We are psyched to go see the SF Symphony open this Sunday its Summer Series with a concert at Stern Grove. Free music al fresco, can't beat that.

The Sunday concert features pianist Jeremy Denk in a Mozart piano concerto. Jeremy keeps an on-line diary, a blog as they call it, where he deconstructs the music, shining light on how the interpreter prepares for a piece. He can spend a week discussing one Bach Allemande, writing seven posts peppered with analysis of score excerpts and references to Don Quixote, Nabokov or Roland Barthes. It's like Being John Malkovich; we are total suckers for glimpses into the mind of the artist.

The conductor for Sunday is the second-in-command behind MTT at the Symphony, associate conductor James Gaffigan. Even though he's only 27 years old, he is running the Summer series, which he describes here (click on the audio link). We did not find his blog nor his myspace page. So to know him better, we went the old fashion way: we emailed him questions.

Hop after the jump for Maestro Gaffigan's answers!

You are the SF Symphony Associate Conductor -- what are your duties? Actually, if you could maybe explain: there are resident conductors, assistant conductors, associate conductors. Do you have a powerpoint of the symphony's organigram?

James Gaffigan: It can be a bit confusing. Different orchestras use different titles for the various positions. We in San Francisco happen to use many! As Associate Conductor I program and conduct my subscription concerts; for example next year I have 3 subscription weeks. I also plan and conduct the classical concerts for Summer in the City. Additionally, I cover all of Michael Tilson Thomas' performances. By cover I mean, being available to the conductor and ready to step in for him if something were to happen. I also conduct New Year's Eve and pension fund concerts for the San Francisco Symphony. San Francisco is also generous in giving me enough time to keep up with my guest conducting schedule around the world.

You were previously assistant conductor in Cleveland, where there are rumors of discontent between the conductor and the orchestra. Did that make your job there difficult? Is it smooth sailing at SFS in comparison? Is MTT's approach different from Welser-Möst?

James Gaffigan: Wesler Möst and MTT are both incredible musicians and both very different musicians. As far as Cleveland goes, I've always had a wonderful time conducting the orchestra and loved working with Franz. I felt they gave many wonderful performances together. Being a Music Director is sort of like being under a microscope. Everyone can see everything about you very clearly. All of our strengths and weaknesses jump right out. There are always going to be some people who don't like you. Basically, if you're in the business of having everyone like you, you shouldn't be a Music Director. It's easy to be the hero as a guest conductor since you are in and out in a flash. As a Music Director you should have a vision and stick to that vision. No matter what people (especially critics) say, its your job to stick to what you believe in. Both Franz & Michael have wonderful visions, just very different ones. I find the San Francisco Symphony administration and orchestra to be a very happy one. It's the best working environment I could ask for.

The person who followed you as assistant conductor in Cleveland, does he have some 'splaining to do?

James Gaffigan: A common misconception is that the assistant conductor prepares the orchestra for the Music Director. This is rarely the case. I suspect this was just a situation of a very difficult piece being rehearsed in 2-days' time perhaps with only one rehearsal. These things in life can happen to anybody on a bad day, and this one just happened to have a critic in the audience.

Ain't you glad you got to escape Cleveland (not the orchestra situation, the dreary city!)?

James Gaffigan: I had a wonderful experience in Cleveland. But now, I’m having blast here in San Francisco. My fiancée and I are trying to explore every great restaurant in this amazing city. We can't stop going to A16 (especially for the Italian wine list!), not to mention all of the great Asian food in the city. We just came back from Napa and Sonoma where we spent way too much money. Cyrus in Healdsburg was to die for! Get the chef’s tasting menu, with the grand wine pairing of course!

The organigram we linked to above, we got it from a link at Chron critic Joshua Kosman's blog. There we also find this. You're about to conduct the SFS in a tango program. How do you react when told that tango should not be in the classical music arena? How do you tell the main critic in town, here for all to see, that he is wrong?

James Gaffigan: First of all the program isn't all tango. "Tango and More!" includes an amazing piece of the "Classical" repertoire by Manuel de Falla called "Three Cornered Hat" which is rarely performed in its entirety. This is a wonderful piece of music. During the second half of the concert there will be a very rare opportunity to hear Piazzolla performed with a full symphony orchestra. I treat Piazzolla with the same respect as I would de Falla. On top of this we have wonderful dancers and a wonderful bandoneón player to bring this music to life!

Summer in the City is about building new audiences, and having the audience be as comfortable as possible, and breaking down these strange barriers of "Classical Music". Sinatra, Ella, Wunderlich and Callas are all great artists. Great music is great music.

We read somewhere that American orchestras play pieces, in order of popularity, by Mozart first, then Beethoven. Tchaikovsky and Brahms fight it out for the number 3 and 4 spots. Don't you feel the summer program is a bit light on Brahms?

James Gaffigan: I don't necessarily agree with these rankings. Beethoven’s is great music no matter how you look at it and his music provides a perfect first experience for newcomers to classical music. Mozart has charm and wit and humor that is still wonderful and appropriate to this day. I think it's important that these composers be part of people's first classical experiences.

Tchaikovsky is another composer that everyone can relate to. Earlier this year my colleagues in the Artistic Planning department and I all got together and figure out what would be the most fun for the summer audience. A key ingredient to Summer in the City is featuring young up and coming soloists. I think the audience always feels a connection to them. I am so excited about
our young soloists this summer. Not only are Gabriela Martinez and Karen Gomyo great musicians, but they are not bad on the eyes either!

As a conductor, how do you prepare for pieces that the audience are very familiar with. Do you have to find a new angle, a new interpretative tack? How do you express something new/compelling/interesting/personal on the well known pieces? How do you make a splash?

James Gaffigan: This is a great question and it’s an intimidating question to young conductors all around the globe. I study all the works that I'm going to perform in a very intense fashion, no matter what the piece is. My number one priority is doing justice to the composer and what the composer wants.

But still, there are always some questions left unanswered in the score and it's our job to answer them the best we can. I find that as a conductor, if you're prepared and you have reasons for everything you're doing, the musicians will be there with you every step of the way. Musicians can always smell a phony from far away. As a conductor it is our job to channel the energy of 100 musicians into a cohesive interpretation that translates well to the audience. Also as a young man, I bring my life experiences to the music. I am sure that I will conduct Tchaikovsky's symphony number 5 differently when I am 50 then this summer at 27.

Indeed, you are pretty young. How do you get the well seasoned musicians of the SFS to listen to you? Do people take you seriously, do they ask you to show your baton, when you go in a bar and say you are a conductor?

James Gaffigan: Ha ha ha! Most orchestral musicians decide in the first 10 seconds if they're going to like you or not based on your charisma, musical knowledge, leadership and confidence. You have to understand the delicate eco-system of your orchestra and you'll do well. We are all very sensitive people, and we have to take care in the way we say things in the rehearsal process. The orchestra can really sense when you care and you're prepared. They also sense when you're blowing them off or are unprepared. My suggestion to any young conductor would be to forget your age, but to always be well studied and humble.

The San Francisco Symphony is a bunch of well seasoned musicians who want to sound great in concert and like to have productive rehearsals. They have a great pride in their work. If I were to show up in a bar with a baton, they would think I was Harry Potter, not a maestro.

Where do your musical tastes take you, outside of classical music (and tango)?

James Gaffigan: I love every kind of dance music - anything with great rhythm that gets you moving. Amongst my favorite genres are electronica, drum and bass and all different kinds of jazz. I’m a big fan of Bjork, Radiohead, and Jamiroquai. I started out as a rock musician (guitarist) and didn't get into classical music seriously until high school. Coming from that background can really help a classical musician to think 'out of the box'. A big problem is that people associate classical music with limitation, for example, limitations on the page with music or with concert etiquette. I want to break all those perceived limitations in classical music culture. Let’s start this summer!