Music lecturer John Eells will lead the Stanford Philharmonia on Feb. 27 and the Stanford Symphony Orchestra (SSO) on Mar. 6 and 7, marking his first performances as acting conductor during Director of Orchestral Studies Paul Phillips’s sabbatical leave.
Eells will conduct both orchestras for the winter and spring programs, taking the podium to lead the SSO on May 8 and 9 and the Philharmonia on May 15 in Bing Concert Hall.
Phillips began his two quarter sabbatical leave in December to pursue composing, recording and writing projects full-time. He chose Eells to lead the orchestras in his absence.
“I think they have really similar styles when it comes to rehearsing the orchestra,” said Cindy Liu ’29, an oboist of the Symphony. “I think they both are really expressive, and they really want the feel of the piece to come out.”
Phillips completed his eighth season as Gretchen B. Kimball Director of Orchestral Studies and Music Director of the SSO and Philharmonia this year.
Previously, Phillips held composition and conducting positions at Brown University Orchestra among others. He recently finished a commissioned nocturne for piano, “The Hands on the Clock Turn,” dedicated to the late Stephen Sondheim, premiering in a Friday performance by pianist Allison Lovejoy.
He also plans to write an orchestral piece for an upcoming commercial recording production of his works. Phillips has previously recorded with labels including Naxos Records with groups such as the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic and National Symphony Orchestra Ireland.
Phillips also mentioned plans to write a novel based on a “family mystery that [he] became aware of about a dozen years ago,” he said.
His novel marks a pivot from previous scholarly writings, such as his book “A Clockwork Counterpoint,” which focused on the literary and musical compositions of Anthony Burgess.
“It’s quite an unusual story … and the more I thought about it, the more I thought, well, maybe the way to think about this and process it would be to try to turn it into a novel,” he said.
Phillips expressed high hopes for his book and the other projects of the sabbatical. “It’s all creative work in different ways,” he said. “I’m trying to utilize this wonderful gift of time to see what my imagination can produce.”
In addition to lecturing in Stanford’s music department, Eells serves as the Interim Music Director of the Narragansett Bay Symphony Community Orchestra. Born in Oakland, California, he completed his education at York University and the Royal Academy of Music, studying both conducting and the French Horn.
Eells also attended Tanglewood, the academy and Boston Symphony Orchestra resident festival in the Berkshires, studying with conductors including Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, and the Schweitzer Institute of Music at Sandpoint with Gunther Schuller, where he studied alongside conductors Marin Alsop and Paul Phillips.
Eells was previously the Music Director of the Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Narragansett Bay Symphony Community Orchestra and the Golden State Youth Orchestra, where he returned to his roots in the Bay Area.
Eells’ conducting debut with the Philharmonia will feature the El Amor Brujo Suite by Manuel de Falla, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth, Symphony No. 3 in D Major by Schubert and Symphony No. 41 in C Major “Jupiter” by Mozart.
“I would love my musicians and the readers to understand and see something of my real passion for the music that we’re playing, and my real passion for working with the people I am working with, and that it is something that inspires them to be passionate about the playing they are doing or excites them to attend a concert,” Eells said.