{"id":8286,"date":"2013-02-05T08:03:03","date_gmt":"2013-02-05T16:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=8286"},"modified":"2013-02-07T21:18:01","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T05:18:01","slug":"a-young-conductors-guide-to-the-orchestra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/05\/a-young-conductors-guide-to-the-orchestra\/","title":{"rendered":"a young conductor&#8217;s guide to the orchestra"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over my past 17 seasons with the Oregon Symphony, I&#8217;ve seen many a green conductor (and quite a few seasoned ones, as well). There have emerged some common traits, some good, some not, that particularly push the buttons of the orchestral musician, and I&#8217;ve compiled a list of my own and my colleagues&#8217; observations on what works and what doesn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<p><em>I&#8217;m going to keep this as an open thread, so add your suggestions in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/2013\/02\/05\/a-young-conductors-guide-to-the-orchestra\/#respond\">comments<\/a>, or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/contact-nobleviola\/\">via email<\/a>, and I&#8217;ll eventually make a static page for this post.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">So, here are some suggestions that would do a younger conductor (and some older ones, too!) in good stead as they come in front of orchestras great and small.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 14px;\">Don&#8217;t clap your hands to stop an orchestra.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t shush an orchestra.<\/li>\n<li>If a musician responds to your request with an attitude, do not react to that musicians lack of tact in the same fashion. It&#8217;s uncomfortable for everyone else.<\/li>\n<li>Do say hello to the musicians at the top of each rehearsal (we like that, some of us will even say hello or good morning back).<\/li>\n<li>When trying to address a string issue &#8211; don&#8217;t just speak in hushed tones to the concertmaster or principal of the section &#8211; speak to the section members in the back who are wondering what is going on and what the problem is.<\/li>\n<li>Even if you think an orchestra has played a piece a thousand times, don&#8217;t immediately stop and pick at things. Let them play and get a feel for what you want from them in the piece. This establishes a good flow and will earn you many dividends from the musicians.<\/li>\n<li>Do acknowledge when a solo player or section sounds good. Musicians get criticized constantly and need some praise as well.<\/li>\n<li>Do NOT wear a banded\/mandarin collar. It&#8217;s not sexy.<\/li>\n<li>Do not tap your baton on your lectern to get the orchestra&#8217;s attention.<\/li>\n<li>Do have a twitter or social media account to promote your travels when you have more work.<\/li>\n<li>Do show what you want first and see if the orchestra gets it. If they don&#8217;t, then stop and talk about what you want.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t talk too much. We basically want to know these four facts first: faster, slower, louder, softer. After we know what&#8217;s expected of those variables, we&#8217;re happy to talk about fluffy clouds and tortured souls.<\/li>\n<li>Do let us see your eyes. We want to see yours as much as you want to see ours. Nothing is more demoralizing that looking at the top of a conductor&#8217;s head for two and a half hours.<\/li>\n<li>Use both hands &#8211; but not for the same thing. Use your right hand to give us a clear beat. Use your left hand to show us the phrasing and dynamics you want. Mirroring your hands makes us put our orchestral blinders on. So does conducting in circles. We know that you don&#8217;t know what to do when you do that.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t assume we hate the pops or special show that you were brought in to conduct. We know what butters our bread, and many of us enjoy non-classical acts and shows very much. Besides, does saying how demeaning a show is really make it a better situation for all of us? Be a professional.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 24px;\">For those of you who were interested in a conductor&#8217;s list for musicians &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/13752\">here&#8217;s Bill Eddins&#8217; take<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Musicians:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>do\u00a0<strong>NOT<\/strong>\u00a0be one of those people who show up, sit in the back of the section with a sour look on your face, and complain all day about your job.\u00a0 No, for the vast majority of us this music thing is not an easy life but it beats the hell out of working deep sewer.\u00a0 People pay us to make music.\u00a0 We are running the greatest scam in the history of the world.<\/li>\n<li><strong>DO<\/strong>\u00a0be a music nerd.\u00a0 It\u2019s fun, it\u2019s beautiful, and it\u2019s your\u00a0<em>enthusiasm<\/em>\u00a0that will draw other people into the joy of music.\u00a0 These people may not understand more than one word in ten when you wax poetic about that fabulous use of the\u00a0<em>leitmotif<\/em>\u00a0in the 3rd movement of\u00a0<em>Symphonie Fantastique<\/em>, but that\u2019s OK.<\/li>\n<li><strong>DO<\/strong>\u00a0smile on stage.\u00a0 Or at least give it a try.\u00a0 It won\u2019t kill you.<\/li>\n<li><strong>DO<\/strong>\u00a0become engaged on every level or your organization,\u00a0<em>especially<\/em>\u00a0in the Education ventures.\u00a0 The more you can reach children the more you help shape the world around us, and every single study done insists that more music makes for a better society on every level.<\/li>\n<li>do\u00a0<strong>NOT<\/strong>\u00a0start every sentence with \u201cIf only the Board raised more money\u2026\u201d or \u201cIf only the administration would do\u2026.\u201d.\u00a0 Please.\u00a0 Running a personnel heavy organization like an orchestra is not easy, especially in the non-profit world.\u00a0 Let us be grateful that there are people willing to do this work so that we can play music.\u00a0 Besides, I guarantee you that I have not had a lot of conversations with Board members or administration that have started with \u201cIf only the 2nd violins had used a different bowing in that passage then\u2026..\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>do\u00a0<strong>NOT<\/strong>\u00a0put anyone into your orchestra who cannot play Mozart.\u00a0 Period.<\/li>\n<li>do\u00a0<strong>NOT<\/strong>\u00a0let any of your colleagues talk you into appointing someone to a position without going through the audition process.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care how good they are.\u00a0 We make a lot of noise about following the union rules, etc., and this goes directly to our own integrity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>DO<\/strong>\u00a0embrace change.\u00a0 Change is the only constant in the world.\u00a0 Please realize, though, that with change comes failure.\u00a0 Some of the initiatives you will be asked to take part in will not be successful.\u00a0 But without failure there cannot be success.<\/li>\n<li>do\u00a0<strong>NOT<\/strong>\u00a0immediately ask \u201chow much is the pay?\u201d when approached to do something \u201coutside the box.\u201d\u00a0 Being flexible is a good thing.<\/li>\n<li>do\u00a0<strong>NOT<\/strong>\u00a0show up at rehearsal and sight-read.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care how good you are.\u00a0 It\u2019s unprofessional.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over my past 17 seasons with the Oregon Symphony, I&#8217;ve seen many a green conductor (and quite a few seasoned ones, as well). There have emerged some common traits, some good, some not, that particularly push the buttons of the orchestral musician, and I&#8217;ve compiled a list of my own and my colleagues&#8217; observations on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[299,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conducting","category-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-29E","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":220,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/02\/23\/long-term-conductor-search-in-philly\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":0},"title":"yawns in Philly?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"From today's Philadelphia Inquirer: In a surprise move made without the knowledge or approval of its full musician membership, the Philadelphia Orchestra has appointed Charles Dutoit chief conductor and artistic adviser. Dutoit, 70, a longtime and frequent guest conductor here who oversees the orchestra's summer series in Saratoga, N.Y., will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;the orchestra world&quot;","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"dutoit.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/dutoit.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7178,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/12\/22\/how-to-be-a-professional-musician\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":1},"title":"how to be a professional musician","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Over my 16 years as a full-time member of a professional orchestra (and 8 years before that playing as a free-lance musician), I've had time both to observe others and myself engaging in both professional and unprofessional behavior. Sometimes one gets bored, or angry, or just loses it, and things\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;the orchestra world&quot;","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":821,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/03\/03\/better-living-through-chemistry\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":2},"title":"better living through chemistry","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"NSO bassist Jeff Weisner (with whom I was at Peabody Conservatory back in the day) has written an excellent blog post at Double Bass Blog concerning the delicate balance of chemistry that can make or break the relationship between orchestra and conductor. Since the National Symphony is, ahem, conducting a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;conducting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"conducting","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/conducting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":279,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/04\/16\/adam-flatt-to-newport-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":3},"title":"adam flatt to newport symphony","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Click for photo: Adam Flatt It's always gratifying to hear of a great musician and person who manages to succeed in this tough business. I just learned that my old buddy Adam Flatt (who was a conducting apprentice here in Portland just after I arrived) has been appointed as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;the orchestra world&quot;","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17344,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2020\/02\/07\/coding-vs-musicking\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":4},"title":"coding vs. musicking","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago I had this (most likely very unoriginal) thought: in programming\/coding, the axiom goes \"garbage in, garbage out\". In the orchestra world, it sometimes can follow that rule, but most of the time, at any level of professionalism, the opposite is expected: \"garbage in, beautiful out\". This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;the orchestra world&quot;","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6978,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/10\/12\/things-from-the-misc-bin\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":5},"title":"things from the misc. bin","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm still not sure what I liked the most about our recent guest conductor Rossen Milanov. He was charming. He spoke well, both to us and the audiences. He had interesting musical ideas, especially in the Haydn, which is where most conductors either soar or founder on the rocks. He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;the orchestra world&quot;","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/photo2_2_large-300x451.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}