Next week, Markand Thakar will conduct the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera for the first time, but it won't be his first time in the Scenic City. He and his family traveled through this summer.
"My 9-year-old collects states," he said, "and I know [the CSO] by reputation."
He is, he said, looking forward to the opportunity to make music and to get to know the community. Thakar is a candidate to take over as music director when Bob Bernhardt moves to an emeritus position at the end of this season.
Each candidate creates his or her own program.
"Every program should get people coming and going," Thakar said. "People should look at the program and think, 'That's a concept I want to hear.' I want them to feel like it was the best two hours of their lives."
So he created an evening of contrasts -- Dvorak's popular New World Symphony, Beethoven's Overture to Coriolan and a 20th-century piece, Bernstein's Symphonic Suite from "On the Waterfront."
Based in Baltimore, Thakar is the music director of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra.
"I was always drawn to orchestras," he said of his choice to build a career as a conductor. "There has to be something about the personality of a conductor, someone who is willing to be out in front and have a certain level of responsibility."
"It is possible," he said, "for music to exalt us; that's a function of music. My mission is to make that experience possible and to bring it to as many people as possible. In this day of e-mails and faxes and texting, everything goes too fast. There's too much information; it's a whirlwind existence. What (musicians) do is all the more important. It's a chance to come to the hall and to touch the soul, touch the essence of who we are. That's an experience that can truly benefit the community."
IF YOU GO
* What: CSO Masterworks concert: "Bernstein & Dvorak."
* When: 8 p.m. Thursday and Feb. 4.
* Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.
* Admission: $19-$79.
* Phone: 267-8583.
* Website: www.chattanoogasymphony.org.