An Interview with Frank Epstein
December 1997
Frank Epstein founded Collage New Music in 1972, and he was the ensemble’s music director for twenty years. He now continues in a leadership role as President of Collage. As music director, Frank guided the commissioning and performances of more than 200 new works, and has produced seventeen of the ensemble’s recordings. As a percussionist, Frank recorded with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, and, of course, Collage New Music.
A native of Holland, Frank studied percussion at the University of Southern California, New England Conservatory, and Tanglewood Music Center; his percussion teachers included Robert Sonner, Earl Hatch, Murray Spivack, William Kraft, and Everett Firth. He was a member of the San Antonio Symphony and, in 1968, joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra—while still a student at NEC—with which he remained a member until his retirement in 2011. For more than 25 years, Frank led the percussion curriculum at the Tanglewood Music Center, and for twice as long has been on the faculty of NEC. He was, for many years, Chair of the NEC Brass and Percussion Department, and he founded and directs the NEC Percussion Ensemble.
In recognition of his work with Collage New Music, the New England Conservatory awarded Frank Epstein its Presidential Commendation.
John Kochevar: How did you get started as a musician?
Frank Epstein: I had piano lessons as a child but I wanted to join the orchestra in junior high school so I ended up in the percussion section with three of my friends. A family friend was in a real orchestra and they needed another percussionist for a performance of Copland’s El Salon Mexico and he brought me along. The die was cast…
Kochevar: How do you train to be a percussionist in a symphony orchestra?
I had a lot of good teachers. Starting in high school, I had a wonderful teacher, Murray Lefkowitz. His son Ronan Lefkowitz, later joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and ended up in Collage New Music. I studied at Idlewild in the summer and got a scholarship to USC and studied with Robert Sonner and Bill Kraft. I played at Tanglewood for four summers.
Epstein: I was a late starter but the instant gratification of playing was so strong that I wanted to do nothing but play in an orchestra.
I studied at the New England Conservatory from 1967 to 1969 and joined the Boston Symphony for the 1968-1969 season. I have been with the Boston Symphony for 30 years.
Kochevar: When did you found Collage?
Epstein: It was 1971. After I graduated from NEC I invited some friends from the BSO to join me at a recital for the University of Massachusetts faculty and students. The performance was very well received and I got the idea to continue.
Kochevar: How do you characterize that time musically?
Epstein: When we first started to perform we decided to do it all ourselves without a conductor. I was the manager, but we made all our decisions as a group. We quickly found ourselves at the Museum of Fine Arts. It was a heady time for music. Steamy. We played in the old Contemporary Gallery, before it was replaced by the new wing. We tried to program so our music went with the installations. We had a dancer as part of our original group. We had great ambiance and great audiences.
The critics killed us, of course, but the audiences loved us.
Kochevar: What is the difference between Collage then and Collage New Music now?
Epstein: When we began all the performers were young and energetic. We really got into the headiness of a composer composing a piece. It was exciting and adventurous. Our performance in the early days were wild and crazy. We were not what you would call hard core New Music players. We were primarily symphony orchestra players.
The rehearsals were in my basement. All the famous composers and conductors in Boston rehearsed there. I remember one time when Seiji Ozawa was rehearsing us. He said it was too cold to conduct without a coat and too hot to keep his coat on.
Because we had no regular conductor we often needed an extraordinary number of rehearsals. I remember rehearsing Lucas Foss’s Time Cycle 21 times.
Now the orchestra is much more advanced. With David Hoose, we can work much quicker. It takes us only five rehearsals to prepare a whole concert. David really is a find; he’s unique. We are much more serious about what we do and there is a commitment to do it on the highest level possible.
Today’s performances are cleaner and more accurate. When we play today we are almost unbearably precise. Our precision is exciting.
Kochevar: What makes Collage New Music different than other local orchestras that play new music?
Epstein: We have always had a history of premiering new works and of commissioning New Music. We always made the composer an equal partner. Composers are thrilled to write for the Collage musicians.
Kochevar: How does Collage New Music keep up with what is current and worthwhile?
Epstein: First of all, Boston is a very rich locale for New Music and composers. In addition, we are in communication with different performance groups all over the country. We trade programs. We get newsletters. People call us.
We have a very strong advisory committee that advises and recommends new works.
And, now we are really well known. After all, we have played more than 300 works by almost 100 composers in the last twenty years.
Kochevar: What do you like about playing New Music?
Epstein: Professionally, it is the ultimate challenge. On every occasion I say, “I know I can’t play this,” and then I prove myself wrong. It is like climbing a mountain and coming down on the other side. That is a very satisfying thing to happen.
Kochevar: Collage concerts often include elaborate percussion. Is that your influence?
Epstein: No, not really. New Music concerts tend to have a lot of percussion. This is particularly true in recent years with the influx of non Western music - Latin, Indian, African - and instruments which are heavily percussion oriented.
Kochevar: You don’t look like a drummer. Do people tell you that?
Epstein: I don’t feel like a drummer. None of my colleagues look like drummers. They all look like business executives. Being in a symphony is a high end kind of work. You spend so many years perfecting such a small thing you end up looking a certain way.
Kochevar: Do you think New Music will become fashionable in Boston like it is in some other American cities?
Epstein: Well, first of all, New Music is fashionable in Boston. No town has no more New Music groups than Boston, and the audiences are larger. New Music gets more press in other cities, but except for special events, their audiences are actually smaller.
Kochevar: What can be done to draw even larger audiences in Boston?
Epstein: Publicity. Our publicity has been negligible. Education is also important. We are at the bottom of the pit as far as music education is concerned.
Kochevar: Why should people support New Music?
Epstein: I think many people recognize that “new” is good. It is a generally positive thing. Advances in every field are thought of as good. “New” cars, “new” scientific discoveries. Why shouldn’t “New” have the same connotation in the arts? Good museums have major installations of “new” art. It is absurd to simply believe that “old” is unconditionally good in music. Aside from violins and a few other stringed instruments, most new instruments are superior to the old.
People can and will appreciate New Music. It deserves as much support and funding as other endeavors.
Kochevar: What can you tell neophytes that will encourage them to listen to New Music?
Epstein: Many of my students have limited experience and ambitions musically and esthetically. I fight it. I tell them to open up to new experiences that will enhance their lives. A lot of our difficulties have to do with short attention spans. You have to be willing to sit and listen. Also, some of this music is hard work. You have to work to keep an open mind.