MODE: So you had a piano in the house?
Malina: We did. In fact, we had the same piano that my Dad had studied piano on when he was a child. As we got older and I became better at the piano, they eventually bought a grand piano and that’s the one that they still have there.

MODE:: So you go home once in a while and tinkle they ivories?
Malina: Oh, sure. In terms of how I became a conductor, it’s a little more convoluted path. I know a lot of people who say from a very early age, ‘I want to be a professional musician of some sort or other — violinist or conductor’; it wasn’t really the case for me. I was a good pianist, not a dazzling pianist, but the skill that changed everything was an appreciation on my part of how well I sight-read at the piano, and that has really been the driving force in terms of my musical life. Around age 10 or 11, I realized that I pretty much could play anything that was put in front of me.

MODE: It’s a great gift.
Malina: It is. It’s a wonderful gift, one that I am very, very grateful for every day. And so what that did was open up new opportunities for me, particularly as an accompanist, because I was a quick learn … [and then] I kind of became the designated pianist and then the music director of all of the school and community shows. So by the time I went to college, I had probably already directed a dozen musical theatre productions.

And that, at college, developed into directing operettas — Gilbert and Sullivan first and then developing into opera. So the decision to become a conductor really didn’t happen until late into my senior year of college.

MODE: You are also conductor of The Greensboro Symphony, which means you will be holding concurrent positions. How will that work. Will you be living in Greensboro and conducting the symphony in Harrisburg?
Malina: Actually the way that it’s going to work out this year is pretty much along those lines. When they hired me to be the musical director of Harrisburg, I already had a fairly full conducting schedule for this coming year: the full season in Greensboro, and two operas, so there is a more limited amount of time that I can actually be in Harrisburg. But next year our intention is to spend about half the time in Greensboro and half the time in Harrisburg. We’ve taken an apartment in Harrisburg for this year, and we’ll see whether we might even buy a house … but we are planning on spending a good deal of time in Harrisburg. It’s going to be tiring for us; there’s no question about that, but it will be bearable because I will be with my wife and my daughter and we’ll travel as a family.

MODE: Did you choose the musical program for the Symphony?
Malina: For this season?

MODE: Yes.
Malina: No, it was already chosen. And that’s an interesting thing, too. I think they did a very nice job of programming, but a lot of the music is new to me, and [laughs] it’s going to be a very busy year for me. Next year, there will be a little more of an overlap, maybe not concert to concert exactly the same program, but over the course of a season or two some of the same music between the two cities, just to make my load bearable.

MODE: ...And make your life a little saner. You won’t have to feel like you are musically schizophrenic.
Malina: And I think that there is something valuable about it even beyond that. Your knowledge of the music is reinforced. And that’s always a benefit.

MODE: Plus you have two different groups of musicians to help you explore, musically, what’s going on.
Malina: And two very different orchestras with very different talent. And that I think is the most exciting part.

MODE: What are your expectations of your audience here in Harrisburg and your musicians?
Malina: Well, I have very high expectations of the musicians. From the concert that I did last April, I think that it’s a great group of players. Player for player it’s a terrific group, but the biggest challenge is going to be developing a sense of ensemble when the orchestra only plays together infrequently — similar to the case here in Greensboro— and further complicated by the fact that the players come from so many different places and that often times there will be different personnel from concert to concert. But I have nothing but the highest expectations. I think that, at it’s best, the Harrisburg Symphony should be playing on a par with some of the larger orchestras in the country. And that is why I am so excited about this appointment. As for the audience, that’s going to take a little more time to feel out because audience tastes differ from region to region. The willingness to explore more challenging music differs from place to place, so it will take a couple of years to really get a handle on it. My feelings is that if, in programming, you can present a wide variety of music in each concert then you are more likely to keep the audience happy. There will always be something challenging, something familiar, something that’s a guaranteed hit. And that’s generally the way that I approach programming.

MODE: It’s probably safe to say that getting to know your audience is going to be as much a part of the process as getting to know your musicians.
Malina: Absolutely. No question. And equally important.

MODE: Is community outreach an important part of your plan for music for Harrisburg?
Malina: I think it has to be, anywhere. And we talked a great deal about this in the interview process. Because I am going to be in two different cities, community outreach is a concern, both with Harrisburg and Greensboro. I feel that the cultural climate is such that a music director who is not involved in the community is not going to be a success, and I feel that the more that I can be out there in the community, letting people know that I am a normal guy, that I am not a quote/unquote ‘Maestro’ or anything like that, it breaks down walls. And that really is the main objective right now. People won’t come to the concerts because of fear. I mean it is not a fear that makes you shake, but rather a fear of clapping at the wrong time or a fear of not understanding it, a fear of being inadequate to the task of listening to music. All of these things are inconceivable to me in a certain sense because by definition music is accessible. If it’s not accessible then it’s not good music. And there are all these levels of fear and separation between performer and audience that need to be torn down, and community outreach is one of the main ways of accomplishing that.

MODE: If you could tell the people of Central Pennsylvania one thing about yourself, one thing that makes you unique, original, what would it be?
Malina: (Pause) What makes me unique? I’m asking my wife.

MODE: That you dressed like Elvis for a local POPS concert (in Greensboro)?
Malina: Perhaps the willingness to do things. But as far as conductors are concerned, I am very good in terms of communicating with audiences. I am a fairly lucid speaker. I enjoy personal interaction on any level. I love talking about music, and I feel that I am pretty articulate about it. But I wouldn’t say that that is what makes me unique. I don’t know; I think that it’s a joie de vivre that characterizes me. I’m kind of a happy guy.