Interview: Musical Director Andy Einhorn Talks New Works and Working with Audra McDonald

Audra Mcdonald is returning to Houston. In 2006, McDonald made her opera debut in the Houston Grand Opera's double bill of LA VOIX HUMAINE and SEND. This is where she met music director and pianist Andy Einhorn. In 2006, Einhorn was hired to coach McDonald vocally. Now, he is her music director and pianist.

Einhorn and McDonald have teamed up again for the University of Houston Moores School of Music's Madison Artist Series. The series brings top artists to Houston for performances and to engage with UH music students. McDonald is the first performer in the series.

Talking to Andy, if I can call him Andy, was like being wrapped in a warm blanket by the fire, drinking cocoa, and getting a shoulder massage from Ryan Gosling. He is a Texas boy, Houston born and bred. In fact, the beginning of our conversation was about an age old favorite - the weather in Texas. Now, as a New Yorker, coming home to Houston means getting warm. He is in for disappointment weatherwise, but it's possible he doesn't need the Texas sun. He brought all the warmth. He was, as the kids say, a hoot.

BWW: What are you working on now?

Andy Einhorn: Oh, gosh, many things. [Laughs] I actually just finished a reading today on a big project. I have several shows in development. This current season, it's a 62 city concert tour with Audra [McDonald], which is very exciting.

It's always [exciting]. Especially in the role I do, as a music director and as an arranger. It's actually about developing the project from the ground floor rather than walking into an existing show that's already running. So I find that a lot of these projects take a good three to five years to develop. It's a big labor of love and investment.

The project that I was working on today, I'm happy to share, is a musical based on the film THE STING - the Robert Redford and Paul Newman film. This is the second reading we've done in about six months, so we'll get together in the summer and do another reading. Next year, we'll probably do more of a longer workshop, like for four weeks. Then, potentially, [we'll] go out of town, and then come into New York.

These things definitely take time. That's why I love the term "overnight sensation," because it's just absolutely and utterly wrong. [Laughs]

BWW: By overnight, you mean five years.

Andy Einhorn: Exactly. Well, and I think the greatest thing is no two days are ever alike, which is very exciting. Yet also very frustrating sometimes, because you just want the routine of knowing you have steady work and this is not that particular industry - except when you get very lucky to work with somebody like Audra. [Laughs]

BWW: How did that happen? How did your collaboration come to be?

Andy Einhorn: Audra and I met in 2006. She was premiering a one-woman opera. It was a double bill of two one-act operas. I was hired to be her vocal coach for that. We rehearsed in New York, and ran in Houston. It was very funny, because I performed at Houston Grand Opera as a child. Then to go back there working as an adult all these years later was really wonderful. It was such a wonderful connection to my growing up in Houston. It was actually through a contact at Rice that I ended up getting the job.

Coming full circle for so many reasons and to be working with Audra at age 24 was a daunting yet wonderful experience. I feel that since that moment, I've enriched my musical development. [Audra McDonald's] also just a wonderful person. So it's amazing to have this collaboration with her.

In about 2011, I started doing a lot of concert work with her. We've been traveling around for the last, oh gosh, now four years doing concerts and two years ago, we came out with a new album. And we're actually in the middle of putting together a whole new program, because we have a Carnegie Hall concert in April.

BWW: Oh, wow. You guys are doing big things.

Andy Einhorn: Daunting right? I guess I should start practicing now. I'm still learning the white keys versus the black keys. I'm just figuring that out. Then I'll be set, right?

BWW: [Laughs] Exactly. OK, so what is your process with Audra? How do you guys work together?

Andy Einhorn: Usually, she tells me exactly what to do. [Laughs] I'm kidding! Actually, it's an incredibly joyous collaboration. Especially when we're picking out new repertoire. At any give time, we come up with about twenty songs. She'll come over to my place, or I'll go over to her house. And generally, I'll end up singing the songs for her, which I'm always terrified doing. I don't want her to learn it the way I sing it, but it's important for her to hear the songs in an unbiased way. Sometimes, if you play a recording for a singer, it's hard because they're hearing the person who's singing it, and not listening to what the song is actually saying. But the thing I most admire about Audra is that she finds a personal connection to any song that she's singing. Whether it's something that's written in 1922 or something written today. She has a voice that can do anything. So the world is your oyster, as it were.

BWW: What do you have in store for the concert at University of Houston?

Andy Einhorn: We really try to run the gamut. I like to call it a musical cornucopia. [Laughs] I think that what we both love so much is finding a program that fits anybody's palate. And because she's the consummate performer, we can perform anything, even if people don't know it. She's been such a champion of young writers, so that's also exciting to teach people about new music. I think our Houston evening is going to be a little bit of a celebration of older, more familiar songs, because it is part of a gala celebration. But we'll throw in a few surprises for everybody.

BWW: Can we talk a little bit more about your training? You studied at the Shepherd School of Music. How do you think it shaped your career?

Andy Einhorn: The Shepherd School definitely was instrumental in shaping my career. Get the pun? [We laugh] I had a voice teacher who, when I walked into my lesson second semester freshman year and said, "I don't want to be a voice major anymore. I want to go to piano," grabbed me by the hand, walked me to the head of the piano department and said, "We need to get this guy into piano." He didn't kick me out. Instead, I had somebody who recognized what I was passionate about and who chose to support that. For that I'm very grateful.

Also, I met the man who essentially started my career, a percussion professor there. When MAMMA MIA came through Houston, and they needed a local keyboard player, he called me to do that. When they needed somebody at Houston Grand Opera to coach Audra McDonald, he called me to do that. So it was all of these people who were very much in my court and, in spite of the bureaucracy of any academic institution, I was able to get exactly what I needed.

BWW: That's very nice to hear.

Andy Einhorn: And I still give them money, every year! [We both laugh]

Come see the education of Andy Einhorn in practice. Both he and Audra McDonald will be at the Wortham Center tonight, March 10 at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets or for more information, please visit www.houstonfirsttheaters.com.

McDonald also will be on campus to share her insights on performing with UH students during a private master class in the Moores Opera House.

The Moores School of Music is one of the premier music schools in America. Offering bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, it serves approximately 600 students annually. Areas of study include composition, conducting, performance, theory and musicology. Its faculty consists of internationally recognized performers, composers and scholars. Among its ensembles are the Moores School Symphony Orchestra, Moores Jazz Ensemble, Moores Opera Center, Concert Chorale, Concert Women's and Men's Choruses, the Spirit of Houston Cougar Marching Band, Wind Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble. A majority of the school's concerts are performed in the internationally recognized 800-seat Moores Opera House. For more details on the Moores School of Music, visit http://www.music.uh.edu/. For more details on the The Madison Artist Series and the Moores School of Music, visit http://www.music.uh.edu/.

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