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Alan Gilbert is conductor of the NY Philharmonic.

In his short tenure, he has turned the Orchestra on its ear with many new works. Everyone is very happy with this. Well, as happy as some audiences get about having to listen to something other than the old war-horses.

In a New York Times today, an article about retiring players:

There has been much talk about the retirement of Glenn Dicterow, the Philharmonic’s longest-serving concertmaster, who is stepping down after 34 years.

Somehow another coming violin retirement has received less attention, though it affects Mr. Gilbert personally.

His mother, the respected violinist Yoko Takebe, is leaving after 35 years. She will join Mr. Gilbert’s father, Michael Gilbert, also a longtime Philharmonic violinist, in retirement.

What wild things might we expect from the adventurous Alan Gilbert now that he will no longer have parental oversight among the players?

The idea of working with your parents as part of the "company" is a stretch but one of the nice outcomes of a family's devotion to music or any single art. In the family photo below, Sister Jennifer, concertmaster of the Orchestre National de Lyon is on the left, then Gilbert, Mom and Dad.

Labels: music, parents