Thomas Adès Takes Up The Baton At The BSO As Its First 'Artistic Partner'

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is taking the stage this weekend under the direction of Thomas Adès, a man who's been called one of the "finest" and "most original" composers of our time.

He is conducting the BSO and vocalists on several works, including his own "Totentanz" — that's German for "Dance of Death."

Adès is from London — but for at least the next three years, he'll be spending more time than usual on this side of the pond, as the BSO's first "artistic partner." In the role, Adès says he'll be "jogging alongside" the BSO and will spend time working with the musicians at Tanglewood over the summer.

He can add that to an already busy list of titles: composer, conductor, pianist.

We visited with Ades after a rehearsal at Symphony Hall this week and he explained that composer comes first on the resume because it's the most difficult.