McFerrin: The Voice on the Podium : Music: After a summer success at the Hollywood Bowl, singer returns to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a holiday concert.

When Bobby McFerrin was a teen-ager, he worked as an usher at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Observing Zubin Mehta on the podium, he resolved that when he grew up he too would become a conductor.

McFerrin, now 43, says he “got sidetracked” along the way, playing keyboards, singing solo a cappella and, of course, composing and recording “that” song--1988’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

But Saturday night, McFerrin will fulfill his earlier ambition when he returns to the Music Center to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a holiday concert that includes Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” Suite and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

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This is not, however, McFerrin’s first time at the helm of the orchestra. His debut at the Hollywood Bowl last July received a glowing review--McFerrin’s proud mother called from Fullerton to read it to him--from Times music writer Daniel Cariaga, who reported that McFerrin “spread contagious joy and ear-opening novelty all over the Cahuenga Pass hillside. . . .”

The L.A. Philharmonic “were some fun people to work with,” McFerrin reminisced recently over lunch at a trendy downtown eatery here.

“I was very nervous and made a couple of errors in the ‘Fledermaus’ Overture. But I’m getting more confident and trusting that if I make a mistake I can go on. On the podium I need all the help I can get.”

McFerrin, who was trained in classical piano and composition, studies each summer with conductor Gustav Meier at Tanglewood and “picks the brains” of every maestro he meets. He conducts 20-30 concerts each year and has 15 symphonic works in his repertory, including the Beethoven Second and Tchaikovsky Sixth.

His foray into conducting began in 1990. As a 40th birthday present to himself, he led the San Francisco Symphony in the Beethoven Seventh.

“I have the advantage of celebrity and, being known, the orchestra let me stand on the podium and conduct them,” he said.

“But I was so intimidated by the musicians. I didn’t use a baton because I had no idea what to do with it. I was used to holding a microphone. I had a podium made and put it in my basement so I could get used to the space because I was afraid I would fall off.

“It’s an extreme challenge going from solo voice and improvising to marshaling the forces of 80-100 musicians. But when I hear something not quite the way I want it, at these moments I’m thankful I’m a singer. I don’t have the language of a seasoned conductor, so I sing what I want (them to do).”

As a child, McFerrin would hide under the piano while his father gave private voice lessons. Robert McFerrin was the first African American male to become a member of the Metropolitan Opera.

“The biggest lesson I learned from him was how to listen,” McFerrin said. “I grew up in the ‘60s and we weren’t interested in hearing anything. We wanted to feel it. He would say you can’t hear anything if it is turned up--turn it way way down. This is one reason my solo concerts worked. The audience had to listen because it was so soft.”

Being quiet and listening “to that still small voice within” for guidance have long been the credo McFerrin lives by. A deeply spiritual man--he said he’s loathe to expound on his beliefs lest they be trivialized in print--McFerrin recalled how as a somewhat successful pianist in the ‘70s he experienced “a nagging something,” that what he was doing “wasn’t it.” Walking home one afternoon after accompanying a dance class in Salt Lake City, he had a revelation that he was meant to sing.

“There was no thunder or lightning or anything like that, but it was as if a voice said ‘You are a singer.’ It was that simple. I’m not even sure I heard anything, it was just knowing. The next day I got a job in a piano bar.”

After nearly six years of trying different acts, McFerrin began to “see” himself singing alone on stage. At first he rejected the notion, but the vision kept returning.

“When I started doing it, the press couldn’t believe anyone could sing solo without piano, guitar or prerecorded tapes,” said McFerrin, who recorded the a cappella album, “The Voice,” and went on to win six Grammy Awards for his jazz recordings.

McFerrin said that with his 50th birthday peering over the horizon, he’s anxious to limit his vocalizing--and “be a regular guy” at home in San Francisco with his wife and three children, ages 12, 8, and 2.

“I’ve been doing solo singing for 10 years and I’ve had enough,” he said. “I got lonely on stage by myself and I got stuck creatively. I’ve reached a plateau and am not going anywhere. I walk out on automatic pilot doing the same old stuff. I want something more.”

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McFerrin has been commissioned to write an opera for San Francisco Opera’s 75th anniversary, but he declined to discuss the project. The company’s general director Lotfi Mansouri, calling McFerrin “an incredible musician with a love of voice,” confirmed that “Gethsemane Park,” with libretto by McFerrin and author Ishmael Reed, and dealing with “the last night of Christ,” will be one of nine productions in the opera company’s first season at the refurbished War Memorial Opera House, scheduled to open in 1997.

For now, McFerrin’s chief concern is learning the craft of conducting. After working out at the gym, he spends four hours each day studying scores at his downtown studio space. At his present rate of progress, he figures he’ll reach his peak in about 21 years.

“I’ll probably have to wait that long before I really understand what it’s all about,” said McFerrin, who is again studying piano. “I’ll have a wonderful time learning how to rehearse, study scores, what the orchestra should sound like, how it works, how to correct mistakes.

“But I realize it’s not easy to accept someone who’s going from ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ to Beethoven. I cannot prove I’m serious about conducting; I just have to do it.”