Prokofiev & Tchaikovsky with José Luis Gómez and the Phoenix Symphony

Greg Kostraba: This is KBACH's Heart of the Arts podcast. I'm Greg Kostraba. The Phoenix Symphony concludes its 2025-2026 season of classic series concerts Friday through Sunday, May 15th through the 17th at Symphony Hall. The program will include American Promise by Karen LeFrak, Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, and Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 with Francesca Dego as soloist. José Luis Gomez is the guest conductor for the performance, and he's on the phone from Tucson. Welcome!

José Luis Gomez: Hello! Nice to talk to you.

Kostraba: Before we discuss the program, tell us a little bit about you. You began your musical career as a violinist, but then you got involved in conducting. How did that happen?

Gomez: Correct. Yes. Well, I was training the violin at a very early age. My brother and I were given violins by our father, just like that. My father was a flutist, founder of the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela. He emigrated from Spain in the late 50s and he was part of all of these foreigners that came to South America and in this case in Venezuela and were part of a new breed of new orchestras and new organizations. And so he was very involved in the whole museum and he was a principal flutist of this wonderful orchestra. And so as the father of two kids, he decided that we should play the violin, not the flute. And it was a great decision because we love the violin at the end. I mean, we love the flute too, but the violin was an instrument that my brother and I fell in love with at a very early age. And one of the greatest things is that we also got involved because of my father's influence into the orchestral music world, which is a very fascinating part of the classical music environment, you know, playing together with other people and having an orchestra on stage and all the great repertoire. Because of that, we started early also in what internationally is known as El Sistema; it’s a system of youth orchestras that was founded in the mid-70s. And actually my father was also involved as one of the first teachers also that were called by Maestro José Antonio Abreu, the founder of this wonderful youth orchestra system of music education. We started playing in the youth orchestra as early as seven or eight years old and playing wonderful repertoire. And at that time, the violin was my main love and although I was induced into conducting at a very early age because I became concertmaster of my regional orchestra of the Sistema and the conductors sometimes they asked me to conduct something as part of one concert and then I could play as a soloist. And I did the conducting, but I never found it very interesting. I found the soloist part of playing the violin more interesting than conducting. And later in my life by experience and places that you go in the world, I moved to Europe and I got the love of conducting back and I just happened to win an international competition in Frankfurt, the Sir Georg Solti competition for young conductors and that started my career immediately. So I switched from the violin to the conducting as kind of a natural way. You have to have some kind of abilities or a personality to it and I guess one of these conductors, you know, thought that I had that as a kid. And of course, you know, they gave me even my father gave me some kind of instructions of conducting patterns and stuff like that. But it was basically like, you know, when you learn how to swim, you know, they throw you in the water and if you know how to do it, just go for it. But later in life, when I won the competition, of course, I prepared myself with a few conductors that I knew because of my experience as a violinist and I asked for advice and I got some intensive training and then later, of course, winning the competition was also a blessing in disguise because I got the chance to become the assistant conductor of a very important maestro, Maestro Paavo Järvi, who actually became my mentor and teacher of conducting, you know, as a professional conductor.

Kostraba: And that was in Frankfurt, right? Frankfurt Radio Symphony?

Gomez: Yes, exactly. He was music director of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony at that time. That was around three years that I was working with him. It was very early at that time too doing my assistantship as being mentored by Paavo that I also got my first opportunities to conduct here in the States. I got a very good manager that thought that it was important for me to get to know the American system of orchestras and also just to get invitations to conduct American orchestras. So I came as early as 2011 as I remember to conduct, you know, my first ever American orchestra.

Kostraba: And then after the three years were up, you were looking for a job and you got the music director of the Tucson Symphony in 2016?

Gomez: Well, it’s not that you look for jobs when you’re a conductor; you do your career and people start looking at you. Orchestras that are looking for conductors actually for music directors start to kind of scouting a little bit, you know, through managers. There were a couple of other places that I went that they were looking, and the Tucson Symphony was one of those places that they asked. Finally, a date was available and I went there and it was a good match and it became a wonderful relationship that still goes on.

Kostraba: In the Tucson Symphony, you've played standard repertoire of course, but you've commissioned quite a few pieces from say Arturo Márquez and Michael Torke and others. Why do you find it important to have new repertoire for the orchestra?

Gomez: I’m very blessed to have the opportunity to have an organization that supports and believes into the creative process. And you have the duty of course to infuse the ensemble with great repertoire. We have done all the Schubert symphony cycles, you know, Brahms, Beethoven, but to have the opportunity to then also be part of creating new music is an incredible pleasure and also duty. It’s meaningful because you see that the community embraces it because they feel a sense of ownership, they feel a sense of participating in something that is going to stay forever because you once you give a composer an opportunity to give voice to its music, then it becomes resonant for eternity.

Kostraba: Let's talk about the program you're conducting here in Phoenix, and it begins with a piece by living American composer Karen LeFrak. It begins with a piece called American Promise. I assume that that was put on the program because of America's 250th birthday.

Gomez: Yes. We are all celebrating, you know, this incredible anniversary with special programming, with repertoire, with guest artists. I thought that this was a good opportunity to do so with this celebration of the 250th anniversary. It’s a work that was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., so it's great music and it's very inspiring, you know, for the audience to start a concert with this kind of, you know, beautiful image.

Kostraba: And then you move to Sergei Prokofiev's second violin concerto. Francesca Dego is the soloist. Have you worked with her before?

Gomez: I haven't, but I know of her for many years. I mean, she's she's also married to a very accomplished, wonderful young conductor; he's actually the principal guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. I've been looking for opportunities to work with her so I'm glad that this time just happens by coincidence. She's a fantastic violinist, incredibly in command of her technique and a beautiful singing voice in the violin. And this concerto obviously is an opportunity to hear those qualities in the instrument. And it has a little touch of Spanish connection because that concerto was actually premiered in Madrid. It was a connection that Prokofiev had with his first wife, which happened to be Spanish.

Kostraba: And then you wrap up the program with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. There are so many performances of Tchaikovsky's symphonies 4, 5, and 6 in particular. What resonates with you with this Fourth Symphony and what do you bring to the conductor's podium with it that you find interesting, refreshing, different perhaps than what other conductors do?

Gomez: Sure. This work stands by itself with importance, right? You know, you say Tchaikovsky 4 and then there is very little that you have to do with it. But on the other hand, it’s a work that is, as you said, it’s already fresh in the approach that Tchaikovsky had for the symphony form. Although he already had three before, you know, 1, 2, and 3, which are very well done in their own way, the Fourth is one that has the most powerful energy of Tchaikovsky as a composer. It’s the one that you can actually taste very clearly those elements of folk music, especially in the last movement with a very popular folk song that dominates that last movement. And it kind of embodies the successful Tchaikovsky so to speak, the most optimistic Tchaikovsky in a way. What I try to do with that work is just to bring out those elements from the ballet music, bring out those elements that are very characteristic from the opera writing that he did with Eugene Onegin for instance. There are many little things that have those elements. So I try to bring the fresher, more successful Tchaikovsky that was jumping into the world with success and optimism, which changed a little bit throughout his life and then the Sixth Symphony is just the opposite, it’s a different kind of Tchaikovsky.

Kostraba: This is a return visit to conduct the Phoenix Symphony. The last time you were here, you conducted Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Florence Price.

Gomez: I’m really excited to go back to Phoenix. There are many friends in common that we have because, you know, Phoenix and Tucson are really close by. It’s a great organization and and I’m excited to go with this program and make great music for a great community that supports the Phoenix Symphony.

Kostraba: José, thank you so much for your time.

Gomez: Thank you.

Greg Kostraba: José Luis Gomez is the guest conductor for the Phoenix Symphony's final 2025-2026 Classic Series performances at Symphony Hall, Friday through Sunday, May 15th through the 17th. The program includes American Promise by Karen LeFrak, Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, and Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 with Francesca Dego as soloist. Ticket information is at phoenixsymphony.org. For the K-BACH Heart of the Arts podcast, I'm Greg Kostraba.