Always the same? It’d be a shame — so the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra is taking on an evening of ‘70s and ‘80s rock-pop in honor of the soaring, symphonic music of Phil Collins and Genesis.
“A Symphonic Celebration of Genesis & Phil Collins with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra” is set for 8:15 p.m. Saturday night in the Amphitheater. Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz has the baton, and he and the CSO will be joined by vocalists Aaron Finley and Brook Wood, with Brian Kushmaul on drums.
Genesis was founded in 1967, and in 1970 a 19-year-old Collins, on drums, joined keyboardist Tony Banks, vocalist Peter Gabriel and guitarist and bassist Mike Rutherford. Kushmaul, who has been principal percussionist for the CSO, has performed alongside Chafetz for 30 years — and since Collins was a fantastic drummer, Chafetz said, “Brian is the perfect person to bring it all to life.”
The program was somewhat worked around both of the vocalists, Finley and Wood, since Chafetz had them in mind from the beginning.
In Finley’s Broadway day job as one of the original cast members of Moulin Rouge!, there’s a pit orchestra, with several musicians — “but an actual symphony orchestra has three times that many musicians, and the wall of sound that is behind you is truly unlike anything you’ll ever experience,” he said.
Finley was asked to be a part of Saturday’s “Symphonic Celebration” early on — it’s been in the works since before the pandemic — and it’s been a great opportunity to dive in to get to know both the band and Collins better. Even as he does this show around six times a year, the performance stays fresh as he finds his version of Collins — it’s just really fun, he said. He occasionally feels imposter syndrome, but being on stage is a great reminder that he belongs there.
“Once I’m singing something within a show, it just feels like home, so natural,” Finley said. “Like, oh, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. There’s something kind of freeing about that.”
Finley grew up in a musical family and both of his kids are blessed with the same — they’re also able to successfully carry a tune. They’re able to develop an appreciation for the arts young, Finley said, “because that’s what our life kind of revolves around.”
Growing up in Montana, Finley loved skiing, mountain biking, and basketball. In college, he pieced together a dream of artistic expression as a job; looking back, he can see how far he’s made it. But, he also considers that dream an ongoing process.
“I never really saw myself in the theater or singing in front of symphonies,” Finley said. “This is just kind of the path that I’ve ended up on, and it’s pretty special to be there. It is a destination as well as a journey. … Having a career in the arts is constant growth, finding and exploring new things.”
In college, Finley started changing his tune about his career when he auditioned for the role of Joseph in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He found he loved portraying a character and being a part of the cast. Although he never truly planned out his career path, he believes there is some element of being in the right place at the right time. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” he quoted.
“I work in an industry, especially in the theater, where I can throw a rock and hit someone who can sing as well, if not better than any contestant on ‘The Voice,’” Finley said. “Just unbelievably talented people left and right; the truth is there’s a little bit of luck in how this works, like meeting the right people, or being in the audition room at the right time.”
Finley has worked with Chafetz for 10 years now. When Finley auditioned for, but didn’t get, a spot with the Indianapolis Symphony, he got a call about singing in an ‘80s rock-themed concert Chafetz was conducting. Since then, they’ve done different shows all over the United States and Canada.
This concert has been years in the making, Chafetz said, and to be able to bring it to Chautauqua is off-the-charts exciting.
“Here’s an opportunity for people who love Phil Collins and Genesis to come to a symphonic rendition where you have worlds connecting in a way that you never really thought they would,” Chafetz said. “The results are astoundingly good. I’m so proud of this show, because it is something that I conceived, and to have it be successful is a great feeling when it all comes together.”
