
(12:02):
music stuff, I never felt like I was doing anything.
It just felt like, yeah, this is just I'm just yeah,
this is just normal. This is just it just was
totally natural. It just felt totally natural to be doing
this all the time, you know. So I'm I think
I'm very very fortunate that way.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
I think that's when you know you're doing what you're
supposed to be doing in life, though, when it just
feels right.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
I mean, how lucky are you to be able to
have that.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
You could be crunching numbers at a desk all day,
or you could be you know, you're doing a job
that is truly made for you, and I can tell
you have such an appreciation for it too, which is
so neat.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I feel, especially when you look at it. I get
paid to come to San Francisco and conduct to San
Francisco Symphony, which is it's just crazy, I know, crazy, no,
And I still feel and I'm really I'm happy that
I feel. I think part of it having started off
as a teacher and not thinking, you know, and being
(13:04):
like maybe one day I'll be a conductor, right, That's
where that's what was for a long time, And now
I get to do this, and I feel very grateful still,
and it's a really it's a really it's a really
good place to make music, like for a young conductor.
So you know, if the musicians are fantastic and they're
also really like you learn so much from them, you know,
(13:27):
there's they the musicians are really your teachers. So yeah,
So I have a question for you just about like
when you are doing your announcements, what are what are
you thinking about? Like are you thinking about the effect
of your voice or are you feeling are you allowing
yourself to feel and letting it and actually be transmitted
(13:48):
through or like how does that work?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Are you talking about it the Giants when I'm announcing.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Yeah, yeah, well kind of like both, I guess Like
the Giants first, I was thinking, particularly you're talking of
that many people live you can't see, Like, what's that like?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Well, when I'm talking to people live on the radio
that I can't see, it's a very different feeling than
when you're at the Giants and you've got forty thousand
people that are literally sitting in front of you in
a stadium. It's very different. The radio is more of
a natural delivery where we're just talking. And so if
my co host and I are having a conversation and
(14:24):
I trip over a word, well that's just a natural conversation, right,
But when you're doing the Giants and you're announcing for
the Giants, it's a little more polished, and you you
hear yourself make that mistake in a very large stadium
with forty thousand people that are going to hear your mistakes.
So you really there's like an added level of stress.
(14:47):
And that's not to say like if I stumble over
a word, which I have, that my career is over.
But as we will circle back to us being perfectionists
as performers.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I drive home and it's a long drive some.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Nights, you know, it's like, how did I stumble over
that word? I knew? So I am more thinking about overall.
When I'm especially at the Giants, I am thinking I
want to be a compliment to this. I don't fans
are not there to hear me, but I'm there to
(15:20):
inform them. I'm there to be a piece of the
big puzzle that is the show that we are putting
on at Giants Vision for the Giants, So my thought
is like, how can I just deliver this so it's.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Enjoyable for people to hear end of story. It's that easy.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And it's kind of the same with the symphony, Like
I'm not they're not there to see the narrator, they're
not there to see the conductor. The people in the
audience are there to see the whole thing, the production, right,
So how can we do the best job we can
do where we're just fitting in as part of this
production where the overall at the end of this, people
are going to leave and say that was a fantastic
(16:01):
performance by everybody, no matter what their job was or
what instrument is overall, and I can't wait to come back,
Like that's the best goal for me.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And that makes sense. That makes sense. I've never really
thought about that, the intimidation, like talking to forty thousand,
fifty thousand people at once.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
But I love that you like flip the interview on me,
Oh you're such a radio guy.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Just it was genuinely curious of like what's that like?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So tell me for people that are listening, tell me
about the music score and what it looks like.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
People are coming are going to hear pieces that they
know and they love regards to Christmas, they're going to hear,
for example, like Christmas Carroll's Christmas songs. There will be
some Christmas characters, some holiday characters, christ characters that come
that comes through. We have music from Tchaikowsky, We have
the Nutcracker from the favorites there. But then we're all
trying to take a look at music from different parts
of the world. So we have some Latin American Christmas music.
(17:00):
We have a story that's going to be narrated by
yourself was the Night Before Christmas? We have Christmas story
that's coming through. There, some gospel. We have some Hanukkah
music as well too, Carols and like the old British style.
The Sussex care About the Young Women's Coral project is
going to be fantastic. And then we have music by
(17:22):
the Trans Siberian Orchestra a Christmas in Sarajevo, which is
the Carol of the Bells. But there's a special twist.
I don't know. I don't want to give away the surprise,
but we're doing something we've never done before in terms
of a very special instrument that's going to be on stage.
We've never done before at this concert. So it's a
concept of it's all about like the stories of the
(17:43):
holidays from multiple perspectives, right, so that anybody can come
and hear music that they'll know, they'll love to recognize,
and stories that they'll know and stories that they don't know. Right,
But that's what it's that's what it's about. So there's
something there for everybody, and it goes, it goes down
pretty it goes pretty fast because there's there's dancing, there's storytelling,
(18:03):
there's different instruments from different countries on stage, so every
moment is different. Yeah, tons of variety for young kids.
That's what that's what it's for, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I would imagine that the San Francisco Symphony also does
a incredible job of decorating for the holidays, where from
when you walk in the door, you feel that holiday spirit.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So this is one of the things where deck the
Hall is a shorter concert, you know, in the big
scope of things, but it's one of the most important
in the season because this is where you know, the
hall is decked out and you go in, you see
the tree. It's the start of the holiday season at
the San Francisco Symphony and It's been a tradition in
(18:47):
my life for ten years or so now, and it
really starts the holidays off. You walk into the hall
and you just you feel it. You feel it, so
it's really special. You know, music is not just about,
you know, just sound waves going through the air. It's
also about who you're with, you know, who's playing it
(19:08):
for you, and where you're hearing it. All of these
things affect the sound. So to be in the Davy's
Auditorium and hear the sound there with the incredible decorations,
it's an event. So it's more than just a feast
for the earth, also a feast for the eyes, and
it's a whole experience and that's what makes it so special.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
And I know for so many people myself included, that
have wonderful memories as a kid going to the symphony
during the holidays with their parents, their families. It's a
tradition for so many people. For me, it was to
see the Nutcracker, and you make a day of it.
It's a great San Francisco experience. You come see the
(19:45):
symphony and maybe you go to dinner after you have
lunch before. And what I love is that here in
the Bay Area. We have this incredible, world renowned symphony
right here.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
In our backyard.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And I want people that are listening to this conversation
to realize, like, this symphony is so accessible and we're
so lucky to have it here, You've got to go
experience it at least once in your lifetime. I think
it will surprise a lot of people about how accessible
it really is, and.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I think they'll be surprised by how much they enjoy
it as well too. You know, it's and this is
not just for the young People's concert, but just for
all the concerts. You know. It's time in your day
where you're not being interrupted. It's time in your day
where you're with people and you're all focused on the
same thing. It's time and your day where you're not
constantly checking your phone or your email. It's time and
(20:37):
your day where you're not being tracked, you know, and
your attention isn't being collected and monetized. It's just and
it's a real experience with like real people doing real things,
taking real risks right in front of you. It's authentic
and in a live performance, you know, there's always risk.
There's always risk because things are So that's what's special, is,
(21:01):
you know, seeing these people going out on a limbit
and then seeing that level of excellence in front of you.
It compares to nothing. It compares to nothing else. So
I think, especially as are you know, as we're moving
towards an increasingly digital world, it just makes the experience
of coming to Symphony and seeing google Plex and the
Young Women's Choral Projects and the San Francisco Boys Chorus
(21:23):
and Mariocci Bonitas and all the characters that we're going
to have and the dancers from the San Francisco Ballet School,
it just makes it even more special. Yeah, to see
all of that in one concentrated, forty eight minute period.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Isn't it incredible. It's so action packed for forty eight minutes.
And by the way, I love what you said about
this time will be uninterrupted for you. We are so
just on our phones and our tablets all the time.
The holidays to me are all about tradition. You always
start thinking, you always think about your life growing up
when you were a kid and we didn't have phones
(21:59):
in taps, and you really did spend the holidays with
your families, baking cookies, looking at Christmas lights on houses,
like celebrating the holidays, and this is a chance to
kind of have that back for forty eight minutes, to
sit in one Davy's Symphony Hall and watch this incredible
performance and just lose yourself a little bit in it.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Where else can you do that?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
It's so hard to do these days, and so what
a beautiful place to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
It's the we work really hard to make sure that
every minute is minute by minute, that everybody is engaged
and enjoying. And I just I just can't. I can't
agree with you more. You know, this is why Deka
has become a tradition for so many San Francisco families
and for the schools that come as well too.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
So how lucky are we to be a part of
this this year? I mean it's like, for you, this
will be what you're eleventh year then? Or are you
going on your.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Bab so something like that. Okay, I think I have
to have to count. I think this is eleven. Yeah, yeah,
this is this is eleventh, you know, which is that?
That's incredible? And I think it's a great moment to have
another voice come in and add and add something to
it and that's you, you know.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
So I'm so excited to work with you, Daniel, and
I so appreciate you spending time with me this morning
and look forward to see thank you at these performances.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
It's going to be incredible, It really will be.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It goes by fast and but we get to do
but we get to do it four times, which is
that's the fun part.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
So we've got two shows deck the Hall San Francisco
Symphony December seventh. There's an eleven am and a three pm.
And then the kids shows on Monday with the schools.
We've got two shows on Monday as well. You can
get more information get your tickets Sfsymphony dot org. Daniel,
I cannot thank you enough for having a conversation with
me today.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Thank you, Carolyn,
The Morning Breezecast News
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