This Sunday's World Youth Symphony Orchestra concert features three works of narrative and vivid imagery: Stravinsky's "Firebird" Suite, Ottorino Respighi's symphonic poem "Fountains of Rome" and Patrice Rushen's "Keepers of the Krown."
Guest conductor Earl Lee takes the podium for this second WYSO concert of 2026 on July 12 at Kresge Auditorium. Classical IPR will broadcast the WYSO concert live starting at 7 p.m. for pre-concert coverage, with the concert downbeat at 7:30 p.m.
Earl Lee visited Studio A and spoke to Classical IPR's Isabel Li about musically conjuring images of the "Firebird" storyline and the grand fountains of Rome in different times of the day. Lee also emphasized the uniquely collaborative environment of an orchestra and how he hopes to inspire the high school musicians in WYSO.
Isabel Li: Welcome back to Studio A on Interlochen Public Radio. I'm Isabel Li and this is Week 2 of Interlochen Arts Camp. This Sunday at Kresge Auditorium, the second installment of the 2026 World Youth Symphony Orchestra concerts features Ottorino Respighi's "Fountains of Rome", Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" and "Keepers of the Krown" by Patrice Rushen. These sweeping melodies will be led under the baton of guest conductor Earl Lee, who is joining us here in studio A today. Earl, welcome to Interlochen and Classical IPR.
Earl Lee: Thank you for having me here.
IL: So you're based in Michigan as music director of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. Is this your first time here in northern Michigan?
EL: It is, actually, and I've heard a lot of a lot of things about the place, how magical it is. So I'm very happy to be here for the first time.
IL: What's your impressions about northern Michigan?
EL: Beautiful. I mean, that's it's simply put, but also just vibrant with energy of young students roaming around the campus. It's just very live.
IL: I imagine conducting an orchestra of professional musicians is different from conducting a youth orchestra. How is it different for you, and how would you describe your time thus far working with high school aged musicians here at Interlochen?
EL: Oh, actually, I've had quite a bit of experience working with younger orchestras in my profession. I've been the music director of several different youth orchestras. Back in the time when I was a resident conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, I was music director of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. And also my time in Pittsburgh, I was also the music director of the youth orchestra there, Pittsburgh Symphony Youth Orchestra.
So, yes, but you're quite spot on by saying that it's quite different. In many ways, technically speaking, the professional orchestras have a bit of a tendency to play a little behind your beat, meaning that once I conduct, they will see it and they'll play it a little bit behind. Whereas the younger orchestras have a tendency to really push. So as a conductor on a technical level, that's something that really feels different. But at the same time, there's this incredible energy and this magic by working with these pieces, with these younger musicians, which probably is their first time playing these pieces most likely. And there's that special element to working with younger musicians. So that's the difference.
IL: So for younger musicians who tend to sort of push on the beat, how do you control that? Or how do you navigate the fact that they might be rushing? Is that how it is in an orchestra?
EL: Tell them not to do it. Just remind them. As a dad of a five year old daughter, it just needs time to just constantly remind them not to do it verbally in a very nice and affirmative, in a positive way. Bbut also it's a really fun chance for us to explore how to play with the conductor, how to respond to what they see and how to translate that into what it should sound like. Because as a conductor, I always show how the sound should sound like through how it looks like, if that makes sense. And it's, kind of a journey for us to really figure out how that works.
"I want everyone to take something special out of these concerts and these weeks that we're spending together here at Interlochen to one day look back and say, 'we did this.'"Conductor Earl Lee
IL: I'd love to just emphasize that the program that is on Sunday is highly visual. For example, let's start with Stravinsky's "Firebird." The music is derived from a ballet, and it comes from a full story plot about a prince who captures the Firebird to destroy a force of evil. Stravinsky is a uniquely challenging composer, and this is not the same as "Rite of Spring," but can you tell us about how you have been directing the young musicians of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra based on the plot of "The Firebird"?
EL: Yeah, actually, I'm glad you bring this up because I tend to choose pieces that have this narrative and storyline, more so working with younger musicians. This is not to say that the piece itself follows measure by measure how the story unfolds. Actually, a lot of music are not like that. In fact, a lot of composers say, 'I don't really have this kind of strict guideline of what is going on in the storyline with the music.' They want that imagination to be with with the audience members. And this is something that I think is very useful and special, working with younger musicians to have that individual imagination while they're playing, just by having a title of some sort and kind of a broader narrative saying that this has this kind of a broad storyline, everyone can have that imagination of their own. So I think that's something that's very special.
Stravinsky, yes, is very challenging in many ways. A lot of meter changes, a lot of notes. That's the nice thing, being in a place like Interlochen, is that you can actually have time. The rehearsal structure here is very unique, where we work a little over an hour in the morning, and then it's followed by a sectional in the afternoon, and then there's another hour and ten minute rehearsal in the evening. Whereas usually the rehearsal structure is you get one rehearsal, that's two and a half hours, right? So it's spread out through the day to just really digest for for everyone. So it's good to work on pieces like the "Firebird" Suite, where number one, everyone is so equally involved, right? There are not a section in an orchestra where you would just sit there and not do much for, for a while and then play one or two notes, right? It's you're, you're actively involved throughout the piece, every section. So this is something that we think about when programming for younger musicians to make sure that everyone is involved.
IL: Respighi's "Fountains of Rome" is a symphonic poem depicting actual fountains in Rome at different times of the day. There is a constant musical depiction of the flowing of water. When you're conducting this piece, I'm wondering, what do you do to conjure images of these real life fountains at dawn or sunset?
EL: Actually, the music speaks for itself. When you hear the piece, there's no mistake that this is about birds chirping in the sunrise or the glorious mists of the Trevi Fountain in Rome where it's grand. There's no mistake in it. I mean, you can actually vividly see and feel these fountains through the music. So I don't really have to do much to really make it work. The music does it for us.
Our job is to make sure that we play what's really presented on the page, to bring it to life to make sure that the audience will get the same idea.
IL: Is there a moment from Fountains of Rome that is your favorite or you'd like to talk about more?
EL: Yeah. I mean, there are several parts that I really love. Um, the part that leads into the third section, which is about the Trevi Fountain in, in Rome. It has this beautiful, mysterious build up into this triumphant music of the fountain. And it actually takes me back to...what are we now in ...2026? I actually went to Rome in 2013 on a trip, and first time going to see the Trevi Fountain. Thinking back to that, it really makes sense because the the streets are quite small and narrow and of these old streets. But you can actually kind of feel and hear the fountain from far away and just kind of leading up to walking to that. And then once you hit the fountain, the square, it just opens up. Just perfect description of that image that I have in my head that I experienced.
But also just the last section of part of the entire piece is about the sunset and the beautiful kind of serene atmosphere of everything just winding down, where nothing's in a hurry. You hear some birds in the distance. The sunset is beautiful. You hear the church bell ringing in the distance. Actually, the first time I conducted this piece was in a place called Chautauqua — that's close to Erie, Pennsylvania. I was actually performing with a student orchestra there. This was many years ago, and at the end, the music just comes down to complete silence, with the bell in the orchestra playing very softly, and it gets softer and softer to kind of impersonate the real bell in the distance. But actually, they have a really famous bell tower in Chautauqua, and that bell actually went off at the end of the piece, not just by coincidence. And you could actually hear that bell far away ringing. And it was the most magical part that I still have in my memory. So those are the two parts that that really resonate with me in this piece personally.
IL: That is such a beautiful image. I want to talk about the last piece on the program. Patrice Rushen composed "Keepers of the Krown" based on an art installation in which she herself was featured. The first movement, for example, introduces the six faces of the installation. Can you tell us a little bit about the musical style of this new piece?
EL: It's in three movements and the first movement is very structured. I mean, this is my first time obviously conducting and working on this piece. And it's very classical. And what I mean by that is it's almost like a Beethoven symphony, so to speak, the first movement, because you have this one motive, for example, like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony has this "da da da daaa, da da da daaa" motif that comes throughout the piece, right? The first movement of this piece has this motive: [Earl sings]. I'm singing completely off pitch and not so well. But that is the backbone, and that just comes back over and over to to tie together as one movement. And there are some lyricism in the second movement and some drive and excitement in the in the third. So, I mean, it's a really complete piece of music.
When we work on a piece that we don't know, for example, like a newly written piece such as this one, it's very unique and special in many ways as a musician because you don't know what you're going to get. It's not a piece that you know by hearing it somewhere, right? Like there are pieces that you don't know what it is, but you've heard it before. For example, like a lot of masterworks like Beethoven and Mozart, you know it in your head. You've heard it somewhere, but working on a piece that was freshly composed by a living composer is not that kind of experience. We don't know what we're going to get. The first rehearsal is the first time you're going to hear that piece being played for the composer also. And I did hear that from many composers that I spoke to. They do say it's full of surprises for them. They have this imagination and sound world in their head. They put it on paper. And then that moment, the first time everyone sits together in a rehearsal to play it through, everything comes to life. It's an experience. Yeah. The famous line from Forrest Gump, this movie, "like a box of chocolates, you don't know what you're going to get." You know, it's kind of like that. You don't know what you're going to get. You have this idea and concept of how it would go, but then half the time it's something very fresh and new. So it's always important for us to, to experience that and present it to the audience.
IL: Well, we're looking forward to those surprises on Sunday. But one last question for you. Rushen wrote "Keepers of the Krown," inspired by a work of art that she herself had inspired. The point is that artists influence each other in numerous ways. For you, how do you hope to impact the young musicians here at Interlochen?
EL: That's a very good question. You know, my job as someone who has a little bit of more experience in making music, it's my job to just share that passion. And ultimately, my goal is not very grand. I want everyone to take something special out of these concerts and these weeks that we're spending together here at Interlochen to one day look back and say, "we did this." I mean, whether you go into music or not, to look back into this block of time in your memory, that it was a wonderful experience to, to create something beautiful together.
I think orchestra, to me, is a great example of how an ideal society should be. Meaning that everyone who has a very strong individual ideas and character and personalities. We all work together to create something beautiful. It's such an experience, especially in orchestra to do that, to come prepared and make music together. So it's all about that. I'm a part of that as an educator, but also I feel like I am one of them. That's how I try to approach these weeks working with the younger musicians.
So you probably noticed that I never address them as "kids." I always try to put myself in the same — I wouldn't say "level" — but, you know, I'm also one of them. Funnily enough a lot of youth orchestra musicians that I've worked with in the past — I've realized that I would be going around doing guest conducting, and a lot of them are in those orchestras. I would actually see them more often these days. And it's always a beautiful surprise to to see that happen or having people come up to me who are not into music and say, "hey, I worked with you and you're so and so on this piece and this youth orchestra concert." It's always such a nice memory that we're building here, so that's wonderful.
