Part 1: Conducting for CineConcerts - An interview with John Jesensky
Take a peek behind the curtain and see what it takes to conduct a CineConcerts show! We spoke with conductor and composer John Jesensky about his road to the podium. Keep an eye out for the second part of this interview, where we will learn about John’s passion for composing!
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Conductor and composer John Jesensky
CineConcerts (CC): How did you start working with CineConcerts?
John Jesensky (JJ): Initially, [CineConcerts president] Justin Freer reached out to me to do engraving and preservation work on The Godfather Live. That was my very first job with CineConcerts, working with Justin and [music editor] Ed Kalnins, just the three of us putting together the musical parts of the concerts. We had the original manuscripts from Nino Rota, and we used those to actually put together the entire show. I remember being so in love with the idea of seeing this original score, which barely anyone had seen, and knowing that my engraving and Ed’s and Justin’s editing was going to actually allow people to experience The Godfather in this really unique way. I also loved that we were preserving film history, too. Those things quickly got me hooked on the CineConcerts train!
CC: Did you always know you wanted to be involved in the world of film music?
JJ: I actually started a little late for a musician. I was more into baseball; I was a fanatic and a player for most of my life. I only picked up music when I was 12, which is very late. It happened when I discovered my parents’ Elton John and Billy Joel CDs. So for a while, I actually wanted to be a rocker! It just progressed from there. I found classical music, I found film music, and then came conducting. Once I knew I wanted to be a film composer, I thought, “Well, if I am in a recording session, I have to be able to conduct my own music, so I better be competent enough that people don’t laugh me out the door!” So, I minored in conducting, and took some more courses after college. Honestly, I never imagined I would be dedicating such a large part of my career to it, but it turns out that I love it quite a bit.
CC: What did you actually study to become a conductor?
JJ: For my undergrad I studied at The Hartt School, a conservatory in Connecticut, for music composition with an emphasis on theory and conducting. It really opened my mind to a lot of music that otherwise I would have been afraid of, like contemporary music. I know it has gotten a lot better now, but when I was in school, film music was kind of looked down upon, and at that conservatory level, it was considered “show music” and wasn’t really taken seriously. So I had to fight to really pursue my love of film music and my desire to be a film music composer. On the flip side, I did receive an amazing education on the fundamentals of composing, orchestration, and theory. After I graduated Hartt, I went on to get my master’s at NYU, focusing only on film composition.
CC: What do you like best about conducting shows for CineConcerts?
JJ: That’s actually a little bit of a tough one! I enjoy it for a lot of reasons, but I would have to say that on top of getting to travel all over the world, it’s really seeing different cultures and meeting different people. I couldn’t imagine that I would have seen so much of the world at my age. But honestly, I just love that moment when you start really making music, when you have gone past the point of just playing notes and you feel it, the orchestra feels it. It can happen in rehearsal or in a performance. I can almost forget there is a score in front of me (not actually, because if I forgot, the show would fall apart!). But when you hit that moment -- I live for that, just go crazy for it.
Conductor and composer John Jesensky
