BOB GWALTNEY / Courier & Press
(Alfred Savia conducts the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra as they prepare for the Wednesday concert.)

Evansville knows Alfred Savia as the animated music director for the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, sometimes nearly dancing on the podium as he conducts professional musicians and renowned guest artists in classical concerts and pops programs in his nearly 19 seasons.

In nearly three decades as a conductor, the Livingston, N.J., native has led professional musicians in dozens of orchestras in the United States, England, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Turkey, Serbia, South Korea and Mexico.

BOB GWALTNEY / Courier & Press (Directing the full youth orchestra, Maestro Alfred Savia, points to the brass section in the back of the rehearsal hall of the Victory Theater Wednesday, October 17, 2007. Savia, who has been conductor of the Evansville Philharmonic for 19 years founded the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.)

Last week Savia debuted in a new role, guiding high school players from throughout the Tri-State as conductor for the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.

While their concert in The Victory on Wednesday didn't boast the star power of an evening with Joshua Bell, Judy Collins or Edgar Meyer or the professional polish of a Classics or Pops program, it was a critical performance for Savia.

His work with the Youth Orchestra represents a crucial investment in the future of the Evansville Philharmonic and in live orchestra.

"The Evansville Philharmonic and the Youth Orchestra are attached at the hip," he says. "It's critical on so many levels, in developing musicians and developing audience."

(Savia leans into the strings as he gives verbal direction to the Youth Orchestra. Savia works first with the strings and then brings in the rest of the orchestra for the weekly rehearsal.)

Savia, who turns 54 this month, points to his own experience as a high school clarinetist in the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra.

"I learned a tremendous amount. It was getting to play real, nontranscribed music, getting to learn from real conductors, getting to work with other musicians that were taking it seriously." His principal conductor then was the concertmaster for the New Jersey Symphony.

"He was a very fine musician," recalls Savia.

Creating a youth orchestra in Evansville was among Savia's principal goals when he became music director for the Evansville Philharmonic in 1989. An earlier youth orchestra folded in the wake of a financial crisis for the orchestra in the late 1970s.

The new Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra arose in 1993, under the direction of Robert Moody, then Philharmonic's first assistant conductor.

When Moody left, in 1998, he passed the youth orchestra's baton to succeeding assistant conductors, including Timothy Hankewich, Teresa Cheung and Joseph Choi, who led the high school group until this season.

Savia stepped in to take over the youth orchestra when Choi, who continues as his assistant conductor and director for the Philharmonic Chorus, bowed out at the end of last season, citing other musical responsibilities.

"The Youth Orchestra is absolutely critical to that in a very, very major way," says Savia. In study after study of where new audience members come from, "the biggest commonality is that they performed music at one time or another — they sang in a choir, they played in a youth orchestra."

He's worked with Sheryl Schuster, a philharmonic violinist who's also the organization's education director and conductor for the Youth Orchestra II, for students in grades six through nine, to recruit players for the ensemble.

In meetings with high school music directors from the area last spring, "We let them know I was on board, and I was going to really dedicate myself to this this year."

Savia wasn't sure how student players would respond to the news he was taking over the youth orchestra this season.

"I have a feeling for them that having the maestro of the philharmonic was probably a little intimidating, and they may have been nervous about that," he says.

That was the case for Hannah Welch, a 15-year-old clarinetist from Cynthiana, Ind. She came to the upper-level orchestra this year after two seasons with the Youth Orchestra II. Welch, who would like a career in clarinet performance, has continued with Schuster's orchestra this year as a mentor, working with the younger players.

When she learned Savia would take over the older orchestra this year, "I was scared," says Welch.

For one thing, "I knew he played the clarinet," she says. She worried he'd pounce on every weak note she blew.

"I thought he'd be super-severe and absolutely non-nonsense."

After working with Savia through the fall, Welch is afraid no more.

"I'm very happy I was able to be in this orchestra while he's been its conductor," she says.

Without ever saying it, Savia has let his young players know he wanted more from them, says Welch. "He's treated us like we were really good, and he expected a lot out of us."

She was touched by Savia's generosity, as well.

When Savia discovered she didn't have an A clarinet (hers is the key of B flat) for a part in Antonin Dvorak's Serenade in D for Winds, "he said 'I can loan you mine,'" says Welch.

He's also dispelled any fears of being a severe taskmaster all the time. On a recent hayride Savia cooked s'mores with his players.

At a rehearsal that fell on Halloween, the maestro pulled off his tie and ripped open his shirt to reveal a Superman undershirt beneath.

Savia had conducted limited rehearsals and performances with the youth orchestra, and he'd led youth orchestra players performing side-by-side with professional musicians in the Evansville Philharmonic and the Indianapolis Symphony, he notes.

But working week after week with high school musicians has challenged him on several levels.

He's used to working with professional musicians who come to the first rehearsal for a concert knowing their music, looking to him to fine tune performances and bring them together in a cohesive ensemble performance that celebrates the music being played.

With student players in the Youth Orchestra, "you're dealing with an ensemble that is very, very green, usually not knowing the music and how it sounds, not being able technically to handle their part yet," he says.

"You have to take things very slowly, repeating a lot, and figuring out how to get them to turn a certain corner."

That challenge is exacerbated by the fact that "there's also sort of an expiration date on their ability to focus," he aids.

Few high school musicians are used to playing for more than 40 minutes at a time. Minds begin to lose focus and wind players' lose their "chops" when their lips tire from extended playing.

Savia has learned to push and prod, but to know when to give them a break and when to lighten things up with a joke. Even that has taken some time, however.

Initially, Savia thinks some students either didn't get or were afraid to laugh at his often sarcastic quips.

"I think they've become a little more comfortable with me, and may be getting my sense of humor, now, but it's still a challenge."

Conducting professionals or serious students like those in the Philharmonic Youth Orchestra is similar, however, "in that you're always having to prove yourself as a conductor," says Savia.

Players come to you "wanting to play as well as they can, or better than they thought they could," says Savia.

"That's the ultimate goal."

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