From Germany to Kansas, with love.
Dr. Leonardo Rosario, assistant professor of Music at Kansas Wesleyan, came back from a master class in conducting in Berlin inspired and determined to expand the KWU String Orchestra into a full symphony orchestra.
The dream is becoming a reality with March 2’s Symphony Orchestra concert, which will take place in Sams Chapel.
Rosario was looking for professional development opportunities when he saw a notice for the master class in Berlin. It checked a lot of boxes on his wish list, and he knew he had to apply for the class with the Berlin Sinfonietta.
“It’s hard to believe this happened, because Berlin is the center of classical music-making,” said Rosario, director of strings area and String Orchestra conductor at KWU. “The best players are there.”
He sent in recordings of his conducting and was chosen one of only 11 people to meet from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 18 to 23, “to just learn, learn, learn,” he said.
Class members each conducted a movement from the program of Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart. Rosario closed the concert with the final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 in B flat major.
Classmates were from Belgium, the U.K., France, Germany, Azerbaijan, Russia, Finland, Hong Kong and two others from the U.S.
“Berlin is absolutely phenomenal for music,” Rosario said. “A highlight for me was I have so much respect for the Berlin Philharmonic. Some of the folks playing in the Sinfonietta were members of the Philharmonic’s chamber group, a chance I never thought I could have.”
Another chance he never thought he’d have was sitting in on a rehearsal of the Deutsch Symphony, conducted by Kent Nagano. One of his students from Brazil had married a violinist with the symphony, and her husband got him into the rehearsal, one of only three in the audience. Rosario reveled in the opportunity.
“I learned so much from that experience,” he said. “One of the highest level conductors playing in the best classical hall in the world playing with one of the top orchestras in the world — it’s good to see the process, music-making from the beginning.”
“He was like a kid in a candy store,” said Leo’s wife, Sabrina Rosario, who met him in Berlin and traveled with him on to Italy. She was not allowed at the rehearsal.
Sabrina is director of Kansas Wesleyan’s Community Resilience Hub and presented programs at Eberswalde University in Germany, a member with Kansas Wesleyan of the Resilience Studies Consortium.
From Berlin, they went to Cremona, the hometown of Stradivarius and the Museum of the Violin.
“Through Stradivarius through violin-making into music for me was wonderful,” Leonardo Rosario said.
What impressed him the most, however, was seeing Michelangelo’s statue of David in person.
“Oh, my gosh,” he said. “I could see life. It’s a completely different approach now that I have to music just to see that.”
The Renaissance period in arts, such as visual arts and architecture, particularly in music halls, also applies to music, he said.
“The growth in artistry on my part is something that I can bring back home,” he said.
In terms of conducting, Rosario is bringing back some new strategies to approach rehearsals and performance, some new ways to get more things done.
He moved an item up on his wish list, too.
“We have a dream of becoming a full orchestra,” Rosario said. “After this particular master class, I feel the drive to keep pushing, to finally have a Kansas Wesleyan Symphony Orchestra, to approach the level where we could do tours. We can inspire other people.”
At present, Kansas Wesleyan has an String Orchestra, but not a full symphony orchestra. To play a full orchestra program, Rosario pulls in musicians from the other ensembles, such as the Wind Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble.
On March 2, the symphony orchestra will play “Finlandia” by Sebelius and “Carmen” Suite No. 1 by Bizet, followed by Gustavo do Carmo, KWU assistant professor of Music, playing the Piano Concerto in A minor by Grieg.
Story by Jean Kozubowski
