April 10 - Jorge Mester (The Musical Birthday Series, 4th Annual Cycle)

Previous postings for April 10th may be found here: Claude Bolling (2019), Eugen d'Albert (2020), and Charles Swinnerton Heap (2021)

++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Jorge Mester (b. 10 April 1935) is a Mexican conductor of Hungarian ancestry, best known in the U.S. for his long tenure with the Louisville Orchestra. He pronounces his name "George".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Another... And Another

Mester became music director of the Louisville Orchestra in 1967 and served in the post until 1979. In this time he gave over 200 world premieres of works commissioned by the orchestra. – Wikipedia

In Louisville, for years and years,

Jorge Mester programmed world premieres;

Which didn’t always lead to cheers,

But Mester showed Kentucky ears

That they could subjugate their fears

Of music’s cutting edge frontiers.

But even more extraordinary,

For works the patron base found scary,

Recording them was customary!

Which must have been alarming (very!)

To his accountants (always wary)

Who tended matters budgetary.

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.]