Catching up with Former Resident Conductor Gemma New

By Eric Dundon

From 2016 to 2020, Gemma New served the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as Resident Conductor, leading the orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra in many programs with music from W.A. Mozart to Ottorino Respighi to Salina Fisher to the John Williams score for Jurassic Park. Since her tenure with the SLSO concluded, she’s conducted orchestra around the world as her career continued its ascent.

She returns to the SLSO March 1-2 in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9—one of the most revered and influential pieces. The SLSO caught up with Gemma to talk about her upcoming performances with the orchestra.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Gemma New: The opportunity to spend four years amongst one of America’s greatest orchestras here in St. Louis was very formative for me. The orchestra’s virtuosity, beautiful sound, immaculate rhythmic drive, and the way everyone supports each other warmly on and off stage—I have very inspirational memories from my time here.

In May 2024, I concluded nine happy years as music director with the Hamilton Philharmonic in Ontario, Canada. Since 2020, I have enjoyed a special relationship with the New Zealand Symphony. I have also been guest conducting a lot in Europe, where each region has unique, often fascinating approaches to music making, which has helped me expand my musical toolbox. 

By the time we get to the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven has become clear and concise with his motifs and structure, and the pacing is thus a lot easier to navigate than some of his earlier symphonies. I have a whole story in mind for each movement, and there are a lot of favorite moments in this piece for me personally. Everyone should choose their own perspectives with this piece as they listen to it, and onstage our interpretation will primarily be driven by the way we come together and the space we are playing in. 

I spend many hours perusing the score and parts and studying several different approaches. For Beethoven’s music, I tend to prefer an almost baroque, early classical style that has vibrant punch but also light buoyancy. In the Ninth there are such long lines and grand schemes, we need to lean towards some emotional sustain and dramatic weight from the romantic style too.

I love working with choirs and I’m excited to have this wonderful opportunity to work with the St. Louis Symphony Chorus. It is most important for me that the choir feels supported. Usually in tandem, we explore the character and meaning of the words and how the composer has painted them into music. This Ode to Joy is a popular tune to many, and the chorus may seem to be utilized briefly, but like the steeplechase of singing, requiring quite a bit of stamina and athleticism.

I was keen to program some contemporary music that thematically connects with Beethoven’s Ninth, as well as music that would have inspired Beethoven in his time. Kevin’s hymn is a bright, bursting celebration of the natural world, beginning our program rather like how Beethoven’s Ode to Joy ends it. Bach was an influence on Beethoven, we can hear glimpses of it throughout Symphony No. 9, and I recently encountered this romantic Elgar arrangement which completely blew me away.

I am looking forward to seeing so many beautiful friends and colleagues again whom I admire and love so much. In terms of local haunts, I used to live in the Central West End and hope to have time to stroll around the beautiful streets and see Forest Park.

Eric Dundon is the SLSO’s Public Relations Director.