Baton down the hatches

The Reign of Terror in the orchestra world is over. The autocratic maestro who rules with an iron hand and ends careers with a flick of a baton is no more. As orchestras continue to evolve and develop, musicians have to learn more and more skills that have nothing to do with playing an instrument. We have to be conversant in labor law, skilled at negotiating, judicious about using our increasing power in governance, competent at reading a financial statement — the list goes on and on.

The same is true of the conductor. Stellar musicianship, great stick technique, and dazzling on-stage charisma are all great, but a successful conductor must also know how to “work” a party, pull off a convincing board presentation, make a case in a development call, and stage an engaging radio or TV interview, often all in the same day. I sometimes wonder how any of us have time to get together and make music.

A few conservatories are trying to prepare players for the new realities of orchestral work. I wonder whether conductors have access to similar training.

I guess I’m pretty lucky. I can count the conductors I’ve worked with that I truly detested on one hand. But there is always room for improvement. In response to Robert Levine’s initial question, I’ll throw out, in no particular order, five areas that conductors might do well to think about, in the context of their relationship with the musicians in an orchestra.

1) Respect. Aretha Franklin was spot on. We all have the same years of training and dedicated work. Few things are more off-putting than arrogance on the podium.

2) Willingness to learn. Conservatively assuming that an average orchestra musician has twenty years of experience on his/her instrument, a conductor is facing 1,500 to 2,000 years of collective knowledge. Musical ideas need to flow two ways.

3) Collegiality. Yes, the conductor is the boss, especially if he/she is also the music director, but collaboration as artistic equals is much more rewarding than just doing what you’re told.

4) Concision. Say what you need to, but show me most of what you want. In performance, I get pretty right-brained, and am not thinking in verbal terms. It’s better for me to keep it visual. It’s also usually a lot more efficient.

5) Advocacy. The most influential spokesman on behalf of an orchestra’s musicians is its conductor. It’s really disappointing to see how many conductors won’t go to bat for their players.