When Jonathan McPhee steps into the orchestra pit for Claudia Schreier’s world premiere of The Rite of Spring in February, he will be lifting the baton to conduct his own internationally acclaimed arrangement of Stravinsky’s iconic score.

A guest conductor for the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, McPhee has musically captivated audiences by conducting performances such as Firebird, Don Quixote, and most recently, the North American premiere of Coco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon. McPhee’s works as an arranger and composer are in the repertoires of orchestras and ballet companies around the world, and he maintains an active guest conducting schedule in addition to his position as Music Director for Lexington Symphony.

His reduced orchestration of The Rite of Spring, created 40 years ago through a musical collaboration with Martha Graham, has since enjoyed more performances worldwide than the original and is the only edition authorized by the Stravinsky Trust.

Atlanta Ballet was thrilled to speak with Maestro about his transformation of The Rite of Spring, to discover how a backstage note from Martha Graham introduced him to the dance world, and to hear his enthusiasm for bringing Stravinsky’s masterpiece to life as it was intended–through dance.

How did your musical journey begin?

When I was in first grade, I sat enthralled at a college orchestra Christmas concert at my school in Connecticut. I immediately understood that the conductor was thinking the music and saw how the orchestra was playing his thoughts. It was the communication aspect that inspired me. I grew up in the military where the arts are not a big thing, but we were stationed at the right places at the right time for me to connect with the communities and opportunities to help me grow and learn what it was to be a musician.

How did you get started in the dance world?

By accident! My final concert at Juilliard was Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. I returned backstage to find a note with the words, “I loved the concert, please call me, Martha Graham.” I thought it to be a joke so only called a couple of weeks later–and it really was her. She said she loved the way I breathed with the orchestra. I was invited to join her European tour as the second conductor, commencing in London and concluding with a six-week secondment at the MET in New York City. George Balanchine saw me conduct there and offered The Nutcracker that same year. Shortly thereafter, Robert Joffrey asked me to join the Joffrey (in its then NYC home) and Arthur Mitchell at Dance Theater of Harlem.

What, or who, inspires you?

This is a hard one. I think other artists, whether they are musicians, dancers, choreographers, designers, or painters. People who have a concept and then translate that concept into tangible forms.

Who were the most significant influences on your musical career?

I was introduced to Leonard Bernstein by Martha Graham after my first performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. He was in the audience! Among the many surprises of the evening was learning that he had played piano for Graham during the summers when he was at college, and how he had learned more about music from her than any music teacher. My years working with Graham on her many commissioned scores by American composers, revivals of her early works, and new ballet premieres, helped me understand exactly what Bernstein meant. I have had many great music teachers, but she taught me what it was like to be inside the music. Working with Graham was truly the most transformative experience of my life, and I consider myself lucky to have been brought into her thought process.

Where did the idea of reducing the orchestration for The Rite of Spring originate?

In Philadelphia in 1938, Martha Graham danced the role of the Chosen One in Massine’s version of The Rite of Spring. In 1983, Graham embarked on creating her own version and invited me to collaborate with her musically. It was to premiere at New York State Theater (now Koch) in Lincoln Center in the spring of 1984. The old pit there was too small for the Stravinsky orchestra. After careful study of The Rite of Spring and having already researched Stravinsky’s reductions of his earlier works The Firebird (excerpts in the 1919 suite) and Petroushka, I was confident I could reduce the orchestra without losing the musical integrity. While Graham trusted my judgment, it was a terrifying project. I poured over the Stravinsky documents that were then held at Lincoln Center library for clues as to why Stravinsky had not reduced the orchestration himself.

You’ve reduced the orchestration of other works, The Firebird and The Ring Cycle. Was the process similar?

Yes and no. Touching a masterpiece like The Rite of Spring was quite controversial. I actually received mail from people who thought it was a sacrilege. Bernstein, on the other hand, was very enthusiastic. My reduced version has enjoyed more performances worldwide than the original orchestration and has won international acclaim for being faithful to the original. In fact, it is the only edition that has been authorized by the Stravinsky Trust. This gave me the confidence to tackle another personal project 30 years in the making, Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Reducing the orchestration for the complete ballet The Firebird was wonderfully comfortable having conducted so much Stravinsky in my life and especially of course, The Rite of Spring.

When people come to see The Rite of Spring, what do you think will strike them most about the score?

Today, The Rite of Spring is familiar enough that people can even sing some of the tunes. What they hear will actually have a lot to do with how Claudia Schreier is using Stravinsky’s music. We hear what the choreographer hears through her movement language. That is the genius of this artform.

What are the pleasures and challenges of conducting The Rite of Spring?

This question has had so many different answers from me over the years. Several times in my life I have had to walk into the pit for a performance with an orchestra who has played it, but never rehearsed it with me; a bath of fire for all concerned. The challenges are many between orchestra and conductor. Adding choreography and dancers adds yet another level of complication. And I love it! I have conducted Martha Graham’s Rite of Spring, as well as versions by Nijinsky, Bejart, Glen Tetley, and Jorma Elo. The music is amazing.

What was innovative about the musical aspects of The Rite of Spring at the time of its premiere?

Volumes could be written about this. Firstly, it was one of the few times the composer took the lead in writing the scenario for the ballet. Tchaikovsky had done this previously with Swan Lake, which proved to be a disaster. Musically, The Rite of Spring was unlike anything written up to this period, and people forget Stravinsky continued to push in this direction musically through his next ballet, Les Noces. After that he could go no further and changed direction toward neo-classicism.

What instruments, or families of instruments, are more prominent, and why?

What is unusual in Stravinsky’s orchestration of The Rite of Spring is his use of the extremities of each instrument’s range, which meant getting timbres that most composers up until then had avoided. That created a sound palette previously unheard.

Stravinsky often denied that the score is rooted in Russian folk music. What is your opinion?

It is not rooted in Russian Folk music, but Stravinsky’s ear can’t get away from his roots entirely. When one looks at The Rite of Spring and Les Noces, you see almost a deconstruction of folk music.

What is your process of conducting new choreographic versions of The Rite of Spring?

What is exciting in conducting new choreographic versions of The Rite of Spring is assimilating what a choreographer uses, how they use it, and discovering through observing their creation what they are trying to say through Stravinsky’s vision. Then I sometimes rebalance my approach to the score with that understanding.

What message do you have for ballet fans who have not experienced Stravinsky’s work?

The Rite of Spring is one of the greatest achievements in both music and ballet. To fully appreciate this, people need to see and hear this together, and preferably more than once!

Equally, do you have a message for symphony fans who are first-time ballet patrons?

You may have seen symphony performances of The Rite of Spring many times. It is always exciting. Most non-ballet patrons forget that The Rite of Spring was always intended to have a visual component. It is visceral and human.

Why do you think The Rite of Spring continues to influence composers and choreographers?

Stravinsky was an original, just as Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev were. Interestingly enough, their creativity gave us some of the greatest ballets in history. Tchaikovsky changed the course of ballet musical history. Stravinsky and Prokofiev built on that and opened new worlds in both symphonic and ballet music.

In February, you’ll start the program with Bach and end with Stravinsky, moving from the Baroque era to more contemporary sound aesthetics in one evening. What can we expect?

I have not seen Claudia Schreier’s work yet in the studio, but I have seen works by Helgi Tomasson. What I think people are going to absorb, maybe without being aware, is how movement that is classical reflects its classical Baroque platform, which is then opened up to music that tells a powerful story in contemporary terms and how differently that works with the movement vocabulary by Schreier. I’m looking forward to seeing these together.

Jeffrey Gantz from the Boston Phoenix, notes “Not the least of this Sacre's enticements is the playing of the Boston Ballet Orchestra. Ever since Pierre Boulez, in the 1950s, stripped Stravinsky's piece of its color to reveal the stark rhythmic skeleton, performances have tended toward the primitive and brutal. Boston Ballet music director Jonathan McPhee restores the color, and the mystery, and the majesty.” What do you hope to bring to Atlanta Ballet’s production?

“Color, and the mystery, and the majesty!” To me, that’s what this piece is all about.

Claudia Schreier now adds her name to the historic list of those inventing and preserving The Rite of Spring for new audiences. What are you looking forward to with her version?

I am looking forward to being a part of what she is creating. Adding the dancer vision to Stravinsky’s masterpiece brings it to life as intended!

Learn more about Jonathan McPhee.

Join Atlanta Ballet’s Choreographer-in-Residence Claudia Schreier as she brings a fresh take on the seminal classic, The Rite of Spring. On stage for two weekends, from February 7 to 14, 2025, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Live with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra under the batons of Maestro Jonathan McPhee and guest conductor Maestra Tamara Dworetz.