This story is part of WABE, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and ArtsATL’s The Shaw 100th series. For more stories, click here.
More than any other musician, Maestro Norman Mackenzie is the most direct connection to Robert Shaw.
In his 14-year association with Shaw, Mackenzie took several positions with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, eventually becoming assistant choral conductor. Mackenzie also accompanied Shaw’s many extracurricular choirs and workshops, all while holding a full-time position as Director of Music and Fine Arts at Atlanta’s Trinity Presbyterian Church.
Somehow, Shaw’s work ethic was even more pronounced. But Shaw could be notoriously difficult to work with. He was intense, focused – and not a second of rehearsal was wasted. Shaw demanded the same drive from his choristers and accompanists.
Norman Mackenzie was one of those accompanists, but he more than held his own. Mackenzie told “City Lights” that the same “relentless intensity” in rehearsals was not only fun, but the time of his life.
How did these two kindred musical and professional spirits find each other? It all started when Mackenzie was studying at Princeton.
Shaw was on campus for one of his famous choral workshops. Mackenzie recalled learning Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem,” and being “literally transformed … as a human being and a musician.” He was hooked:
“From that very moment, I wanted to find some way to work with this man and to find out how heavenly music like that was made.”
Whether by circumstance or fate, a position opened at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, and they were looking for recommendations. Trinity Presbyterian was Robert and Caroline Shaw’s church.
A phone call from Robert sealed the deal. “I just have a feeling there’s something great for you down here,” Shaw told Norman. That was sometime in 1983, and by the fall of that same year Mackenzie packed up and left his long-time home of Philadelphia for the city of Shaw.
Norman mused, “I don’t think it’s too much to say that Robert Shaw changed my life.” He’s now the Director of Choruses for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and in the coming weeks WABE will share his personal stories of Mr. Shaw as well as listen to recordings that exemplify the coveted “Shaw sound.”
This story is a part of The Shaw 100th initiative, a collaboration between the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, ArtsATL and WABE90.1FM to provide multifaceted coverage of Robert Shaw’s life and legacy in celebration of what would have been his 100th birthday.
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