TORONTO — When David Briskin moved to Toronto to become the music director and principal conductor of the National Ballet of Canada in 2006, he thought moving here would allow him to slow down a bit. But that’s not the case.
David Briskin
He is currently working on the full-length romantic ballet Giselle, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts from May 27 to 31.
Following that, he immediately goes to work on a mixed bill of Bizet’s Carmen, choreographed by Davide Bombana, and Skin Divers, based on Anne Michaels’ book of poetry of the same name and choreographed by Canadian Dominique Dumais. Carmen and Skin Divers will be performed at the Four Seasons Centre from June 6 to 14.
“Working with the National Ballet is everything and more than I expected. The dancers are wonderful and the orchestra is fantastic,” Briskin said. “I do a lot of guest conducting with major North American ballet companies, and our orchestra can compete with any of these and, in some cases, is even better.”
He said that when he joined the National, he was also interested in working with Karen Kain, the ballet’s artistic director.
Briskin said the acoustics in the Four Seasons Centre are very honest and that it raises the level of performance because everything is so clearly heard and seen in the house. He added that the players can hear one another almost better than any other orchestra pit that he’s ever worked in.
Briskin, 48, lived in New York City for 23 years, so it was a big change to come to Toronto, but he felt the opportunity to become music director of the National Ballet was too good to pass up. He moved here with wife, Julia, and their daughter, Charlotte, now 3.
“My wife and I were ready for a change of lifestyle and to get out of Manhattan,” Briskin said. “We love it, we feel very comfortable living in Cedarvale, a little pocket just south of Eglinton and west of Bathurst.”
Briskin was born in Milwaukee, Wis., and raised in Newton, Mass., where the family attended Temple Shalom. His brother, Charles Briskin, is now a Reform rabbi in San Pedro, Calif.
Briskin, who started playing the piano at the age of five, served as conductor with the American Ballet Theatre and has been a regular guest conductor with the San Francisco Ballet and with the New York City Ballet. He’s conducted the orchestras of the Houston Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. He was also the conductor of the Juilliard School’s dance division.
In July 2008, he was appointed director of orchestral studies at the University of Toronto faculty of music and conductor of the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
“It has been wonderful deepening our roots in Toronto and to have some influence on the training of young Canadian musicians is fantastic, because they will ultimately fill the seats of our orchestras,” Briskin said.
For tickets, call 416-345-9595 or visit www.national.ballet.ca.