What they never teach you in conducting school...
...is how much you end up talking in this career!
Sam described in his most recent post the process of scripting our Inside the Classics shows - a process that I'm quite delighted about, because he really does a majority of the work, and it takes an enormous amount of time. The fact remains, however, that we need to brainstorm the initial ideas together, and I'm responsible for the content of my own sections (like the "musical geekery" - showing thematic connections in Stravinsky - in our "Firebird" show) and for learning those lines well enough that I'm not tripping over myself onstage.
Talking from the podium (or anywhere from the stage, for that matter!) is tricky. First of all, one wants to sound knowledgeable, but not uptight, both erudite and down-to-earth. Second of all, there is the matter of keeping everything in order in one's head; the contrast between conducting an orchestra and whipping around to chat with the audience is tremendous - I'm convinced each skill uses completely different parts of the brain, which have to be engaged on a moments notice - not to mention trying to speak intelligibly into a microphone when you're sweaty and out of breath from a particularly vigorous bit of music!
To add to my script load for the upcoming concerts next Wednesday and Thursday, I'm conducting another concert pair of Pops shows on Thursday and Friday with its own script to learn. It's a lot of extra-musical work to keep all those words straight, and when I'm running over outlines in every bit of spare time I have and tripping over words, I'm often reminded that I didn't master the English language until I was 5...
Speaking from stage is becoming an increasingly requested skill in conductors - in fact, it is becoming a criteria for certain positions. Thinking about all of the concerts I do with the Minnesota Orchestra, I realize that all of them require some sort of interaction with the audience, whether it be Young People's concerts, Pops, outdoor presentations, donor concerts, etc., not to mention Inside the Classics. It's the kind of thing that was never addressed when I was in music school a decade ago and certainly a skill I had to learn on the fly, for the most part. I will say that I spent most of my high school years on the speech team and was at one point the state champion in original oratory, but at that time I had no idea that my extracurricular activities would be so helpful in my career, years down the line!
All that being said, I find that it's a part of my job that I enjoy a great deal - I like to think of it as the "human touch", as it really makes me feel as if I've made a connection with the audience. Because, after all, I think that part of the reason we like to attend concerts is that they're such incredible communal experiences, and it's nice to feel like you're really sharing it with the people onstage as well.
Sam described in his most recent post the process of scripting our Inside the Classics shows - a process that I'm quite delighted about, because he really does a majority of the work, and it takes an enormous amount of time. The fact remains, however, that we need to brainstorm the initial ideas together, and I'm responsible for the content of my own sections (like the "musical geekery" - showing thematic connections in Stravinsky - in our "Firebird" show) and for learning those lines well enough that I'm not tripping over myself onstage.
Talking from the podium (or anywhere from the stage, for that matter!) is tricky. First of all, one wants to sound knowledgeable, but not uptight, both erudite and down-to-earth. Second of all, there is the matter of keeping everything in order in one's head; the contrast between conducting an orchestra and whipping around to chat with the audience is tremendous - I'm convinced each skill uses completely different parts of the brain, which have to be engaged on a moments notice - not to mention trying to speak intelligibly into a microphone when you're sweaty and out of breath from a particularly vigorous bit of music!
To add to my script load for the upcoming concerts next Wednesday and Thursday, I'm conducting another concert pair of Pops shows on Thursday and Friday with its own script to learn. It's a lot of extra-musical work to keep all those words straight, and when I'm running over outlines in every bit of spare time I have and tripping over words, I'm often reminded that I didn't master the English language until I was 5...
Speaking from stage is becoming an increasingly requested skill in conductors - in fact, it is becoming a criteria for certain positions. Thinking about all of the concerts I do with the Minnesota Orchestra, I realize that all of them require some sort of interaction with the audience, whether it be Young People's concerts, Pops, outdoor presentations, donor concerts, etc., not to mention Inside the Classics. It's the kind of thing that was never addressed when I was in music school a decade ago and certainly a skill I had to learn on the fly, for the most part. I will say that I spent most of my high school years on the speech team and was at one point the state champion in original oratory, but at that time I had no idea that my extracurricular activities would be so helpful in my career, years down the line!
All that being said, I find that it's a part of my job that I enjoy a great deal - I like to think of it as the "human touch", as it really makes me feel as if I've made a connection with the audience. Because, after all, I think that part of the reason we like to attend concerts is that they're such incredible communal experiences, and it's nice to feel like you're really sharing it with the people onstage as well.
Labels: conductors and conducting
posted by Sarah at
11:16 PM
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