The 2024-25 season at PCE is shaping up to be one our best ever. This week we caught up with the one and only Angel Gil-Ordóñez, who works tirelessly both behind the scenes and at the front of the stage, to make sure that PCE offers the best concert experience in Washington, DC. Check what Angel had to say about our upcoming Legends of Brazil concert on November 19 & 20, the season ahead, and the bright future of PostClassical Ensemble.
PCE: This new season has an incredible line up of diverse concerts, from Brazilian music, to Native American classical, to the Italian works of Nino Rota. Can you tell us a bit about how you decide what a season will look like? What is the process of choosing which areas of music you want to explore?
Angel: Since I started 2 years ago inviting guest curators to help me create the programming, I've had a long list of music I wanted to perform with PCE and also a list of excellent candidates for guest curators. Cultural diplomacy, film, the culture of the Americas, and featuring extraordinary contemporary composers and performers are all an essential part of PCE’s DNA. I try to balance all these elements in our seasons, with the addition of all the new elements that a specific guest curator might bring to the program.
PCE: Following up on that, can you speak to how unique PCE's approach of having special guest curators is and how you go about choosing those individuals?
Angel: I created PostClassical Ensemble in 2003 with the conviction that the traditional format of a classical music concert was not attractive to an audience interested in other art forms. Having guest curators, experts in a specific field not necessarily musical (visual arts, science, history, etc.), help us to create programs that bring elements not included in a traditional concert experience that would attract non concert goers, and also discovers new dimensions of the music to an audience familiar with the repertoire.
PCE: Shifting gears a bit, how do you see the Washington, DC classical music scene today? Have there been any shifts since you first started PCE and how do you think that PCE has changed over time?
Angel: I don't want to sound arrogant at all, but I do believe that 21 years of PCE concerts have contributed immensely and changed the overall musical scene in Washington, DC. Our boldness in programming has encouraged the creation of other excellent music ensembles and organizations in the area that are bringing new dimensions to the musical scene. I'm immensely proud of that.
PCE: PostClassical Ensemble now routinely sells out concerts at The Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, and you have a popular, more intimate series at the Hay-Adams and also find yourself producing programs with partners around town, like last season's performance at the National Gallery of Art and upcoming this February at the Phillips Collection. Additionally, you will be expanding into Baltimore this season. What do you believe has led to this great success and do you have any big goals about where PCE might go next?
Angel: I am proud to say that our programming and the quality of our performances has attracted an audience eager to be part of a new concert experience. We have found our perfect main venues at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater and the Hay-Adams that bring this intimate quality to every performance. It will be the same in February when we perform at the Phillips Collection. I am also privileged and honored to have been able to attract not only the most skilled musicians in the area to the ensemble, but also those who are totally committed to our mission and feel they are part of this very special adventure. The future? more concerts! This is the part where I tell an anecdote attributed to Brahms, who would say, “Please, introduce me to bankers and businessmen to talk about music because when I get together with musicians we only talk about money." It's just a reality that performing arts organizations need more financial support in order to perform more.
PCE: You were inspired and mentored by Sergiu Celibidache, in what ways has that experience stayed with you? How does it shape the way in which you operate in the world?
Angel: Celibidache was the reason I became a conductor. The “epiphany” happened when I was a student and attended a performance of his conducting the London Symphony, which was touring in my home city of Madrid. Years later I went to study with him in Munich and stayed there for 6 years. I learned everything related to conducting from him.
PCE: What's the most important quality a conductor can have?
Angel: Reacting with spontaneity towards the sound!
PCE: Finally, what are you most excited about for this new season ahead?
Angel: Every program this season is a world in itself. But in the end, the priority is the music we perform. I can’t wait to be working with our wonderful musicians.
