Andris Nelsons is a bear of a man. The 35-year-old Latvian conductor, who will become the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s youngest music director in more than a century, is over 6 feet tall, and when he stands on the podium, he moves.

„Through conducting,“ Nelsons says, „you express through your arms, through your face and even the body, what you want to tell, so the musicians of the orchestra understand.“

In July, when Nelsons made his first appearance as music director designate at Tanglewood, the summer home of the BSO, the musicians understood.

Elizabeth Rowe, principal flutist of the BSO, says that above all, Nelsons is „an incredibly enthusiastic musician.“

„His love for the music is so palpable,“ Rowe says. „And there’s a tremendous sincerity to what he brings that is really — it’s fresh and it’s very inspiring.“

Read the entire feature via NPR.org