Conductor Sir Mark Elder feels that without music he ‘would be nothing’

Sir Mark Elder and music have been inseparable for more than 70 years. The British conductor, who started out as a boy soprano in a cathedral choir, declares that without music, "I would be nothing.”  ‘

The longtime music director of the English orchestra the Hallé, where he is now conductor emeritus, Elder said in a recent interview, “Music is like spiritual food. I find that music gives me great strength. It gives me great hope for the future."

Elder admits that he’s thrilled about this prospect because when he was young, “Everybody thought that the youth would never get to music,” he said. "I’ve spent my life trying to get young people interested in all sorts of music, and I just love it when I come to do a concert and see lots of young people everywhere.”

When Elder leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in concerts June 5-7, he will be joined by a member of Generation Z, American violinist Randall Goosby, as soloist in Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2.

Elder believes that a live symphony orchestra concert has a distinct lure because it serves as a powerful emotional language. “It is the only large-scale musical activity that happens in the world without microphones," said Elder, who this September becomes music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, Spain. "As a young person growing up today, all the music they hear, whatever it is and however much they love it, it`s microphoned.”

But when a live orchestra performs, what you see is what you get. “I always say that to young children, ‘You must come and listen. Come on, sit near the front. They say, oh, it’s so loud. Yeah, but there are no microphones. It’s live. The player sits there and makes the sound for you. That’s part of the appeal. You see the moment of creation. I think that’s wonderful to watch people create.”

Elder’s introduction to music came through the ritual of the English church, "singing some of the greatest music that has ever been written in England, which was wonderful music and I loved it,” he said.

After that experience, there was no looking back for Elder. As a youth, he studied the piano and bassoon, but eventually segued to the podium. Being a conductor is sacred for the septuagenarian, who’s now 77.

"Conducting gives me incredible pleasure and doesn’t terrify me," he said. "When I was young, starting out, it was frightening. It unnerved me but I’m not nervous now. I’m just enjoying it."