New symphony conductor ready to bow to island style

Admitting right away that he has "a lot of Hawaiian homework to do," Andreas Delfs was introduced yesterday as the new in-residence conductor of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.

After a decade with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Delfs asked his wife and daughter last month if they'd mind moving to Oahu. "It didn't take two seconds for them to say yes," Delfs said.

Joining HSO board chairman Jeffrey Minter, director Thomas Gulick and musicians Michael Gorman and Ignace Jang in a press conference/pep rally at the Halekulani Hotel, Delfs and his pianist-wife, Amy Tait, were visibly moved by choral Hawaiian music arranged by Aaron Mahi.

"I want to get to know this culture!" remarked Delfs, who hails from northern Germany and was raised on a diet of Bach and Brahms. "What a memorable, impressive and moving welcome."

When Delfs was booked as a guest conductor here in October, he assumed he'd have a pleasant musical experience and a great vacation. Then he bumped into friend Renee Fleming in New York and she raved about the quality of Honolulu's symphony. Delfs was impressed, and vice versa, as Gulick paid a visit to the Delfs' Milwaukee home on Christmas Day to pitch the job.

The next season's repertoire is already set, Delfs explained, so his artistic imprint really won't be felt until the 2008-09 season. The conductor has a reputation for mixing it up and keeping audiences musically entertained.

"I want to bring the best to the most," said Delf, meaning that the orchestra "will have an atmosphere of challenge, high artistic excellence and pure joy -- and see seats filled. ... I want the symphony to be the talk of the town."

Asked whether the orchestra would mutate to appeal to a younger audience, Delfs was realistic. "Every symphony audience in the world is getting older. There's no magic bullet to get teenagers into seats. The audience for symphonies is mature and understanding -- but every year we have a new vintage of 50-year-olds!"