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Vocal virtuoso Bobby McFerrin conducts Detroit Symphony

After establishing himself as a one-man vocal ensemble, why would a man who loves to sing decide to take up conducting? Lofty musical ideals, or perhaps the desire to show the world that a popular artist can successfully perform art music? One might think so, but according to Bobby McFerrin, "I wanted to give myself a 40th birthday present, and I wanted to do something really different and challenging. Conducting seemed the most challenging thing I could think of."

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is featuring renowned vocalist and conductor Bobby McFerrin this weekend at Orchestra Hall. Famous for his Ocean Spray and Levi's commercials and of course his hit single "Don't Worry, Be Happy," McFerrin isn't as widely known for his conducting, a fairly recent undertaking.

Starting in 1989, McFerrin worked with conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Bernstein and Ben Zander at Tanglewood in preparation for his debut, conducting Beethoven's Seventh Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra on his 40th birthday. That was six years ago, and invitations from other orchestras are still pouring in.

But Bobby McFerrin the conductor? "Audiences generally respond very well. A few orchestras that I'm facing for the first time might have a little ambivalence on their part. But things seem to work out as we rehearse and get to know each other," McFerrin said in a recent interview with The Michigan Daily.

McFerrin likes to think of his conducting as a tribute his parents. "My parents were classically trained singers and I heard a lot of classical music as I was growing up. I think in some way I'm trying to honor the music of my parents ... but it's really my music too. It's the music they've set me with as a child, the classics, jazz, gospel, spirituals and rock 'n' roll. It's all inside me. It probably all comes out when I'm conducting, too."

Today, McFerrin studies conducting with the music director of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Hugh Wolf. He also studied at Michigan with the recently retired Gustav Meier. "I'm studying as I go along. It's on the job training," McFerrin said.

This weekend's concert includes Bizet's "March of the Toreadors from "Carmen," "An American in Paris" by Gershwin and Bernstein's Overture to "Candide." McFerrin will also perform a set of a cappella selections.

In addition, celebrated jazz and classical trumpet player Arturo Sandoval will perform an original composition as well as Haydn's Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra. Sandoval, a full professor at Florida International University, has performed with the BBC Symphony, the St. Petersburg Symphony and the Atlanta Symphony. He maintains one of the most extensive educational programs for jazz and classical study in the industry, with more than 50 performances and clinics per year.

Despite his newfound fame in conducting, McFerrin knows what his true passion is: "If I had to choose, I would most definitely choose singing. There's no doubt in my mind that I will always be a singer." And of course, it is his singing that has brought McFerrin the most success.

Since his recording debut in 1982, McFerrin has practically reinvented the voice as a jazz instrument, promoting the idea of improvisation to a wide range of audiences. In addition to singing the theme for "The Cosby Show" and the main theme from Bertrand Tavernier's film "'Round Midnight," McFerrin has earned 10 Grammy awards, recorded a No. 1 pop single and collaborated with artists such as Jack Nicholson, Manhattan Transfer, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Robin Williams.

Since 1990, McFerrin has conducted such ensembles as the Detroit Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston Pops. In 1994, he was named Creative Chair with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, perhaps the ultimate tribute in his movement toward classical influences.

After two successful albums, "Simple Pleasures" featuring "Don't Worry, Be Happy," and his first classical recording, "Hush," a set of duets with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, McFerrin released "Paper Music" in June 1995. This latest work is his first recording as a conductor and vocalist in collaboration with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

This impressive history continues with the anticipated release of a second album with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra featuring pianist Chick Corea. McFerrin is also commissioned to compose an opera for the San Francisco Opera with librettist Ishmael Reed.

McFerrin has formed two touring groups, the vocal ensemble Hard Choral and a jazz trio called Bang Zoom, enabling him to continue his career in jazz while branching out into the realms of classical music.

So what is the goal of McFerrin's music? "Transcendence. The goal is joy, that's the bottom line," he said. "I want people to feel that they've had an emotional ride of some kind, that they're not the same people leaving the hall as when they entered. To me, music is the best community building tool there is. When you get people together making music you all of a sudden become a community -- people who are together singing and dancing seem to melt the barriers a lot quicker than anything else I can think of."

But McFerrin stresses that as far as intentional musical causes go, he isn't trying to make any kind of statement through his conducting or his singing. "I have no causes, no agendas. I simply enjoy making music."