Victor Sawa wraps 20 years as Regina Symphony Orchestra maestro

Conductor Victor Sawa recalls a life-altering encounter with live classical music: He was given a ticket for a Saturday morning children's concert by the Montreal Symphony.

With that, Sawa went from being a fan of his hometown Canadiens, as everyone in his house was, to a youngster deeply immersed in music.

He was, in a word, hooked.

"I just went nuts," he said. "This is so great."

On Saturday, after a 20-year run with the baton for the Regina Symphony, Sawa steps aside for a new musical director.

"It was purely coincidental that I ended up in Regina," Sawa said. He thought, in the 1990s, that his talent would have him working gigs in New York. "It was nothing close to what I was planning."

Over the course of his music career, Sawa (who is coy about his age and hints that he is around 55) has performed at the Smithsonian Institute, the White House and for royalty.

In Regina, the avid sports fan (he will happily don a Roughriders jersey before the symphony players) has earned a reputation for making classical music fun for everyone.

"If I have a pet peeve, it's snobbery," Sawa said. "It's so fake."

He has led outdoor concerts and provided theme nights linked to cinema classics such as Star Wars.

"Let's do movies," he recalled telling the general manager of the symphony after learning they didn't have enough money to completely fill a season. The manager was not convinced the idea would sell tickets.

"Well, did it ever," he said. "It's the top-selling concert in the pop series."

Steps aside for 'new and improved' leader

When pressed about two decades in a leadership role with the symphony, Sawa said he never concerned himself with building a personal legacy.

"I do what I do until the board wants to throw me out," he said. "Then I go my way."

Sawa, without bitterness, said he would have liked to have stayed with the symphony for two more years, but he doesn't having a problem with change.

"They wanted somebody new and improved," he said.

As far as what he plans to do next, Sawa was easy-going about the topic.

"I like model ships, my stamp collection, my jig-saw puzzles and that's what I want to do," he said. "Play golf and get in shape."

He said he will stay in Regina where his wife has a well-established veterinary clinic.

On the program Saturday, for his final show, will be the first and ninth symphonies of Beethoven.