In many ways, Jaime Martín was destined to be a conductor. His breathless enthusiasm for classical music is apparent to anyone who has attended any of his live performances, where he directly addresses audiences to share playful insights into each of the pieces he is conducting. These from-the-podium asides have long represented a distinctive aspect of Martín’s effusive efforts to make classical music as accessible, and enjoyable, as possible.

Jaime Martín. Photo courtesy of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

It is a habit that can be traced back to Martín’s childhood in Santander, Spain. Ahead of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming Brahms Festival, spread across five evenings this November, the Chief Conductor shares an anecdote underlining his love of music education as well as Johannes Brahms specifically.

“When I was 13, I was in school and it was when I was starting to discover music that I [went] completely crazy!” he recalls with a grin. “For whatever reason, I loved Brahms’ First Symphony. My father had the LP, and you would not imagine that [would] be the first kind of piece that a young student would like. But I liked it so much that I recorded [it] with a microphone...