Breaking his silence, conductor Jung-Ho Pak explains why he is leaving Cape Symphony

Jung-Ho Pak said he is leaving the Cape Symphony after 17 years because he wants to remake how symphonies operate so performances attract larger and more diverse audiences.

“I didn’t want it to be about classical music, about art. I wanted it to be about human beings and their connection. I didn’t want art for art’s sake, I wanted to make people happy ― and that’s a very radical idea.

"I want to bring in to our audiences more people who don't think of themselves as going to the symphony and people who don't even know yet that the symphony exists or what it does," he said.

Pak said he had no specific complaints about the Cape Symphony where he felt the orchestra and the community have “adopted me.”

But at 61, he is questioning the national model of symphonies being nonprofit organizations, dependent on the dollars and wishes of those who donate.

Conductor questions nonprofit, donations-based model

“I know this is radical, but maybe symphonies should not be charities,” Pak said. “Maybe there should not be hard lines drawn separating symphonies from dance, film, acting and other arts.”

Pak said he is proud that Cape Symphony has, in the past few years, had sold-out performances and, unlike most symphonies, raised 80 percent of its budget from ticket sales. Cape Symphony's reputation in Boston and farther has been cemented as one of the best regional orchestras around, he said.

The Cape Symphony announced Pak’s departure in late May saying he would stay on through summer’s end and the symphony would have a year of guest conductors after Pak left.

With the exception of one line in the written release, Pak has not commented. He broke his six-week silence Sunday during a half-hour interview with the Cape Cod Times.

Jung Ho Pak: 'Whenever a hero shows up, there’s a French horn.'

Sitting in the wings as Cape Symphony musicians prepared for “Star Wars,” his last time conducting at Barnstable Performing Arts Center at Barnstable High School, Pak praised the orchestra for its willingness to support all kinds of new ventures. Concerts have ranged from an Australian conductor with a didgeridoo player to a “Wizard of Oz” show that paired the symphony with local actors.

“Cape Symphony and the community, but especially the orchestra, has allowed me to do the most risky, incredible things.”

Asked about criticism for his reportedly abandoning symphony youth programs after his strong start at bringing music appreciation into schools, Pak said the educational programs were transferred to the symphony's executive director 11 years ago.

Pak said he has still visited every music classroom on Cape, works with two regional youth orchestras and holds an annual master class to help music teachers inject passion into their instruction.

Cape Symphony executive director Michael Albaugh said Monday that education programs have been overseen by an education director, currently Assunta “Su” D'Ambrosio, since 2010 when the symphony merged with Cape Conservatory.

"I’m devastated just as everybody else is," Albaugh said, regarding Pak's departure. "I worked with him at Interlochen (Center for the Arts) for seven years and followed him here. He has carried this institution to new heights. And this man officiated my wedding. It’s personal for me.

"These were his choices and we’re just going to support him as much as we can," he said about Pak. "He’s an ambitious guy. He has dreams and visions he was always talking about."

When one nearby instrument’s riffs made it hard to hear each other, Pak said fondly, “That’s the French horn with Luke Skywalker’s song. Whenever a hero shows up, there’s a French horn.”

The weekend’s sold-out performances of “Star Wars,” a long-time conductor’s dream for Pak, demonstrated the intersection of classical music and cultural phenomenon for which the conductor is known.

The orchestra played John Williams’ lush symphonic music while George Lucas’ 1977 film “Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope,” was projected with subtitles behind the orchestra.

Pak told the crowd that Williams’ score was groundbreaking because it gave each character its own musical theme.

'Star Wars': The cantina at Mos Eisley

An odd note: Pak, in a short-sleeved black t-shirt, blocked a small corner of the screen as he conducted. In the infamous Mos Eisley Cantina scene, Pak’s disembodied arms looked like another otherworldly character.

The crowd in the auditorium included Dads wearing “Star Wars” t-shirts with their kids in full Stormtrooper or Princess Leia regalia. It must have taken 1,000 bobby pins to secure all the iconic Princess Leia side buns worn by so many, including Assistant Concertmaster Rhiannon Banerdt, who paired the hairstyle with black sequined trousers.

Pak shook her hand and then summoned the orchestra to their feet for a pre-show bow after wave-upon-wave of applause greeted them.

“It’s a little thing, but we bow together,” Pak said. “Often the conductor bows alone, but I’m not doing that work by myself.”

Pak is leaving along with six members of the production staff who have helped stage Cape Symphony concerts. Sunday brought gifts, flowers, hugs and tears for many.

Pak talks legacy

In the pre-show interview, Pak talked about the importance of democratization ― of giving each person accessibility to music the way Apple co-founder Steve Jobs gave people the technology to get out their written and video messages.

“If they wrote on my tombstone that I was the Steve Jobs of symphonic music, that would make me happy,” Pak said.

Pak, who has conducted in Europe, the Soviet Union, South America and Asia, often speaks out about the importance of art in everyday life.

Jung Ho Pak's last Cape Symphony concert is free, outside

He will conduct the Cape Symphony once more, during Symphony at the Seashore, a free outside concert at 7 p.m. Aug. 24 at Salt Pond Visitor Center Amphitheater in Eastham at the Cape Cod National Seashore. Vocalists Mozelle Andrulot, who grew up in Eastham, and Ella Mae Dixon, originally from Wellfleet, will join with a program that includes American classics “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Fascinating Rhythm,” and “I Only Have Eyes For You.”

After leaving Cape Symphony, Pak said, he will continue his other job as conductor of the Bay Philharmonic in Fremont, California, but that he and his wife will keep their home in Sandwich. The conductor said he is working on a project on Cape Cod but noted, “It’s a secret for now.”

“You have to remember that the people we revere now ― Beethoven, Mozart, Stravinsky ― were revolutionaries in their time. We have to do that. We have to be revolutionaries.”

Gwenn Friss is CapeWeek editor and also covers restaurants, arts and entertainment. Contact her at gfriss@capecodonline.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Symphony's Jung-Ho Pak leaves to create music that welcomes all