'10 tips to becoming a conductor'

[Thropplenoggin]

via Esa-Pekka Salonen: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25155333

Interesting points raised:

1) The secret to a successful marriage is not to talk to your wife for the first seven years.

'It is OK to take your time. Being a Finnish person, things can be quite slow so it took me seven years to talk to my wife for the first time. We've been married for 22 years now, so it was worth the wait.'

2) Esa-Pekka Salonen is more enlightened than Petrenko or Temikarnov.

'The gender of a conductor is of no importance anymore. The musical world is perfectly open and willing to embrace female conductors. There is no reason for girls not to go into conducting. The business is ready and I know from experience there are no reasons why female conductors can't be just as good if not better than male ones. We are ready.'

[pastoralguy]

A little bit of talent probably helps too...

[ardcarp]

...plus luck, maybe.

Buying the right stick and tweeting a lot seems an unlikely pathway to the podium.

[MrGongGong]

...plus luck, maybe.

Buying the right stick and tweeting a lot seems an unlikely pathway to the podium.

So that's where I have gone wrong all these years
If I ditch the baseball bat and swanee whistle then I can do the Proms next year then ?

[teamsaint]

So that's where I have gone wrong all these years
If I ditch the baseball bat and swanee whistle then I can to the Proms next year then ?

#

big but easy mistake, mixing up" bat" with "baton".

Too much time spent analysing Brahms, not enough on linguistics back in uni days?

[Petrushka]

I much prefer Richard Strauss's 10 Golden Rules, full of wit and wisdom:


Ten Golden Rules For the Album of a Young Conductor

1.Remember that you are making music not to amuse yourself, but to delight your audience.

2.You should not perspire when conducting: only the audience should get warm.

3.Conduct Salome and Elektra as if they were Mendelssohn Fairy Music.

4.Never look encouragingly at the brass, except with a brief glance to give an important cue.

5.But never let the horns and woodwinds out of your sight. If you can hear them at all they are still too strong.

6.If you think that the brass is not blowing hard enough, tone it down another shade or two.

7.It is not enough that you yourself should hear every word the soloist sings. You should know it by heart anyway. The audience must be able to follow without effort. If they do not understand the words they will go to sleep.

8.Always accompany the singer in such a way that he can sing without effort.

9.When you think you have reached the limits of prestissimo, double the pace.

10.If you follow these rules carefully you will, with your fine gifts and your great accomplishments, always be the darling of your listeners.

[Dave2002]

I've become a conductor a few times, and just realised in more than one way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlnUWcfve1c

I'd forgotten this ...

Also, while wiring up lamps.

Not become a lightning conductor, though.

[mathias broucek]

I would add "be enterprising"

Unless you have a fabulous combination of otherwordly talent and good luck (right place/right time) then it's helpful to get your hands dirty and set up a group.

A number of the pro conductors I know took this path. They're not globe-trotting megastars but they earn a living. And of course Richard Hickox and Neville Marriner took this path. It's hard work, however and not everyone has the organisational skills to match their ears and stick technique.

I do some amateur conducting (winds and brass) but the amount I've done has always been up and down in part because I'm too lazy to take the organisational initiative. (That, and the existence of other conductors with far, far better ears than me..... )

[jean]

2) Esa-Pekka Salonen is more enlightened than Petrenko or Temikarnov.

'The gender of a conductor is of no importance anymore. The musical world is perfectly open and willing to embrace female conductors...'

But if that's true, the fact that so few make it can only mean that the rest are no good.

So perhaps that's an even more sexist remark than Petrenko's.

[mercia]

...... followed by 10 tips for becoming an opera star

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25462869

[MrGongGong]

...... followed by 10 tips for becoming an opera star

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25462869

I'd ditch #4
Choosing to be ignorant of a huge part of music isn't good advice for anyone
I've met uber talented young musicians who knock out the Tchaikovsky fiddle concerto for breakfast but have never knowingly listened to 'popular' music because some stupid teacher/parent has convinced them that it will somehow 'taint' their talent

[pastoralguy]

I'd ditch #4
Choosing to be ignorant of a huge part of music isn't good advice for anyone
I've met uber talented young musicians who knock out the Tchaikovsky fiddle concerto for breakfast but have never knowingly listened to 'popular' music because some stupid teacher/parent has convinced them that it will somehow 'taint' their talent

Quite agree! Quite surprised she admitted to smoking as well! Mind you, it's not done Anjelica Kirshlager's career any harm...

[pastoralguy]

I would add "be enterprising"

Unless you have a fabulous combination of otherwordly talent and good luck (right place/right time) then it's helpful to get your hands dirty and set up a group.

A number of the pro conductors I know took this path. They're not globe-trotting megastars but they earn a living. And of course Richard Hickox and Neville Marriner took this path. It's hard work, however and not everyone has the organisational skills to match their ears and stick technique.

I do some amateur conducting (winds and brass) but the amount I've done has always been up and down in part because I'm too lazy to take the organisational initiative. (That, and the existence of other conductors with far, far better ears than me..... )

I knew someone who auditioned for the ASMF a couple of years ago. He turned up early at the venue where there was to be a rehearsal later to find one little old guy setting up chairs and stands. He was greeted by the man who introduced himself as Neville!

[Nick Armstrong]

I knew someone who auditioned for the ASMF a couple of years ago. He turned up early at the venue where there was to be a rehearsal later to find one little old guy setting up chairs and stands. He was greeted by the man who introduced himself as Neville!

[ardcarp]

Neville remains a delightfully accessible person, unaffected by his fame. I wonder if the following is widely known? Another delightful couple, Jack and Jean Churchill were, at one time, joint organists of St Martin in the Fields, both capable of all the directing and playing duties. They formed a small group of orchestral musicians to give concerts in the church. Neville Marriner was one of the 2nd violins. Jack was offered the post of Prof of Music at a Canadian university, so off they went. Because of NM's outstanding organisational...and of course musical....abilities, the rest is history. Jack sadly died a few years ago, but Jean is still very much alive. Both used to reflect with a certain wry amusement at the child (ASMF) they had unwittingly spawned!