That didn’t take long.
Nathan Aspinall has only been in town about a month on the job as assistant conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and already has bought the perfect Florida accessory.
A Toyota Solara convertible.
“I took the plunge,” he said of his champagne-colored ragtop.
He’s already found a couple of favorite restaurants: Black Sheep, especially its rooftop bar, and Hawkers Asian Street Fare.
And, he’s a big fan of Aardwolf Brewing Co.
“I have not been to many places so experimental and imaginative,” he said of the Hendricks Avenue brewery.
But the bulk of his time has been spent attending orchestra-related events, meeting the musicians and the staff, and talking with supporters.
The addition of Aspinall completed a triumvirate of key hires for the symphony over the past 16 months: Courtney Lewis as music director and Robert Massey as president and CEO.
Aspinall’s duties include assisting Lewis and the guest conductors, conducting off-stage bands and getting the chance to conduct several concerts on his own.
His first is The Music of Nat King Cole, with vocalist Denzal Sinclaire, on Oct. 16 and 17.
For the 25-year-old Aspinall, his love of classical music dates back to when he was a young kid growing up in Australia and received a “Best of Mozart” CD as a gift.
It turned out to be the gift of a career path.
Classical music not in family genes
Aspinall started taking piano lessons when he was 5 or 6. A few years later — in one of his earliest memories — Aspinall received that Mozart CD.
He listened to it so much it became ingrained in his memory, especially the first track, The Marriage of Figaro.
“I can’t hear that piece any other way than how I heard it on that CD,” he said.
His love of classical music is puzzling in the sense that no one in his family, even his extended family, shared that interest. None of them play instruments, either.
In high school, Aspinall studied trumpet and French horn. It’s also where he got his first shot at conducting, thanks to his teacher who let him lead the school’s orchestra.
“It must have sounded terrible,” Aspinall said.
But he knew that’s what he wanted to do with his life. That he never loved playing as much as he loved conducting.
After graduating from college, he got a job as a young conductor with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
In 2012, he participated in the acclaimed Aspen Music Festival. That opened a lot of doors for Aspinall, particularly in the United States.
It’s also where he met Hugh Wolff, who teaches at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Aspinall began taking classes from Wolff and worked as assistant conductor with the Boston Youth Symphony.
Then he heard about the opening in Jacksonville.
Making the connection
Aspinall had never been to Jacksonville when he and the other finalists came to audition.
They each had two opportunities to work with the musicians. Aspinall was up first in the first rotation, then last in the second one.
Though he had never worked with the Jacksonville group, he spent a lot of time studying the music before coming to town.
Aspinall said 90 percent of a conductor’s time is spent alone developing the concept and vision for the music. He estimates conductors typically spend about an hour of studying per minute of music.
From the beginning of the second movement of Brahms’ First Symphony, his first session was a “nice experience” with the Jacksonville musicians.
They were “very professional and serious and focused but also very relaxed and warm and friendly,” he said.
Aspinall stopped early to ask the musicians for certain phrasing and dynamic details he wanted.
“We did it again and they did exactly what I wanted,” he said. “That’s the best feeling. That’s what you want.”
Feeling that connection with the musicians is priceless for a conductor. Aspinall recalled a time he was conducting the Sydney Symphony when he was 21.
“I literally felt like every musician was at my fingertips,” he said. “It was like if I slightly moved either way, it would get a response from the orchestra.”
At the end of the second round of auditions in Jacksonville, the finalists waited in the same room for word on who had won the job. They passed the time mostly talking about non-musical topics, he said, such as where they had traveled.
Aspinall found out in about an hour he had won the 12-month contract in Jacksonville.
That didn’t take long.
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