Nikeya Williams
Editor-in-Chief
The Mahaffey Theater was full with people sitting in every section. A few seats were open in each section, but not many. It seemed as though people from all over St. Petersburg and Tampa came to celebrate this special night with the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra.
This special night didn’t mean that there was going to be an extra song performed by the orchestra, but it was a night to remember and celebrate the conductor.
Jack Heller, professor of music emeritus at the University of South Florida, conducted one of his last performances at the Mahaffey Theater on April 14.
Heller, who is a part-time faculty member at USF Tampa, has been the conductor for the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra since 1986, when the orchestra was still referred to as the St. Petersburg Community Symphony.
The St. Petersburg Community Symphony Orchestra, which was started by a husband and wife duo, was in the process of disbanding until Conrad Denny, one of the members of the orchestra, contacted Heller for help and support. “There were about 75 to 80 people that wanted to play in [St. Petersburg Community Orchestra],” he said.
As soon as Denny asked Heller if he would be interested in conducting for a community orchestra, Heller eagerly accepted the position as the conductor for the St. Petersburg Community Orchestra. “I’m very interested in community music making,” he said.
Now after 25 years of dedication and service to the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra, Heller decided to retire.
“I wrote a letter to the board, and said that this would be my last year,” he said. “I conducted many community orchestras before I [moved] down to Tampa.”
The thought of retiring wasn’t something new for Heller; he has thought about retiring for sometime.
“I have been conducting for the Tampa Bay Symphony for 25 years, so I thought that it was a good time to [retire],” he said.
Before Heller moved to Tampa, he was a conductor for the University of Connecticut Symphony Orchestra from 1960 to 1967, and the Manchester Civic Orchestra from 1968 to 1985.
Heller said that he has enjoyed his 25 years as the conductor for the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra, but now he wants to explore life.
“I think it’s been a wonderful 25 years with the Tampa Bay Orchestra,” he said.
Heller hopes that the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra will continue to progress and grow after he retires. “I think that [the orchestra] is a wonderful idea,” he said.
Replacing Heller will be a hard task for the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra, but they have to do it. “There are several people that want to become the conductor for the Tampa Bay Symphony,” he said.
Heller’s son, Mark, is currently the assistant director for the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra, but it doesn’t look like Mark will step into his father’s position as the conductor of the orchestra.
“[Being the conductor] is a huge time commitment that I’m sure that I cannot commitment to,” Mark said. Mark also holds a position as the head master at the Academy at The Lakes.
Mark plays the cello in the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra, where he has been involved since 1992. Mark says that he has been playing the cello under his father’s conducting direction since he was about 14 years old.
In 1999, Mark became the assistant conductor for the Tampa Bay Orchestra; moreover, in 2000 Mark conducted a concert for his father.
“[I think] that being a conductor has been a great privilege for my father,” Mark said.
