Melinda Bargreen
Special to The Seattle Times

Jet-lagged but unfailingly charming, incoming Seattle Symphony maestro Ludovic Morlot conducted Thursday’s daylong series of media interviews — television, radio, print, Internet — with all the grace of a Mozart symphony.

It’s clear that his “people skills” will be a considerable asset to the French-born Morlot’s first job as music director (which he starts in 2011), a position in which making music will not be the only part of the job as this city’s musical figurehead.

Morlot, 36, who was recently named successor to Gerard Schwarz when the latter’s tenure ends next year, will move here from Lyon, France, with his wife, Ghizlane, and two young daughters, Nora and Iman, before taking up his new baton. For much of his career, he has been a visiting conductor to some of the world’s top orchestras. Now Morlot is ready to settle down here.

Why Seattle, and why now?

“I felt an instant rapport with this orchestra,” he explains of his two previous guest-conducting visits to the Seattle Symphony (in October 2009 and in April). “And I feel I am ready to be a music director. I now have enough repertoire to be confident about communicating my ideas in all kinds of music, from classical to new works. I’ve done life on the road for a few years, and while it is very fulfilling to conduct the Chicago Symphony and other great orchestras, I’m ready to really build something together with this orchestra. I want to build up the kind of sound I would like to hear.”

The Seattle Symphony’s potential, Morlot says, is “outstanding. Conducting is really a way of life, not just a job, and you share everything with these people. For me, the bonus is that this is a great city to live in, and a great environment for the family.”

It’s not going to be such a wrench, moving the family from France: Morlot jokes that of the four family members, his English is possibly the worst. (It’s extremely fluent, by the way.) His second daughter was born in Boston, during his tenure as assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony; both girls are enrolled in an international school and are “completely bilingual,” as is his wife, who has worked as a translator.

Not surprisingly, it’s a music-loving family: Last year, while Morlot conducted the dress rehearsal of a Juilliard Orchestra concert at Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the girls were still enjoying the music in the balcony after three hours of rehearsing.

Morlot says his “dream season” for the Seattle Symphony is still in the planning stages. It’s overwhelming, he says, to realize that he can program whatever he wants.

There will be French music, of course: “It’s part of my heritage and I am often asked to conduct French works. But not too much! I have many favorites, from the classical composers to new music. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven make the orchestra better, because you are naked on the stage — it’s easier to be more hidden in a Mahler or Shostakovich symphony. But this orchestra is so versatile that there will be a great deal of variety in the programming.”

What needs fixing?

“Well, this is not a critical comment, but I hope I can bring a little more warmth to the sound. And it is possibly missing a little power — this might be a seating issue. There are many things we can explore; ultimately, we are making chamber music together.”

Morlot isn’t worried about the extramusical aspects of his job.

“I want to be focused on the music; everything is in service of that,” he explains. “We have a great [administrative] team working here. I am not worried about the other challenges; for me the greatest challenge is standing in front of the orchestra with an open score and deciding exactly what you want to do with it.

“If you care for music like I do, you can’t sleep peacefully if you don’t connect with the community and do something for education. I will try to extend the existing links with school and bring the orchestra to the communities.”

And his message to Seattle? Come on down!

“Even with my back to the audience, I can feel their great energy,” he says of Benaroya Hall performances. “It’s a fascinating spectacle to look at these players and what they can do with their instruments … and to listen!”

Melinda Bargreen also reviews concerts for classical KING-FM (98.1). She can be reached at mbargreen@aol.com.