What I Look for in a Conducting Demo

Hi Henry,

My apologies, I totally misunderstood the sentence! All clear now, thanks for your patience. Best, Galen

I hope that every conductor starting out has the opportunity to read this life experience advice, Henry. Your suggestions are worth the cost of many conducting lessons! I might add that candidates looking for a post with any orchestra, would fare best if they provide enough information which supports their community outreach and knowledge of community finances and adaptability. Even on the smallest level, it proves the candidate has hands-on experience and is willing to be an all-around advocate for the orchestra in the community.

Hi Henry - I just finished reading your article CONDUCTING TALENT; GIVE IT TIME TO MATURE in the Conductors Guild Podium Notes. Thank you for your insight on this subject. Can remember as a young orchestra player how pleased we where when a more experienced (older?) conductor showed up before us. Now that I am a "seasoned" music director myself I feel I have much more to offer, however find myself less marketable. Your article calling attention to the unique nature of this profession is deeply appreciated.

Best,

Gordon J. Johnson
Music Director, Great Falls Symphony (MT)

Did you really mean to say, "A conductor who never seems to suggest a balance change, or an adjustment in dynamics...?"

I don't understand the question. In my blog, I said the following: "A conductor who never seems to suggest a balance change, or an adjustment in dynamics, comes across as a conductor who is conducting the recording he has in his head rather than the actual music that is happening in front of him." That is what I said, and it is what I meant to say. Let me explain: adjusting balances and dynamics is one of the principal jobs of a conductor - and it is rare, if not unheard of, for a performance to go by that does not need any adjustment in those areas. The point I was making is that when I see a whole movement or piece go by with a conductor who is beating time, and emoting visibly, but who does not actually appear to hear what is happening in the performance, and does not react to it, is a conductor who in my mind is not in contact with the performers, but is, instead, conducting the music as he hears it in an imaginary recording in his head.
-Henry

While the broad notion of communication is the point of what a conductor should be doing, I would like to be more specific. In contrast to the complete technical security that is expected in almost every strata of music-making by performers today, I have noticed that the technical abilities of conductors have not kept up. In the lower echelons of orchestral playing, the principal players will almost certainly be better performers than the conductor will be at conducting. Rudimentary matters of having a clear beat pattern, cues that are timely and helpful, a real conducting field of beating that clearly shows that two won't be mistaken for beat three, and obvious subdivisions that should not have to be talked about are never to be taken for granted. And, it seems, conductors often can't maintain a clear technique while listening and reacting at the same time. The above should be standard and expected of a conductor on any level, as a public instrumentalist's fluency is expected today on all levels of public music-making.

The learning curve for conductors seems to be really lagging behind the abilities of the people they conduct more than ever in the lower and middle echelons of performance. Could this be because of fewer and fewer opportunities for a developing conductors? I am talking about basic conducting equipment; this doesn't even touch on matters of interpretation, general musicianship, stage presence or 'communication'. It is often unsettling to see conductors with impressive resumes who seem so physically untrained!

I don't disagree with G Chapman's comment, other than to say that I don't think this is as recent a development. Look at the videos of "historic" performances by famous conductors (and remember only the most famous got to be filmed), and you will see some with great clarity of technique, and some who lack that. Furtwängler, Kubelik, and Tennstedt are just three conductors who could be criticized for an unclear beating technique, except that they managed to get remarkable results from the orchestras they led. -Henry