For the past 30 years, Donald Portnoy has created a legacy as McKissick Koger Endowed Chair for the Fine Arts, director of orchestral studies and conductor at the USC Symphony. He’s been an incredibly prolific conductor all over the United States and in 14 foreign countries, and in addition to his success at the USC’s music school, this marks his third season as Artistic Director and Conductor at Brevard Philharmonic.
It’s an overwhelming resume, and it comes with an accordingly auspicious start. Since he was young, he knew he wanted to dedicate his life to music, specifically the violin.
“I started playing the violin when I was 7 or 8 years old and have been doing so ever since,” Portnoy said. “I started conducting probably in my late teens.”
After graduating from Juilliard, he received a Master’s degree in Arts from Catholic University and his Doctorate from Peabody Conservatory.
Portnoy values efficiency as a conductor — perhaps necessary for such an active traveler. His philosophy for conducting is to get the most out of his orchestra in the least amount of time.
“He runs the USC symphony like a business,” said Nse Ekpo, a doctoral student in conducting.
Ekpo has known Portnoy for about 15 years, having met him in 1999 while playing in orchestra as an undergraduate. He emphasized Portnoy’s efficiency as a conductor, but also his experienced interpersonal touch, summing up Portnoy’s style as “warmly professional.”
Portnoy’s business-like mind applies to more than just management. He also appreciates a large, involved audience and tries to get the word out about his concerts — he thinks like a marketer, not just a conductor. He’ll package his concerts in themes for better exposure, and feature internationally known musicians, such as recent guest Zuill Bailey. Once, he opened up a concert by driving up in a motorcycle.
“All orchestras want to have as many people in the audience as possible because the orchestra plays a lot better when there’s a huge audience,” Portnoy said.
Portnoy may seem larger than life in his accomplishments, but according to Epko, he has a human touch as a teacher.
“I had to do a very, very difficult piece — it’s called “The Soldier’s Tale” by Igor Stravinsky,” Epko said. “I had a lesson with [Portnoy], and in a dry and relaxed manner he said, ‘It’s not that hard.’”
That’s what stands out about Portnoy’s teaching style to Epko: “Just not stressing and not making things more complicated than they need to be.”
Portnoy is founder and director of the Conductors Institute at USC, and through the institute he has made an indelible mark as a teacher for almost 30 years.
Over the course of his career, Portnoy has travelled all over the world and impacted countless musicians, and yet his concerts are still just a walk away for USC students — he’s conducting “Rock with Rachmaninoff,” a USC Symphony concert performance, Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. It’ll be held at the Koger Center — a building that he helped create.
His accomplishments seem endless, but despite his considerable experience, he’s not done growing.
“I learn something new every day,” Portnoy said. “The more I work with young conductors, I learn things that help me along the way.”