Questioning the conductors: Christopher Seaman

Author

Zach Carstensen
December 03, 2009

I talked with conductor Christopher Seaman yesterday.  Seaman is in town guest conducting the Seattle Symphony in a series of concerts titled “Festive Holiday Encores.”  Just as the name implies, the program is essentially one classical music hit after another.  Popular pieces by Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky Korsakov, Dukas, etc. will fill Benaroya Hall this weekend.  In the 20 minutes I had with Maestro Seaman, we talked about a wide range of subjects.  He shared with me some memorable moments as timpanist with the London Philharmonic, including his admiration for Georg Solti.  We also talked about his tenure with the Rochester Philharmonic.  Seaman is regarded as an audience builder, and he discussed how he expanded the audience in Rochester and why people go to concerts.  His answer is moving and obvious.  His time with the Rochester Philharmonic comes to an end in 2011.  In closing, I asked Seaman the obvious question: are you interested in the Seattle Symphony post?  You’ll have to watch the video to find out what his answer was.