Author: Kevin

On Conducting 10

by Kevinin On Conducting

I have not had the opportunity to write a new post on conducting for over a year now, partly to do with the continuing impact of COVID on my schedule and, partly, because I have not felt the need to comment on anything to do with the profession of orchestral and opera conducting. But, yesterday, that changed.

I came across a public domain article (i.e., not one behind a pay-wall) from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalist, Jeremy Reynolds. This is a very good article, informative to the general reader and also part expose on the declining opportunities to study the Art of Conducting in the USA, as opposed to the greater opportunities in Europe.

The issue I have with this article is the individual responses from one of the conductors interviewed. Yes, he is a novice but his thinking is so common-place with the current generation of aspirational conductors; so I have discovered much to my chagrin, I believe it warrants direct critique. I have copied a slightly précis version of the original article below for follow-up reading or you can read the original article here.

The ‘job’ as stated by one interviewee is neither 98% about motivating people nor managing orchestral musicians’ egos. The conductor’s first job – and frankly only job – is to serve the music. If you believe otherwise, you’re not ready to be on the podium in my opinion. Even more egregious is the idea that conductors can practice “by waving your arms along with a recording.” Perhaps the interviewee I am lambasting here could practice by working out what gestures with the use his arms (at the very least) might impart the intention of the music whilst silently studying the score and learning to sight-sing every part in his head? Just a thought. Point: if you’re ‘waving’ your arms to someone else’s recording, you’re doing their performance, not your interpretation of the music. No orchestra hires a conductor with the specific intent to do another conductor’s idea of a piece of music.

Notwithstanding the problems I have with these specific views in Mr. Reynold’s piece, the article does an excellent job of capturing the reality for many young, and not so young, conductors in a profession losing the battle (and in my view, the War) against the rising tide of disinterest in Classical Music. Nevertheless, if these ideas of what the primary role of the conductor is do not change, the decline in audiences attending classical music concerts; exhibiting the pervasive ennui of those who no longer have any trust in what is being offered warranting the price of admission, will continue because it is about the MUSIC – not any single individual conductor’s ego, career-climbing ambitions or longer-term job-hopping strategies to ever greater personal recognition.

Behind the baton: There’s no easy path to becoming an orchestra conductor

Plenty of parents who’ve encountered celebrated abstract art have made famous the phrase “My kid could paint that!”

The sentiment arises from a lack of understanding about the techniques involved in modern art as well as some real and well-documented charlatans in the art world.

There’s a similar lack of understanding about the role of the orchestra conductor, who waves his or her arms in front of groups of musicians to keep them in time, unified in interpretation.

Conductor’s positions are some of the highest paying jobs in the classical music world, with top orchestral appointments earning millions of dollars a year and additional compensation through guest appearances with other orchestras.

Of course, there’s more to the job than meets the eye. Or the ear.

“I didn’t know this when I started down this path, but leadership, charisma, group psychology and the ability to motivate people and manage egos are really about 98% of the job,” said Jacob Joyce, 29, a new assistant conductor at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Put another way, in addition to musical ability, people skills and leadership skills are perhaps the most essential qualifiers for a conductor.

To further illuminate the career of the conductor, the Post-Gazette spoke with the Pittsburgh Symphony’s current and former staff conductors to get a snapshot of what this niche path entails.

In America, there aren’t conducting programs at the undergraduate level typically. Conducting is a vocation discovered during or after college.

There’s no standard path to success.

Take Andres Franco, former assistant PSO conductor and executive director of the North Side nonprofit City of Asylum. He trained as a concert in pianist in Colombia before moving to Texas to earn a master’s degree. His adviser suggested he take a conducting elective for the credits.

“At one of my lessons, my professor asked me to run through a piece with the youth orchestra he conducted,” Franco said. “I remember starting and finishing and nothing that happened in between. It was terrifying, exhilarating.”

Franco’s teacher, the sneaky fellow, was hiding in the orchestra to observe and then advised him to consider a career in conducting.

Another former PSO conductor, Earl Lee, 38, launched his career as a professional cellist before sustaining an injury to his hand. After a few years of teaching and trying to recover, he decided to pursue conducting as a performance outlet.

“I started to read books and study,” he said. “Sometimes you have to learn the basics on your own, but once I was in the education world, the ship started sailing and I could just steer.”

Baton basics

During school, aspiring conductors study scores of famous pieces of music and instrumental techniques and spend time on the podium in front of orchestras to gain experience, though this is rare early on. More commonly, they observe hundreds of hours of professional rehearsals and discuss ways to rehearse efficiently.

“One of the ways you think you can practice is kind of by waving your arms along with a recording,” said Joyce. “But the sensation is completely different from conducting an actual orchestra.

“The reason is that if you’re effectively conducting an orchestra you’re leading and impelling the action.”

This means that, though limited, time in front of actual musicians is the most important part of the training. It’s a terribly high-pressure environment with very limited opportunities in the beginning.

Later, toward the end of these programs, students begin applying to dozens or even hundreds of professional conducting positions.

“You just get so, so many rejections…” Lee said.

Like most jobs in the classical music industry, there are vastly more qualified applicants than positions available.

Wheat and chaff

Orchestras typically invite only a few candidates to audition. Typically, an in-person conducting audition involves an interview and rehearsing with the orchestra to demonstrate efficiency and personality.

It takes far more than musical ability to win a job.

“Chemistry is a great factor,” said Lawrence (“Larry”) Loh, a former resident conductor with the orchestra who is now music director of an orchestra in Syracuse, N.Y.

“When you’re in school, you’re not studying how to be good with people or marketing and development. There’s not a curriculum for that,” he added. “You find out about that part later.”

Of course, not everyone will win a job. Some conductors divert to conducting youth orchestras or teaching. Many leave the field altogether.

First beats

Often, a conductor’s first job is as a staff conductor (assistant, associate, resident — the title varies) at a small to medium-sized orchestra. These are contract positions that last typically from one to four years.

The salaries are livable and dependent on the size of the orchestra and the specific duties, but nowhere near the music director salary. For a rough example, at an orchestra with a $12 million budget, an assistant conductor might make $40,0000-$45,000 a year.

The job usually allows time for other projects and guest engagements and competitions.

“A lot of young conductors have to put things together piecemeal,” Joyce said. “It’s not comfortable. These aren’t jobs you’d want to find yourself in for 20 years.”

Every day is different. Staff conductors “cover” rehearsals, listening in in case the orchestra’s music director gets sick at the last minute. They conduct community and education concerts and some live-with-film orchestra concerts. They might give pre-concert lectures and interact with board members and donors. They weigh in on recording sessions and travel with the orchestra when it goes on tour.

At the end of a contract, an assistant generally tries to win an audition to be an assistant at a larger orchestra or as a full-fledged music director at a smaller orchestra.

To illustrate: Lee moved from assistant at the Pittsburgh Symphony (budget around $30 million) to assistant at the Boston Symphony Orchestra (budget around $107 million) and this year became the music director of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra in Michigan (budget of about $1.3 million).

Major leagues

At some point during the assistantship ladder, many young conductors take on an agent to help secure guest conducting spots and advance their careers.

Loh said he balances his conducting plate with a mix of classical and pops conducting. That’s become a lucrative sideline as he balances his position in Syracuse with regular guest appearances with more than a dozen orchestras.

It’s worth noting that guest conducting can actually pay more than a full-time music directorship, though these positions are more sporadic.

From this point, the hope is it’s a profession that can last a lifetime, with many conductors continuing to work well into their 80s or even 90s. Even Manfred Honeck, the Pittsburgh Symphony’s music director, is still making debuts. In September, he’ll guest conduct the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for the first time.

“When you start, you think you have great musical ideas you want to show the world,” Joyce said. “It takes that kind of ego to want the job, but it’s not really like that in the end. The job is bigger than any one person.”

On Conducting 9

by Kevinin On Conducting

A Rare Opportunity: Introduction to the Saito Technique of Conducting

On the 28th July (repeated on 30th July) – as in this month – there is an excellent opportunity for conductors to gain an introductory insight into the conducting technique developed by Saito. Very basically, the basis of the Saito method is control of acceleration and deceleration in the conducting motion. The Saito conducting technique was developed by Hideo Saito after he analysed the gestures of outstanding conductors in Europe and Japan in the 1920s and 30s.

The most famous proponent of this technique is probably Seiji Ozawa. In this introduction on 28th July, the webinar will be given by the outstanding Italian conductor, Carlo Montanaro. I have previoulsy written about Maestro Montanaro’s Opera Webinar classes – which should be mandatory for any aspiring Opera conductor. If you haven’t signed up yet, do it today.

www.operawebinar.com

I warmly suggest that if you have a real interest in examining all the different conducting techniques proposed by different pedagogues, join this webinar. Information can be found at the above link.

More soon,

Kevin

On Conducting 8

by Kevinin On Conducting

Giving Center Stage To Real Artistry: Tony Bennett at 94 Years Young

This post is inspired by my good friend; and the most complete musician I know, Lee Musiker. Lee is one of the finest Jazz pianists in the world and, in my opinion, the most gifted and musically well informed Jazz music director working today. He has acted as MD for artists including the legendary Barbara Cook, Jerry Lewis, as well as the sublime talents of Tony Bennett amongst many others.

Lee directed me toward an article recently in the latest issue of AARP magazine (Feb/Mar 2021) and the effect of Alzheimer’s disease now afflicting Bennett who, at the age of 94 years young, continues to defy the extreme ravages of this terrible disease.

You can – and should – read the full article here. Not only is this article by John Colapinto one of the very best pieces I have read in a long time, it is profoundly moving in the way that it captures the courage and humanity of Bennett and love and strength of his wife, Susan.

Here’s the point: Listen to any of the great Tony Bennett songs (none better than ‘The Shadow of Your Smile’ from the film, The Sandpiper) and you quickly come to the sobering realisation that no conductor can ever express the depth and shades of colour that can be elicited from the single human voice.

Below is a list of eight ‘TB’ albums to get you started if you don’t enough of this man’s work captured on 60 albums, several compilations, duet collaborations and live albums (the ‘Live at Carnegie Hall’ album being a standout):

1950: Boulevard of Broken Dreams

1951: Because of You

1953: Rags to Riches

1959: Smile

1962: I Left My Heart in San Francisco

1965: The Shadow of Your Smile

1965: Fly Me to the Moon

1975: But Beautiful

On Conducting 7

by Kevinin On Conducting

The Fixation on Beating Patterns as the Primary Starting Point for Conducting Teaching

The above video with Marin Alsop, giving a to-camera introduction to time-beating in 4/4, is typical of the pedagogy used in introducing the Art of Conducting to beginner students irrespective of the age at which they begin learning.

The problem is that beating in 4/4 is neither artful nor does it represent conducting as an artform. So why do conductors – both who are pedagogues and/or active working conductors – perpetuate this model and ingrain the idea of beat patterns as the primary means of communication between conductor and orchestra from the outset?

I have always found it notionally ludicrous that orchestral musicians playing under a conductor apparently can’t count up to four (or 2 or 3 etc.) once shown the tempo at which the musical passage begins. Alsop is correct that for the players, as opposed to the audience, the initial movement of the conductor – in this case, the ubiquitous raising of the right arm in an upward vertical-like movement – is critical to the information that the players need to time when the actual sound of the music will begin and, how quickly or slowly the music will then proceed.

More on why this preparation movement is almost invariably ‘upwards’ – and why it is often the worst thing a conductor can do later.

But, the issue remains, after this visual/physical has been given the orchestra players don’t need any further timing information to perform the notes and dynamics of the music until there is a change in the tempo in the music itself to be conveyed by the conductor (but, in fact, is often agogically given by the concertmaster when a conductor mismanages this critical aspect of their role).

Why, therefore, is the concept of time-beating perpetuated as the basis of conducting in performance when it is the least important aspect of conveying musical interpretation to players in an orchestra?

My view is that this approach has become ingrained in methodologies of teaching which have been passed down from the old conducting treatises dating back to the late 19th Century, as epitomised in the didactic teachings of Richard Wagner and Felix Weingartner to mention just two of the prominent culprits. Mid-century texts by Rudolf, Malko, and Green et al generally pursued similar aesthetic approaches to greater or less tedium.

As the predominant textbooks have perpetuated the primary concept of musical expression of a conductor to be derived from the exacting study of combinations of beat-pattern patterns which, when expertly ‘melded’, combine to create the fluid movements of a conductor into a seamless representation of the music being performed as physical gesture, so too have we witnessed multiple generations of conductors looking like traffic policeman and policewomen directing vehicles in front of orchestral ensembles.

Various alternative approaches to finding a better means for conductors to impart more precise, nuanced and detailed musical ideas to an orchestral ensemble have been developed, but they are difficult for students starting out to discern or even identify. Equally, there are conductor/teachers who have developed new techniques for developng such skills albeit the conceptual basis in respect to teaching aesthetic varies considerably.

Here is one conceptual idea for the preparatory beat and movement of the right arm to start a piece of music that you often see in conductors not fixated on beat patterns (think Gennady Rozhdestvesnky, Carlos Kleiber, Jascha Horenstein, Andre Cluytens and contemporaries such as Lahav Shani):

Start the preparation for the downbeat (assuming beat 1 is the start of the music) moving from above the left shoulder at the point of beat 2 in a 4/4/ pattern moving sideways left-to-right in a horizontal motion with the downbeat ending out to the right of the body relative to beat in 3 in a standard textbook 4/4 pattern. Result: a downbeat that is not vertical and is not displaced downwards. Consequence: “one is not always down”. Of course, such a preparation and downbeat would only make musical and physical sense if the primary sound is to begin in the lower tessitura instruments of the ensemble and assuming they are on the right-hand side of the conductor as (s)he faces it.

Thinking in horizontal planes and not only vertical planes opens up an endless vista of conducting gesture possibilities in three dimensions.

Whereas, a detailed list of the worst culprits in terms of published methodologies about conducting technique grounded in beat patterns ultimately only represents my opinion (and many conductors will disagree with me) I do hold to the opinion that young and experienced conductors alike should read everything on the subject that they can access. Over time one learns to separate what is valuable and to absorb those ideas that work for each individual.

Nonetheless, let me mention a couple of resources that I do believe are worth pursuing. Here’s a very short list:

  • Embodied Conducting as taught by Charles Gambetta. Charles teaches workshop based on this technique and his teaching is excellent.
  • Score Study Passes by Lawrence Golen is a concise but highly effective methodology on the thorough and systematic approach to preparing scores for rehearsal and performance.
  • The Techniques of Orchestral Conducting by Ilia Musin (trans. Oleg Proskurnya) is an English translation of the conducting methodolgy of Professor Ilia Musin, the creator of the “Leningrad/St. Petersburg school of conducting. This is one of very few book on conducting teaching (which includes beat patterns) that has real merit. It is, admittedly, more easily understood by advanced students and professional conductors.