Orcas Islander Oliver Aldort. Photo: Philadelphia Inquirer
Cellist Oliver Aldort remembers being struck by a particular quality of the Boston Symphony Orchestra while playing in the ensemble as a 17-year-old student at the Tanglewood Institute.
“I had been used to a conservatory orchestra in which everyone is young and there is a constant turnover of players,” he says, “and I had been used to the fact that so often the conductor will give the downbeat and there will be a lot of hesitation. . . . With the BSO, the orchestra had such a unified sense of rhythm as an ensemble – it was the easiest thing to play with.”
The Boston Symphony, it turns out, finds it easy to play with Aldort. The Curtis Institute of Music senior auditioned for the ensemble over two days in October, and from a pool of 200 hopefuls won a spot in the cello section. At 21, he joins the BSO this fall as its youngest member, it announced this week.
Aldort, raised on Orcas Island, Wash., continues a surprisingly frequent tradition of Curtis students winning jobs even before they graduate. Joshua Smith became principal flutist of the Cleveland Orchestra in 1990, at 20, a year before he was scheduled to graduate. Recently winning dream jobs are current students Corbin Stair, 22, who will become second oboist with the Cleveland Orchestra in May, and Robin Kesselman, 25, who won the principal double bass audition of the Houston Symphony in December. Keith Buncke, a 2014 graduate, landed the principal bassoonist spot in the Atlanta Symphony while still at Curtis, though he may be moving on; he reportedly won recent principal-bassoonist auditions at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is 21.
Aldort, who will collect his diploma in May, had auditioned for the BSO before, and the orchestra decided not to award the job to him – or anyone. What was different this time?
“I think I projected more. I think I was more timid the first time. [This time] I was less occupied with trying to do things right, doing things perfectly, but rather I felt freer in the ways I could express music.”
The results weren’t surprising to those who know Aldort’s playing. “Like most any Curtis student, he’s got the goods in terms of technique and ability, and he also has a maturity and sophistication,” says Curtis dean of artistic programs David Ludwig. “If you think about what it takes to go out and win one of these auditions, what kind of poise it takes, it’s amazing. He’s 21. It’s crazy.”
Congratulations and Best Wishes, Oliver!
Good show Oliver! You surely earned this with all your hard work and focus over the years.
Just remarkable. I know you and your family are very proud.
I’m absolutely thrilled for you, Oliver, because I know this is what you truly wanted. BSO is very fortunate to be able to include you as a member of their beautiful orchestra.
Well-deserved joy to Oliver and his whole, hard-working family! I look forward to taking my grandchildren to hear him and the BSO!
Oliver, was it a 3/4 size cello you used when I heard you play, about 2003?
To play with the Boston Symphony is the consummate reward for all your hard work! Enjoy their distinctive brass sound, as you fill Symphony Hall with great music.
Congratulations!