Yannick’s 50th Birthday Playlist

In celebration of Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s 50th birthday, we asked musicians and staff of The Philadelphia Orchestra to submit works that remind them of Yannick.

Yannick's 50th Birthday Playlist

First Associate Concertmaster Juliette Kang (Joseph and Marie Field Chair)
Song: “Every Breath You Take” by The Police
Except change the lyrics to “Every Beat You Make.” Also, Sting was my second favorite Academy Anniversary Concert guest! (Billy Joel was first.) 

Principal Second Violin Kimberly Fisher (Peter A. Benoliel Chair)
Work: Fifth movement from Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13  
This is the Cavatina from Beethoven’s Op. 130 String Quartet played by the Guarneri Quartet.  Beethoven’s writing is breathtakingly, heartbreakingly beautiful, but as played by the Guarneri Quartet, it’s as if there’s nothing else that ever needs to be said again—especially at 4:25. 

Principal Horn Jennifer Montone (Gray Charitable Trust Chair)
Work: “Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras,” from Johannes Brahms’s A German Requiem 
Yannick makes spiritual pieces so incredibly special!

Associate Principal Clarinet Samuel Caviezel (Sarah and Frank Coulson Chair)
Song: “Kid A” by Radiohead
There are two reasons behind this submission. There is a lyric that is deliberately hard to understand: “We’ve got heads on sticks/and you've got ventriloquists,” which I think refers to the difficulties of communication, and I feel like our maestro has the ability to bridge this kind of gap through his music-making and our collaboration together. The other reason is that, about 2/3 of the way through, there is an incredible color change in the song, like a soft rain, and Yannick is able to pull colors like these, and many more, from our orchestra. Happy Birthday, Yannick!

Co-Principal Trombone Matthew Vaughn 
Work: Strauss’s “Dance of the Seven Veils,” from Salome
It is part of Richard Strauss’s opera Salome, which we did fully staged with Yannick years ago. Since he started here, I have always been very impressed with Yannick as a conductor, but doing Strauss’s Salome with him showcased an even higher level of preparation and genius that blew me away!

Principal Bassoon Daniel Matsukawa (Richard M. Klein Chair)
Work: Third movement from Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 
There are not many pieces that have as much depth as this work, and there are not many artists with as much depth as Yannick has, in my mind. Therefore, the third movement of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 reminds me of him. 

Violinist Jason DePue (Larry A. Grika Chair)
Work: Second movement from Ysaÿe’s Violin Sonata No. 5
I thought Yannick would relate as Ysaÿe is Franco-Belgian and this sonata is also very jovial. 

Chief Communications Officer Ashley Berke
Song: “Physical” by Olivia Newton-John
This song will forever remind me of Yannick thanks to an epic evening of karaoke in Japan in 2019.

Interim President and CEO Ryan Fleur
Song: “Because” by The Beatles
This song is the most vocally inspired of all the Beatles songs, and its inspiration was Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata. Yoko was playing it on the piano in the studio and John started changing the order of the notes, and voilà!

Chief Programming Officer Jeremy Rothman 
Song: Renée Fleming’s recording of Leonard Bernstein’s “A Simple Song” from MASS
This song, with its beautiful melody, is about our striving to serve something greater than ourselves. Yannick’s performances of Bernstein MASS were among the greatest musical achievements in the history of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The staging of this immense work brought together so many performers from throughout Philadelphia—mummers, high school marching bands, gospel choirs, rock musicians—with The Philadelphia Orchestra in a way that only Yannick can.

Photo by Allie Ippolito