text: Professor Livingston Taylor to perform with Saint Rose Orchestra - seattlepi.com
  https://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/Professor-Livingston-Taylor-to-perform-with-Saint-4293703.php
  Professor Livingston Taylor to perform with Saint Rose Orchestra
  Livingston Taylor to perform with Saint Rose Orchestra
  Updated 3:47 am, Thursday, February 21, 2013
  Livingston Taylor (Courtesy College of Saint Rose)
  That's professor Taylor to you.
  Singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor will perform Friday with The College of Saint Rose Orchestra at the school's Massry Center for the Arts.
  In addition to his long career as an artist — with hits including "I Will Be In Love With You" and "Boatman" — Taylor has been a full professor for almost 25 years at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. He teaches a popular Stage Performance class that trains young artists how to "be" onstage in addition to being one with their instrument.
  Taylor won't be teaching at Saint Rose, but he will spend the afternoon rehearsing with the students and some of his vast knowledge of the craft is bound to rub off.
  Taylor, 62, comes from a large musical family. His famous brother James (who has recorded a number of Livingston's songs) lives in the Berkshires, and his sister Kate was just in town last week for a Valentine's Day show at The Egg with guitarist Albert Lee.
  But Taylor has always followed his own path. He's as likely to sing a Broadway standard as one of his own classic compositions. And when he busts out the with banjo extravaganza, all bets are off.
  It's no surprise that the man who teaches the world what to do onstage is pretty comfortable in the spotlight. His past local appearances have been charming, spontaneous and very homey affairs. He admits that with a full orchestra (conducted by David Bebe) behind him at Saint Rose, though, he'll have to hew to something a little closer to a plan.
  That is, until he opens the banjo case.
  Q: How often do you get a chance to do this special kind of show?
  Where: Kathleen McManus Picotte Recital Hall, Massry Center for the Arts, 1002 Madison Avenue, Albany
  Info: 337-4871; http://www.strose.edu/concerts
  A: Not often, once every couple of years. It's always a fantastic thrill for me
  Q: Do you perform differently at music school than you might elsewhere?
  A: I am performing with more of an awareness that I'm a teacher. As you could expect, there are likely to be some teacheresque behaviors. That being said, you could argue that as a teacher, I'm more like a musician, so I guess it goes either way.
  Q: What's the preparation process for a show like this?
  A: The orchestra runs through the charts I send them ahead of time. These are good, competent musicians, and the charts (most of them by an arranger friend of mine named Bill Elliott) are excellent. They're written to make good players sound very good. It goes ahead fairly easily, and we'll have a couple of hours together day of show.
  Q: Will you have a chance to chat with individual students?
  A: We need to get through our work, so it's fairly formal. In break times, though, we'll have a little chance to interact.
  Q: This is a pretty different way of working for you, yes?
  A: There's no way that it's going to be as spontaneous as how things are when I'm doing one of my own shows at a club. Those are nonstop in-the-moment. This is different. It's unique for me and it's something I really enjoy. It's great to be working with 60-odd players. It's like having the biggest backup band in the world. That's fun.
  Q: You've been a musician and performer your entire life, and a teacher as well. What might you be if you hadn't found music?
  A: Well, music is sort of the grid, the framework that allows my brain to go in all sorts of places. I can certainly envision myself as a mechanical engineer or a surgeon. I like that technical aspect of things. I particularly love the technical aspect of medicine. Treatment of the soul is good, but the notion that a part is broken and you can go in and fix it, I like that very much.
  When writing and making music, a song is a big vast puzzle that needs to be assembled. You have to figure out compromises and how to get from one place to another. It's been a wonderful way to live a life.