IDAHO FALLS—For Shizuo Z Kuwahara, known as Z, conducting an orchestra starts with listening, both to the musicians onstage and to the community around them.
As the Idaho Falls Symphony’s first guest conductor of the season, Kuwahara is getting acquainted with Eastern Idaho while the organization is searching for its next conductor. In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio’s Brandon Isle, he discussed his musical background, his approach to performing and the connection behind Saturday’s concert.
“Everybody’s been so warm and welcoming, and I enjoy the city,” Kuwahara said.
Born in Japan, Kuwahara moved to the United States at age 10 without speaking English. Playing baseball and learning the saxophone helped him find his place. As he approached high school graduation, he pursued music education, expecting to teach children.
His direction changed in college when he heard an orchestra in person for the first time. Walking through a theater, he encountered the third movement of Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony. The clarinet melody and accompanying strings drew him in.
After noticing the orchestra had no saxophone, he became interested in conducting. He began studying it at 18 and has now spent more than 30 years developing his craft.
In Idaho Falls, that experience extends beyond symphony rehearsals. Kuwahara worked with a high school band and orchestra and met with people involved in the city’s sister-city relationship with Tokaimura, Japan
Saturday’s concert is called “The Melting Pot,” and connects those international ties with American music.
Kuwahara said the concert will open with a Japanese piece celebrating the sister-city relationship’s 45th anniversary. It will also include works by American composers William Grant Still and Amy Beach.
This is also the Idaho Falls Symphony’s annual MVH Pink Ribbon Concert. It will feature GRAMMY-nominated piano soloist Kara Huber playing Beach’s “Piano Concerto in C-sharp Minor.”
During the concert, audience members may notice something missing from the conductor’s hands: a baton. Kuwahara stopped using one because he wanted a more organic musical experience for the orchestra and its listeners.
For him, live performance offers moments that cannot be duplicated by repeatedly playing a recording.
“Yes, there are moments that are special and I cherish those moments,” Kuwahara said.
As the Symphony considers its future leadership, Kuwahara said understanding the organization and its community would come before introducing changes. He wants to explore whom the orchestra serves, how it can contribute locally and where it can grow.
“I have to be a listener first,” Kuwahara said.
Kuwahara will lead the Idaho Falls Symphony in “The Melting Pot” on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Frontier Center for the Performing Arts in Idaho Falls. Tickets and additional information are available at ifsymphony.org.