April 24, 2002

Bert goes out on high note

TSO Concertmaster bows out after 17 years as top violinist

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Jack Bert gave his final performance concert as Concertmaster for the Traverse Symphony Orchestra Saturday night at the Corson Auditorium.
      Going out on the strains of a masterpiece, he and the orchestra offered a stunning rendition of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, led by conductor Kevin Rhodes, to the sold-out audience.
      The dramatic piece was the perfect showcase for Bert's passionate playing of the violin.
      "Jack makes music from the heart," said Rhodes, music director of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. "He was without fail an inspiration to both his colleagues in the orchestra and myself. It's a great feeling as a conductor to know you don't have to 'wake up' the Concertmaster. My colleagues and I will miss him very much."
      Bert is choosing to retire after 17 years as Concertmaster so he can concentrate on a new passion: improvisational music in the popular genre. Despite a lifetime of classical and symphonic training and performance, Bert has been venturing into improv for the past ten years. After nine years of unsatisfactory experimentation, last year something clicked for him and he is raring to pursue it in depth.
      "It has been very, very exciting," Bert, who also has a music business with his wife, Liz, called Music A La Carte . "I don't know where it will lead but I do enjoy it a great deal."
      Leaving the symphony does have some bittersweet moments. Unwilling to completely sever ties, Bert has offered to stay involved as a substitute Concertmaster or in the TSO's youth orchestra or education program.
      "Musically and personally it has been just wonderful," said Bert. "There's been so much to learn and so many wonderful moments and so much wonderful music. It has been a privilege to be a part of it all."
      During his 17 years of leadership at the TSO, from which he took a one-year break, Bert has been an inspiration for the rest of the orchestra. Other musicians recognize and respond to his passion and commitment to excellence.
      "Jack is very conscientious and very intense and that comes out a lot in his style of leading us," said Carolyn Collins, a violin player in the symphony and a private violin teacher. "He is obviously really excited and immersed in the music himself and he really communicates that to the whole orchestra."
      Bert grew up steeped in music and had deep ties to the Traverse City music community. His mother, Carolyn Bert, was the TSO's Concertmaster from 1963 until she retired in 1978. His father L.J. Bert, was principal violinist and president of the TSO board for many years; he also headed up the Traverse City Area Public Schools string program.
      A native of Kewanee, Ill., Bert traveled to Chicago every Saturday for six years, a 300-mile round trip, to study the violin with prominent violinists. In addition, every summer throughout high school he attended the Interlochen Arts Academy. He was Concertmaster for two entire summers in what is now known as the World Youth Orchestra, a difficult feat to say the least.
      "Every Friday there were tryouts and challenges and you could lose your seat at any time," recalled Bert, who first played at Interlochen at age seven, just three years after he began learning the violin. "I managed to keep my seat for two entire sessions."
      Bert has a bachelor's degree in theater arts from the University of Illinois and played as a first violinist in the Kansas City Orchestra after college. He is also known around town for the many years he spent as a bike mechanic for the City Bike Shop.
      While he has studied and played with many talented musicians, he considers himself largely self-taught. In addition, there was a long period in his life where he did not play publicly at all and hardly for himself.
      "I am an anomaly. I spent so many years as a bike mechanic I'm sort of halfway between a professional and an amateur musician," Bert noted. "A lot of what I've learned playing the violin has been on my own and, to an extent, it is a little unorthodox."