Even though he has just wrested a coveted contract with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and did it at the tender age of 21, French conductor Lionel Bringuier is keeping his cool and says he wants to continue his studies.
"I live one day at a time," says the young man relaxing in his office at Walt Disney Concert Hall, an ultramodernist building in downtown Los Angeles.
The office, equipped with orange leather sofas and bookshelves, will belong until 2009 to this young man, who will serve as a deputy to the musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen of Finland.
"Esa-Pekka already was one of my favourite orchestra conductors. Before even coming here, I listened to recordings of LAPhil," says Bringuier, who was selected for the post among 150 competitors.
His jobs involves being ready to replace the famed conductor, if such a need arises, while carrying on with his own concert program.
A scion of a family of musicians, he began studying at the conservatory at the age of five and attracted the general public's attention for the first time in September 2005, when he won an international contest of young orchestra conductors in the French city of Besancon.
But despite his dazzling resume, Bringuier keeps his cool and sees his job as a cooperative venture with other musicians.
"I prefer the English word 'conductor,' which means one that leads, to the French word 'chef d'orchestre,' which means head of the orchestra," he said.
"The English term defines us as musicians among others at the service of the composer".
He has nothing but compliments for other musicians of LAPhil, saying they form "without a doubt one of the best orchestras of the world."
Its musicians are perfectly able to jump from one repertoire to the next and sound almost perfect as early as the first rehearsal, he added.
"This is like driving a Ferrari, one gets in gear and it goes from there," he joked. For Bringuier, "age is not important, music is."
He said he appreciates the relaxed work atmosphere under Salonen, 49, who has headed LAPhil since 1992. "I learn enormously from working with him," acknowledged Bringuier.
"Once, at a concert of modern music, Esa-Pekka began a discussion with the composer who was on the stage, in order to explain the piece to the public," he recalled. "Then the orchestra played. This is no doubt the only place in the world where one can see something like this." Before his audition with LAPhil, the French conductor had never set foot in the United States.
Arriving in Los Angeles alone, he is still trying to adapt, beginning with getting a driver's license, a necessity in this sprawling city where cars rule. An amateur tennis and rugby player, Bringuier wants to learn about the local sports scene and to keep an eye on cultural life such as museum exhibits and Hollywood events.
He has just recorded his first CD, and although his contract requires him to spend 30 weeks out of the year in California, he still manages to log some international miles. "I was in Basle two weeks ago; next week, I will be in Paris, then to Lyon with the National Orchestra, to Germany and to Spain," he said. He will also stop at Rennes, where he is an associate conductor at the National Orchestra of Brittany, before returning to Los Angeles. Told he must be accumulating an impressive number of frequent flier miles with Air France, he replied with raucous laughter: "This is just the beginning! I've got five more years to go!"