Rochester, N.Y. - It’s almost like the world’s orchestras have Arild Remmereit on speed dial.
The Norwegian conductor has made a name for himself stepping in at the last minute when guest conductors suddenly become ill or have to cancel.
Then he dazzles. “He came, he conducted, he conquered,” said the New York Times headline in 2005. Four years later he received an 11th hour call to come to the Rochester’s aid.
“I came in very tired from the flight, very very tired for having studied day and night,” he says of that day. ”I was tired and shaky and the orchestra was so marvelous!”
Those impressions never quite left him. Now he will return to replace Christopher Seaman as the 11th conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
Arild Remmereit (pronounced Ah-Reeld Rem-mer-rite) plans to move here with his wife Honami to make Rochester home for the next four years. The two will raise a family here; they are expecting a baby early next year.
He already has a Wegmans card. “We Rochestarians love Wegmans,” he says as he pulls out the black shopper’s club card.
Direct and thoughtful, Remmereit doesn’t mind talking about growing up in Norway and wanting to me more of a rock star than a classic pianist. He played electric guitar and key boards and stomped around the stages of Europe in platform boots screaming ala Slade – the 70’s British rock band.
“My real dream was to have a career as a rock n roll artist. I formed new bands every week.”
That may help make him uniquely qualified to deal with the challenge of creating classical programming that appeals to 20 – 30 – and 40 somethings. The RPO is battling a trend seen by many of the nation’s orchestras. Younger people are not being attracted to concert halls at the rate older patrons are being lost.
13 WHAM news sat down with Remmereit to talk about Rochester, the future of the RPO and even Wegmans. Watch for those stories tonight at 5 and 6
