The full measure of an individual’s impact and influence is often not realized at first glance. This statement could seem trite, given Leonard Slatkin’s illustrious career, until you have the opportunity to talk with the concertmasters who consider him a friend and mentor.
One of those people is David Halen, the concertmaster for the Saint Louis Symphony. He is in Detroit for the weekend to serve as guest concertmaster for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO). Much like Jorja Fleezanis, the opportunity to play with someone who had a strong impact on his early career was too enticing to turn down.
Halen comes from a family of musicians, his mother having played for the Kansas City Symphony and his father having been a professor of violin at Central Missouri State University. His older brother is a member of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, where the Halen brothers were able to play for several years together. Yet it was listening to the Slatkin-led Saint Louis Symphony play their annual concert in Warrensburg, MO that inspired Halen to pursue a musical career.
“My dream as an artist when I first decided I wanted to be in an orchestra was to play somewhere like the Saint Louis Symphony, partly because he (Slatkin) would bring them to Warrensburg and when I would hear the opening measures, I fell in love with the sound,” reminisced Halen.
He is now comfortably living his dream. And it was Slatkin who worked to appoint Halen as concertmaster in St. Louis without going through the normal audition process. Still, he enjoys serving as guest concertmaster whenever possible because he finds the experience an fascinating study.
“It makes me so much more aware of what’s out there because you will hear something done really beautifully by the Detroit Symphony and I will take some of that back with me when I return to St. Louis,” Halen remarked.
In many ways, Detroit reminds Halen of St. Louis. The things he hears about Detroit today are the things he heard about St. Louis when he was growing up four hours away from the city. Both cities have world-class arts organizations, with the DSO and the Saint Louis Symphony enjoying international renown. He witnessed those organizations play a significant role in the renaissance of Downtown St. Louis, transforming the neighborhood around the symphony from a place to avoid to a place most new members of the symphony cannot wait to live in.
As an occasional visitor to Detroit, he sees those same seeds taking root in Midtown. He looks at a historic symphony like the DSO as a vital piece of the transformation of Detroit because each performance is unique.
Soon Halen will have a better seat to watch those seeds of change sprout. While he has no intention of leaving St. Louis or their symphony, he will be spearheading a project at the University of Michigan that aims to develop future violinists for symphonies. This role is an extension of his belief that the arts and symphonies will continue to play a vital role in the life of healthy cities.
“I see the DSO and its help in recreating the opulence of the city as crucial in my endeavor. I’m investing a great deal of my energy in Michigan and at the University of Michigan. I see the DSO as a big part of building that program,” he declared.
St. Louis, thank you for loaning us your concertmaster. We appreciate picking up another champion for Detroit.
