Music Man

The professor helps the community make music, but he isn't selling anything and he didn't pull into town on last night's train. The 76 musicians he conducts are all volunteers, but they play in a symphony, not a marching band.

Nathan Gottschalk '49, professor of music at the State University of New York in Albany, recently began his 21st year as conductor and music director of the Pioneer Valley Symphony, now in its 39th season, and every week he and his wife Polly make the drive from Albany to Old Deerfield, Mass., where the orchestra holds rehearsals.

Although only a few of the players earn their livings as full-time musicians, the group enjoys a reputation for giving professional-caliber concerts, thanks to the talent and enthusiasm of the performers and to more than two decades of Gottschalk's teaching and conducting.

In an interview with Northampton's DailyHampshire Gazette Gottschalk said, "I haven't wanted to turn us into a professional orchestra such as you find in many large cities. We've sought to be a superior community orchestra that can play professionally without requiring the tremendous financial support that a paid orchestra must have.

"I keep my sights high," he added, "but it's important to stop pressing at just the right time. Beyond a certain point even enthusiastic and hard-working players, amateurs or pro, may lose interest and despair. I want each rehearsal, one after another, to show improvement. That's enough."

Gottschalk studied violin with Richard Burgin, former concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, attended the Juilliard Graduate School of Music, and after graduating from Dartmouth also earned degrees from Yale and Boston University. He left for France in February to teach a semester at the University of Paris and to conduct seminars and chamber music workshops during a tour arranged by the State Department.

Nathan Gottschalk '49: 'We've sought tobe a superior community orchestra....'