A Conversation With Burns Taft

Burns Taft’s base of operations is in a humble, reformed broom closet, in the theater building of Ventura College.

From this unpretentious outpost, the mild-mannered but subtly dynamic Taft navigates the pieces of his multifaceted musical life, as a teacher, as head of the college’s performing arts department, and for the past decade as director of the Ventura County Master Chorale.

When the Ventura County Chamber Orchestra bursts into existence with this weekend’s concert in the college auditorium, Taft’s role in the Ventura County musical community will expand yet again.

On a recent rainy day, Taft sat in his office and outlined his and the chamber orchestra’s story thus far.

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Question: Have you been surprised by the levels of enthusiasm and support for this project in its infancy?

Answer: Yes. I’ve always been enthused. But one wonders how many other people will also be enthused. And there’s been a lot of depth to it too: people who were willing to be on the board, which is not always fun. There were lots of people coming around, expressing good wishes, donating money.

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Question: Is the idea of launching a chamber orchestra one that you’ve had for quite a long time?

Answer: Always. I just do some things where there’s an opportunity to do them. If I were any one thing, I should be a piano player. That’s where I got my degrees, but I’ve never been that way.

It wasn’t as though I was born with a baton in my hand and just couldn’t wait until I got a chamber orchestra. But it did seem to me that there is work to be done in that area.

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Question: Was your launching the chamber orchestra a case of perceiving a void in local musical resources, and wanting to fill it?

Answer: Yes. There was a void here. The Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra has been around for a few years, and they do a concert once in awhile, when they get the money.

I’m in a pivotal position, because Frank Salazar (founding conductor of the Ventura County Symphony, and former Ventura College teacher) retired from the college. I took over the college orchestra when Frank retired. We have the resources of this department--the big instruments, the space.

After 30 years here, I have become so acquainted with the community that if anybody was going to reach out to people, asking for their help, I felt that it would have to be me.

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Question: How did the process of finally starting the orchestra come to be?

Answer: I quietly went about it about a year and a half ago. To my mind, it’s happened very fast. We’re doing OK, but it will be nip and tuck for awhile. Certainly we don’t have a bankroll. What we do have that’s priceless is access to all the equipment, facilities, library up here, and I can give it staff time, because it’s my job.

The administrators at Ventura College, over the years, have always said to us “this is a community college--capital letters. Whatever you do jointly with the community reflects well on us.”

The symphony was this way originally. It was called the Ventura College Symphonette. Then Frank Salazar filed the incorporation papers, formed the community support group. It was only a few years ago that they stopped being a class here and pulled out completely.

I expect that one day the Master Chorale will be strong enough so that they won’t need this nest anymore. That’s great, to spin these things off for the community. So, maybe in 20 years, this little orchestra will grow up and move on.

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Question: Your programs with the Master Chorale have generally been quite broad-based, leaping across styles and periods. Do you hope to follow the same ideal with the orchestra?

Answer: I do. I don’t think we’ll be an orchestra that you’ll be able to identify with any one style. We’re not going to be the baroque chamber orchestra, and we’re not going to play “authentically.”

In the first concert, yes, we are using harpsichord and recorders. Maybe they’re out of place with steel string violins. And, yes, we are also using piano as a solo instrument in the Bach. So I will probably manage to offend about everyone (laughs).

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Question: What about the perennial question of contemporary music and how to put it across to the public?

Answer: There were two years in my life when I didn’t play one piece that wasn’t written in the 20th Century. I really bought into the idea that tonality was dead and we were going to have to organize music through rhythmic means and serialism, and all those things.

I ran up against what everyone else runs up against. The general public doesn’t understand it. They haven’t been exposed to it enough to understand it, which feeds their lack of understanding, which means that they’re not tolerant of it.

I have to find contemporary pieces that will touch something in their lives that they can relate to. But if I do contemporary music, there’s nothing wrong with people hearing some Copland. They haven’t heard that, either. I don’t have to play Webern or Schoenberg.

I don’t want to neglect 20th-Century music, but I’m a realist enough to know that if I don’t have an audience, I don’t have the financial resources to do it. I don’t know what to do.

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Question: One of the questions that people must have is: why now, when recession is the prevailing consciousness?

Answer: Despite the talk of hard times, people are basically optimistic. They’re looking for a turnaround. And they have been very generous. I get asked that question, but when I ask people for support, they all say yes.

Certain businesses said “we want to be a part of this, and we want you to tell your patrons that if they bring in their tickets, they’ll get 10% off our products, and then we’ll give you the 10%.” I’ve never had that sort of support for things I’ve done. Members of the Ventura City Council have gotten behind this, and I’ve never had that support from politicians.

There’s something going on around this area. The merchants are looking for something to enhance this city. They see it as a good omen that this is happening here. They want it to happen.