Taking The Baton

Music lovers among the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra were asked to help get it right. For the full 2024-2025 season of concerts, they listened. And after five performances during which guest conductors brought their best interpretations and most charismatic moves to the Ruby Diamond podium, one man prevailed.

It is Yaniv Dinur, a 44-year-old maestro, father of two, and conductor who charmed his way into the music director/conductor role. His talent, knowledge, and personality had listeners writing “Please hire him!” and one musician saying “He pulls the orchestra to him, rather than poking the baton in your face. It’s a luxurious way to make music.” Dinur will now divide his time among Tallahassee; New Bedford, Massachusetts; and his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he served as resident conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for eight years.

For those who remember the era when great conductors remained with one orchestra for their entire careers, things have changed. Zubin Meta was with the Israel Philharmonic for 53 years, and Leonard Bernstein was associated with the New York Philharmonic for 47 years. But no more. Today, Mandy Stringer, CEO of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, says that a 10- or 11-year relationship with an orchestra is about the limit of a conductor’s tenure. It was that way for the symphony’s previous conductor, Darko Butorac, and for Dinur, who left the podium at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra after 11 years, having served as assistant and associate conductor before beginning his tenure as resident conductor. This shift has given rise to a wealth of new opportunities for talented conductors.

A look at Dinur’s biography shows how his gifts have been recognized. He is the winner of numerous awards: the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Prize, the Zubin Mehta Scholarship Endowment, the Aviv Conducting Competition in Israel, the Yuri Ahronovitch First Prize, and many more.

Photo courtesy of Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra

But this tall, tousle-haired conductor known for his dry wit acknowledges that the road to conducting roles with important orchestras is  winding. “I began piano studies at 6 with my aunt,” says Dinur, who was born in Jerusalem. “And yes, my goal was to be a concert pianist.”

But during his studies at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, he came to realize that “piano music only became popular in the twentieth century,” and he was fascinated with all music. To embrace it all, he would need to conduct it.

At 16, he began conducting lessons. By 19, he was invited to conduct the National Symphony of Ireland. He attended master classes with renowned conductors who started to recommend him as a guest maestro to orchestras across Europe. Then, in 2006, Dinur says one teacher changed his life.

“I took a master conducting course with Kenneth Keisler,” Dinur recounts. “Let’s say we didn’t get on at first. I was very confident. Perhaps something of a show-off. But he was revealing something to me. And I followed him to the University of Michigan for a PhD in musical arts. There he taught me I could allow myself to be vulnerable at the podium; I didn’t have to take on the god-like persona of conductors of the past.”

It wasn’t long before he won the Bruno Walter Conducting Competition and was guest-conducting with the Louisiana Philharmonic. He’d also begun to teach at the American University in Washington, D.C., all the while auditioning for an orchestra to call home.

That opportunity came in 2015, when Dinur formally joined the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra as its resident conductor. The New Bedford Symphony in Massachusetts invited him to be their conductor as well. Now Dinur says he is delighted to be leading the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra too.

Photo courtesy of Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra

Five questions with Yanivdinur

1. As music director, what music will you choose for us to hear?

“I feel closest to Mozart and Mahler. I actually see a connection between the two. Mozart perfected the symphonic form, and Mahler said, ‘The symphony form should include the entire universe.’ My favorite is his first symphony.”

2. What is it like to be up there on the podium all alone?

“There are moments when you are absorbed into the music … when you forget where you are … when everything becomes one. But most of the time it is work … thinking about how to get everybody to where you’re going.”

3. Aside from music, do you have hobbies?
“I like detective stories and detective TV shows. If I weren’t a musician, I’d have become a spy (maybe I already am, but you’ll never know).”

4. How about sports?

“After 18 years in the United States, I’m still in the process of figuring out the rules of American football.”

5. Have you found a restaurant you like in Tallahassee?
“Yes! I have found The Huntsman, a place open late and where they have the best burgers I’ve ever tasted. I think my wife and daughters are going to love it.”