RHYTHM FROM THE HEART TREGER'S GIFT WITH MUSIC A GIFT TO OTHERS.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

If he took away nothing else from his training, violinist Alexander Treger learned the pivotal lesson that a teacher - no matter how accomplished he becomes at his craft - never stops being a student. It was internationally renowned violinist David Oistrakh who imparted that bit of wisdom back when Treger was a student at the Moscow Conservatory.

``That's something I have always remembered,'' said Treger, 51. ``Every student, every group, every orchestra. You can learn a lot. It's a two-way street, and I definitely feel comfortable with this way of teaching where I trust my students.''

It's a good outlook for a man whose career has seldom been without a student to teach or a young orchestra to prepare.

There have been the master classes Treger has taught all over the world, and his 20-year affiliation with UCLA's Music Department, where he taught violin. Since 1993, Treger has been the music director and conductor of the chamber orchestra at Crossroads High School, and, most recently, he took over at the helm of the American Youth Symphony following the retirement of the orchestra's founder, Mehli Mehta.

So what is it about his work with young musicians that gets him so fired up? Treger said it's the thrill of discovery.

``Sometimes you come to rehearsal on a Saturday morning, and you have a group of young people playing a familiar piece of music - like Beethoven's Fifth or Tchaikovsky's Fifth - something a professional orchestra has performed thousands of times,'' said Treger from his home in Tarzana. ``What I experience with the young people, most of them are experiencing it for the first time, and it's that enthusiasm, that novelty of playing something that is so familiar to professionals that makes the music that much more exciting.''

When he talks about his AYS performers, who range in age from 18 to 25, there is nothing paternal or didactic in Treger's tone. He is an instructor, yes, but one who knows his pupils are exceptional, that they will move on. The constantly rotating crop of musicians are among the finest in Southern California. Many of them will ``graduate'' AYS - considered a training orchestra - and move on to positions with the L.A. Philharmonic and with prominent orchestras across the country.

While they're here with AYS, they'll learn from maestro Treger, and he'll learn from them as well.

``I always tell my friends and supporters, 'Please come to the rehearsals on Saturday mornings,' '' said Treger. ``Performances are one thing, and the environment is more formal, but to see the interaction, the learning process, the experience young people get of trying to learn a new repertoire ... part of my biggest pleasure is sharing with them the experience I had of playing in orchestras for more than 25 years.''

Now in his second season as music director-conductor of the AYS, Treger is only the second person to occupy the position. Mehta led the symphony for 33 years before retiring at the age of 90.

To hear Treger tell it, there was little disruption when the orchestra switched leaders. While the two men have different conducting and musical styles, the tradition Mehta established remains in good hands with his hand-picked successor, said Julia Cser, AYS concertmaster.

``Both of them have a great love for music,'' said Cser, 22, a five year- member of the AYS, who has worked with both men. ``Both of them had that basic hope and goal to make beautiful music, which I definitely think is the best thing for us to feel.''

When she first worked with Treger, during his stint as a guest conductor, Cser found herself intimidated.

``I knew in the back of my mind, he's this great violinist,'' said Cser. ``I was always very insecure, and I was the principal second violinist, so I was sitting right under his nose. I was so scared I couldn't even move.

``But he has put us all at ease. He's so sweet, so kind and very helpful. He's putting his heart and soul into this.''

The orchestra rehearses once a week, performing once a month between October and May, in free concerts at UCLA's Royce Hall. Sunday will be its annual gala benefit at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, a performance featuring guest soloist John Nakamatsu and actor Gene Barry as the guest narrator during the performance of Copland's ``Lincoln Portrait.'' Nakamatsu's performance is donated free of charge, as is the case with all the guest artists performing with AYS.

The evening will also feature Bernstein's overture to ``Candide,'' Rachmaninoff's ``Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini'' and a segment from Gershwin's ``An American in Paris.''

It's primarily an American program, which, according to Treger, was a deliberate choice.

``I thought it would be quite interesting for our audiences,'' said Treger. ``Also it was something the young people in our orchestra need to know. So that was the idea behind it. We are, after all, the American Youth Symphony.''

Treger said he is delighted whenever the orchestra gets attention but is unwilling to single out individual members for praise. That wouldn't be fair to the rest of the ensemble, he said.

``I can assure you that in years to come, we will hear about them.''

We'll continue to hear from their leader as well. In addition to his solo violin performances, Treger is the concertmaster with the L.A. Philharmonic, a position he has occupied for 15 years.

``I think of myself as a musician,'' he said. ``There are many aspects of being a musician, in my opinion. Performing, teaching, conducting - that's what I do. That's what makes my life as a musician full.''

But not composing?

``I've done that very early in my life,'' Treger said with a laugh. ``It wasn't very good.''

The facts

--What: American Youth Symphony's 35th annual Gala Benefit Concert.

--Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

--When: 7 p.m. Sunday.

--Tickets: $50 to $60, or $250 including dinner. Call [phone].

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Photo: ``Part of my biggest pleasure is sharing with (the students) the experience I had of playing in orchestras for more than 25 years, says Alexander Treger, music director and conductor of the American Youth Symphony.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer