Manis thrilled to be part of GTMF – JH News&Guide
A new conductor is occasionally taking up the baton for the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra. He isn’t replacing Sir Donald Runnices, but continuing to get his feet wet on the esteemed stage.
Benjamin Manis is in his second year of a two-season stint as resident conductor of the Grand Teton Music Festival.
“There’s not all that much conducting,” Manis, 30, said. “I’m there at all rehearsals and concerts, sitting in the house, listening, giving feedback to the conductor, notes from out in the audience.”
But a few times a year he gets to lead an ensemble (like he was supposed to do for the Fourth of July, but was canceled due to the stormy weather). More often, he conducts smaller ensembles.
For instance, he will conduct “Peter and the Wolf” July 16 at Walk Festival Hall, and tonight’s North American premiere of Welsh composer Lynne Plowman’s concerto for harp and string orchestra, “Life Cycles.”
Last year, Manis led the orchestra in the festival’s family concert on the Center lawn, as well as a chamber version of Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.”
“But that’s not why I do it,” he said. “It’s first that this is such a great place — the orchestra is so good, and it’s a wonderful place to be in summer. But most importantly, I’m learning so much from Donald. … Once you are a conductor out working in the world, we almost never have the opportunity to learn and to be around people who are more experienced and better. . … So you [usually] learn from yourself, your experiences, your mistakes. The opportunity to learn from someone like Donald — I feel I get a lot out of it.”
“He’s very good,” said Runnicles, who is happy to see him on stage. “His career is burgeoning, ready to take off.”
…Manis returned for the 2024 season and is back again this summer, although he will have to cut his time here short, missing the season closer of “Hansel and Gretel.”
“I need to leave a week early because my wife is pregnant,” he said. “We will be at the point then when she needs to be home.”
He expects to spend much of the fall and winter changing diapers, but then, come spring, he has already lined up freelance engagements in Salt Lake City, Utah and San Francisco.
“All three of those orchestras are extremely well represented at the Grand Teton Music Festival,” he said, so he won’t be saying goodbye to his Wyoming friends. “All those places I’ll be going in spring, it will be like a GTMF reunion, which is really fun.”