A Woman's Touch II

I’m still ridiculously jetlagged (and thus very out of it) from my trip to Korea (in fact, I think I asked Sam “Where am I?” as I wandered onto stage for rehearsal this morning).

It was a fascinating trip. I hadn’t worked in Asia since a stint at the New National Theatre Tokyo in 2002, so I’d forgotten how tough the initial day or two could be. It’s hard enough, as a conductor, to stand there as the general manager introduces you to an ensemble you’ve never worked with, listen to the polite applause from the orchestra as you step up to the podium for the first time, and try to figure out (over the course of that first rehearsal) how this particular group works. What makes things even more challenging are the sometimes dubious, occasionally bemused and decidedly confused expressions of an ensemble who has never seen (or perhaps never even entertained the notion of) a female conductor.

I discussed in a previous blog some thoughts on being a woman on the podium. I still maintain that most musicians (in the end) don’t give a hoot about gender, as long as you know what you’re doing. But I really mean, “in the end”. Here in the US there is a fairly high likelihood that one will have encountered a female conductor at some point. And even if one hasn’t, the notion of equal rights is enough of an established element of our education and culture that most people would not doubt my knowledge or skills based on my gender (although, let’s face it, we really do still have a ways to go in the area of gender equality).

And this is where cultural differences really step in. Korea has been called a “patriarchal democracy” and is a country in which the traditional Confucian ideology of male superiority still holds sway. Understandably, this made my job quite difficult. When I raise my baton for the first time in front of any orchestra, I know that just as much as I will be assessing the ensemble, every single musician will be assessing me right back. A conductor, by necessity, has something to prove during that first rehearsal, and sometimes (as in my first rehearsal in Seoul), as a female conductor, I have much more to prove that I would if I were male.

It took a full rehearsal and some carefully considered levity (I like to try to get the orchestra to have a good time – I find that if I can get people to relax, smile and be in a good mindframe the music-making is better) to get the orchestra comfortable and more open to me. We spent the entire 2 1/2 hours on Mendelssohn’s 5th Symphony, and I worked a great deal on blending the sound and striving for a sense of line. Musicians respect musicianship, efficient rehearsal technique and a consistent viewpoint. And evidence of these factors can usually overrule any lingering doubts about the ability of a woman to wield a baton.

The concert went well, and by the end of the week we were exchanging greetings and joking during breaks as if we all went way back. It took a lot of work. But I knew we’d get there.