Good Taste
When I ask Rafael Payare which composers he’s feeling particularly drawn to these days, he answers without skipping a beat.
“I really love Mahler, Brahms, Beethoven, Schuman, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Ravel, Debussy, Wagner, Sibelius, Mozart, of course,” the Venezuelan conductor says before stopping to catch his breath and evaluate his answer.
“I don’t know. I feel drawn to many, many. It’s too hard to choose. Like trying to say, ‘What food do you want to eat for the rest of your life?’ There are so many foods out there! You can’t pick just one.”
Payare, who turned 40 in February, joined the San Diego Symphony as music director at the start of the 2019–20 season. His new boss, CEO Martha Gilmer, uses similar words to describe his tastes.
“He has a carnivorous musical appetite,” she says. “I use that word because Rafael loves a good steak. And that’s kind of how he is. He’s got this voracious appetite for making music.”
Payare’s appointment is a coup for the organization, which had been without a music director since Jahja Ling’s retirement in 2017 after 13 years. When Ling left, the orchestra, which was
