BOSTON — The mayor of a big city has something to do. Cut the ribbon here. plant a tree there. Throw the first ball. Play Mozart with a local symphony orchestra.
wait a minute.
Many politicians may say they support the arts, but Democrat Michelle Wu, the first woman and first person of color to be elected mayor of Boston in November 2021, , is one of the few politicians to prove his embarrassment. that.
For free “Concert for the City” on sunday afternoon, Boston Symphony Orchestra and its sister ensemble, boston popsWu took the stage before a nearly full house at the Symphony Hall here to perform as a soloist in Mozart’s dreamy slow movements. Piano Concerto No.21She may not be ready for a world tour, but with the help of Symphony and its music director Andris Nelsons, she has captured the composer’s signature elegance more than an amateur. . And she hardly missed a note.
“I think Michelle did a great job,” the Nelsons said at a press conference after the show.
Politicians, including former Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy and former Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, occasionally took to the podium while Pops performed staples like: “ride a sleigh” and “Stars and Stripes Forever” Wu, 38, was almost certainly the first officer in the orchestra’s more than 140-year history to take a much greater risk of prominence as a soloist, according to the symphony’s archivists.
Several players in the ensemble rehearsed with her on Saturday, ending the subscription season with a rousing reading of Shostakovich’s 13th Symphony that evening.
“I’ve been playing the piano for a long time, long before I even thought about politics. And my parents are probably still skeptical about politics. had to be elected to
For the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the performance was an opportunity to demonstrate a rapidly growing commitment to community involvement. For Wu, it promotes her policies as the city’s arts institutions steadily correct themselves after the pandemic, including her claim that every child in Boston’s public schools should have It was a platform for access to instrumentsBut that’s because she’s been a pianist since she was four The Boston Globe reported,Retention Upright in her city hall office — looking broadly between music and politics.
Classical artists often say that music transcends national borders and is a universal language.
“When I was young, we would drive far for my mother to sing at a local choir concert,” Wu said in an interview. “My mother has a gorgeous voice, so much of my function as she grew up learning the piano was to be her accompanist.”
Music provided continuity amid changes as Wu’s parents learned English and adapted to the new culture. I remember seeing you do it.
“My parents were in a very low-key situation,” Wu said. “We were initially on welfare, but as my father’s career progressed, we moved firmly into the middle class. But at the time, piano lessons must have been an extravagant luxury. But , my parents were both musicians, so that was important, and again, it was a way of making me feel like the barriers weren’t too high in this country.”
As a high school student, Wu performed a solo part in Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and became a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra while attending Harvard. She practiced hard for Sunday’s performance, but she said she had made a tradition of performing for herself the night before the mayors’ debate.
“My go-to for really calming myself down is the “Un Sospiro”said Wu. “In the flow of it, you can lose yourself really quickly.
Wu’s appearance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra came after she and her children attended a family and youth concert last year, and she was the number one on the list behind the scenes with that program’s conductor, Thomas Wilkins. The orchestra approached her about a month and a half ago about a Sunday concert consisting mostly of short Boston-related works and offered her to choose from three Mozart works. It took her weeks to think about it, she admitted.
“In the same way that we try to be honest about the challenges we face as working parents, we want to change the system more quickly so that others believe it’s possible,” Wu said at a press conference. I hope it means to encourage Live your life and do your best in every aspect. I hope people understand that we can stand our ground.”
Talking about the role art can play in society, Wu explains, with the conviction that many music institutions are still working on acquisition, among others: such as climate change and race. These are her beliefs that if she hadn’t played the piano she might not have held with the same strength.
“I think there’s something indescribable about the feeling and connection when it all comes together, even if you’re not necessarily performing, but being part of a passionate audience,” Wu said in an interview. “Today, the power of how people feel connected in Symphony Hall, listening to every sound, delighting in each piece, feeling the wonder and twist of every composition — this is what we It’s a model of what our community wants to be every day, in this city.”
