The Inside Story: Lawrence Golan and MENDELSSOHN 2 & MENDELSSOHN 2.1

The Yakima Symphony Orchestra commemorates 50 years in music with MENDELSSOHN 2 & MENDELSSOHN 2.1, a new recording of Mendelssohn’s monumental choral Symphony No. 2. It’s a challenge to capture this particular symphony’s dual nature — half transcendent exploration of faith, half a testament to the Romantic spirit. Conductor Lawrence Golan is more than up to the task, and so is his YSO: grandeur billows, tenderness whispers, and tonal richness reigns supreme.

Today, Lawrence is our featured artist in the “Inside Story,”a blog series exploring the inner workings and personalities of our composers and performers. Read on to learn about the performance that kickstarted his journey as a career musician, and the various bits of sage advice from his father that resonates today…

What have been your biggest inspirations on your musical journey?

The biggest inspirations along my musical journey have been my father, Joseph Golan, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (of which my father was the Principal Second Violinist), Jascha Heifetz, the greatest violinist of all time, and… the movie Rocky. What I learned from Rocky (as well as from the High Holidays prayer book at my childhood synagogue, which had the exact same message) was that success is not about victory or some milestone achievement. Success is about going the distance — having a dream and going for it. At the end of the road, as long as I followed my dream and did the very best I could, I will have succeeded. 

Tell us about your first performance.

My first big performance was as a violinist, when I was 13 years old. I had won a local community orchestra’s concerto competition and performed a piece written by my violin teacher at the time, George Perlman. It was called Israeli Concertino. When I first started playing, I was extremely nervous — my legs, feet, arms and hands were all shaking. Truth be told, I think I wet my pants (but only a little bit). However, once I got past the first major hurdle in the piece, I started to relax. By the time I got to the end, I was actually enjoying myself. I walked off stage to where my parents and teacher were waiting for me. I said, “this is for me.” It was at that moment that I decided I wanted to become a professional musician.

If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?

I would love to conduct a violin concerto with Jascha Heifetz as the soloist — but he is dead, so it’s a bit late for that. In terms of anyone alive… Billy Joel. It would be a life-long dream come true to conduct a concert of his music, with an orchestra accompanying Mr. Joel and his band.

What were your first musical experiences?

My first musical experiences were listening to my father play the violin, both on his own and as a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I spent my childhood attending rehearsals, concerts, and tours of the CSO. At the time, I just thought that that was normal. But in hindsight, I realize that that was an education that could not be bought — at any price.

How do you prepare for a performance?

How do I prepare for a performance? Well, the easiest way to answer that would be to suggest that you buy my book on the subject: Score Study Passes; A professional conductor’s guide to preparing a musical score for performance. But in a nutshell, when I am learning a new score, rather than starting on page 1 and trying to learn everything there is to learn on that page, then going on to page 2, I do a series of passes through the entire score, focusing on a different issue with each pass. One pass focuses on harmony, another on rhythm, another on the characters and emotions of the piece, and so on. This way, I am sure to cover everything — in great detail.

What’s the greatest performance you’ve ever seen, and what made it special?

The greatest performance that I’ve ever seen took place when I was 13 years old. I was a camper at Interlochen Music Camp in Michigan. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and their Music Director, Sir Georg Solti, were on tour and had a stop at Interlochen. They played one of the Strauss tone poems; maybe Don Juan or Till Eulenspiegel — I don’t remember… I was too young to know the difference. But in any event, the concert was awesome. The orchestra played with the utmost precision and passion. It was so exciting and inspiring to see 100 incredible musicians all playing at the highest conceivable level of artistry. It was crystal clear to me and everyone else in the auditorium that this was the pinnacle of excellence… this is what we should all be striving for. (It didn’t hurt that my father was the Principal Second Violinist of the orchestra and I was, and still am, the proudest little kid on the face of planet earth.)

What musical mentor had the greatest impact on your artistic journey? Is there any wisdom they’ve imparted onto you that still resonates today?

I have had many incredible teachers and mentors over the years, but without a doubt, the one who had the greatest impact on my artistic journey was my father, Joseph Golan. He died 14 years ago and not a single day has gone by that I have not thought of him. There are many kernels of wisdom that he imparted onto me that still resonate today, and that I pass on to my children, my students and to members of the orchestras that I conduct — just about every day. To name but a few:

“You have to be 110% prepared.” That way, when under the pressure of a performance, you will still sound 100%.

“You can’t make music out of the wrong notes.” This applies to programming (i.e., selecting music for a concert). Be sure to choose music that you and/or the orchestra are capable of playing well. It also applies to practicing an instrument and rehearsing an orchestra: Make sure that you take care of all the foundational aspects of the piece first; the right rhythms, notes, intonation, dynamics, etc. Once those are under control, by all means, focus on interpretation, the meaning of the music, its character, emotions, etc.

In relation to the music of Mozart: “Every note is a gem.” When preparing and performing the music of Mozart, every note must be played perfectly clearly, in tune, with a beautiful tone and rhythmic integrity. I will just note that this does not apply to all music. Sometimes, music is intended to sound harsh, violent or ugly — but not with Mozart.

“Lay for the high C.” In any given musical phrase, there is often one note that you should focus on, listen for, or give special attention to. Doing so will make the entire phrase sound better.

“Don’t pay any attention to the competition — there is nothing you can do about them. Just focus on yourself and on doing your best — that is what you have control over.”