Symphony’s NYE Host Lipke: Time Is on His Side

Andrew Lipke makes his Santa Barbara Symphony debut Sunday night as guest conductor for the annual New Year’s Eve concert, but he’ll be doing much more than waving the baton around to close out 2023. The composer, arranger, conductor, guitarist, and vocalist will actually display all of those talents at the Granada in a program almost entirely of his own creation, one that largely reflects his love for rock and roll and a strong affinity for classical. 

The concert is sure to be a big left turn from the Symphony’s typical pops fare to close out the year. In fact, that word doesn’t even resonate for Lipke.

“When I hear the term pops, it makes me think of a concert for your pops – an experience that’s a very safe, stick to the surface one,” he said. “What I’m interested in is music that reaches deep inside and moves people to their core. When rock and classical can be put together in a way that respect is given to both of them, it becomes something magical.”

To create that magical experience, Lipke stays partial to the visceral energy that powers rock music he played earlier in his career even though most of his time is spent in the classical world, which has also always had a draw that goes deep and has broadened his professional avenues. 

“There’s so much emotional complexity and layers that I feel when I listen to beautiful classical music,” he said. “But I wasn’t going to be able to perform it, so I learned how to write it.” Lipke later turned to conducting out of necessity to have the chance to perform string arrangements and orchestrations he’d created for pop musicians in the Philadelphia area. 

Lipke has employed all of his talents to put together the NYE program for Santa Barbara around the theme of time as a witty way to reflect the ritual of ushering in a new year. Time and all of its aspects are either directly or peripherally involved in virtually all of the pieces, including a clever medley of orchestral arrangements of the Beatles’ “Yesterday,” Bernstein’s “Tonight” from West Side Story, and “Tomorrow” from Annie. Lipke has also turned the Byrds-via-Dylan classic “Turn! Turn! Turn!” into variations on a theme as a “sweet mini concerto for orchestra to showcase the individual instruments.” 

Other pop pieces will serve as surprises for the audience, including more than one where Lipke – who played for more than a dozen years in a touring Led Zeppelin tribute band – will trade the baton for his guitar to shred on a solo. 

Even the classical selections from Beethoven, Satie/Debussy, and Strauss are grouped to illustrate both meter and tempo to further illustrate the theme as the minutes in 2023 dwindle away. In a nod to the Symphony’s tradition, both a traditional salute to the military and the closing “Auld Lang Syne” sing-along remain part of the show – but there’s also another audience participation piece that has a clever NYE connection. 

It’s all part of Lipke’s plan to not only put people into a festive mood, but also move them emotionally. 

“I want the audience to feel different at the end of the concert,” he said. “One of the great things is that no matter how old you are, no matter how convinced you are about how you feel, you can always be surprised, moved, and changed by music.”