By Daniel Buckwalter
(#CommonManAtTheSymphony)

We’re only at the start line in the final act of the Eugene Symphony’s search for a new artistic director and conductor. It’s only the beginning of a five-concert stretch where five finalists take their turns at the podium to introduce themselves and, in return, are introduced to all things Eugene.

One down, four to go.

And if the Oct. 24 concert featuring Alexander Prior wielding the baton is any indication, this could well be a fun process for all patrons of the Eugene Symphony.

Certainly, Prior made a splashy statement in front of a large audience at the Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall, conducting the symphony with unabashed joy and sometimes fury in pieces by Modest Mussorgsky and Florence Price as well as Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major (with a commanding solo performance by guest pianist Ying Li) and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G major.

It was a virtuoso performance from start to finish with Prior, the 32-year-old British composer and conductor, leading the way. He uses every inch of the podium to engage the orchestra, dancing with the folk beats of Dvořák’s piece and punctuating  the staccato notes with a fist. Add the fact that he has a shock of hair (I note this with some jealousy), and Prior has an all-encompassing presence on the podium.

He previously has been the chief conductor of the Edmonton Symphony in Canada (appointed when he was just 23) and has served as guest conductor of various large symphonies such as the San Francisco, Detroit and Dallas orchestras, to name just a few.

He was clearly in control and checked off every box that he could think of (including a “Go Ducks” reference to the audience before the program).

The goal for the concert, Prior noted to the audience, was to humanize each of the four pieces on the program, and that was accomplished.

Still, for all his ability to command an orchestra, Prior also demonstrated an ability to blend himself with the orchestra for the sake of the soloist in the Beethoven piano concerto, and Li was magnificent.

She was tender and firm on the keyboard, a study of professionalism with an emotional range to capture beautifully the energetic and technical first and third movements as well as the melodic second movement. It was a treat to hear her play.

All of it made me long to see the other four finalists at work. I can’t wait.