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| No Short Cuts to Conducting | |||
| Chorus America's first conducting workshop with Chicago Symphony Association provides valuable podium time for promising young conductors | |||
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by Melinda Cross
"No, no… too big, too wide. You must get closer in - be smaller, more delicate. This is about insects, not lions," exclaims Gustav Meier to a young conductor, who quickly retracts his forearms into his chest. Once again, he leads the orchestra through a few more bars of Haydn's The Creation. He soon receives a motion to stop from Duain Wolfe, who jumps from his seat near the first violins and asks of Francesco Milioto, "How will you signal the orchestra to play the chords together?" Under the intense scrutiny of two conducting giants - Gustav Meier, director of graduate conducting at the Peabody Conservatory and Duain Wolfe, music director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus - Milioto appears slightly frustrated at his apparent mistakes, yet eager to please these masters, even bowing to Meier's command to conduct only with his head, hands in his pockets, to eliminate his reliance on extreme arm motions. Milioto only has 20 minutes on the podium to show his hard work and preparation in between the frequent interruptions. When his time is up, he exits to the accompaniment of empathetic applause from 50 other conductors, many of whom are nervously jotting notes in their own Haydn scores awaiting their turn with the baton. This is the rhythmic pattern of this unique conducting workshop and masterclass: Back-to-back 20-minute sessions led by young conductors and punctuated by the comments and critiques of today's leading conductors. From early morning to late evening, the three-day workshop provided an aural, physical, emotional, and intellectual feast of knowledge at Symphony Center in Chicago, home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Filling the Conducting Gap
Although one workshop alone can't complete the picture of choral-orchestral conductor training, the hope is that valuable groundwork has been laid for more focused conducting workshops in the future. Duain Wolfe, board member of Chorus America and a member of its conducting task force, believes "it is critical to provide the right fodder for the next generation of conductors through significant training programs like this workshop at Symphony Center, where young conductors are under the tutelage of both an orchestral and choral director." "You definitely feel very exposed up there. But even in the 21st century with all the electronic media, there's still only one way to learn the art of conducting, and that's with personal coaching and experience in front of larger ensembles," says workshop fellow Jason Bizich, conductor of the Norristown Chorale in Pennsylvania. "Many of the conducting fellows and auditors have earned master degrees and are several years into their first jobs with smaller orchestras, opera companies, or choral positions with symphonies, universities, and churches," adds Ann Meier Baker. "Becoming a great conductor takes a lifetime. This workshop is an opportunity for the fellows to continue their conducting education and prepare for a higher level of conducting." The workshop provided two-on-one coaching for the participants on significant and large pieces of repertoire, an intense, hands-on approach that required limiting the number of fellows to 18. They were chosen through an application and selection process that included CSO artistic staff. The workshop also provided opportunities for 26 "auditing" conductors, who were invited to observe all of the podium sessions and participate in panel discussions and other workshop activities. "All the fellows deserve high marks for standing up in front of these expert conductors. Conductors, unlike musicians, have to make most of their practice mistakes in public and that can be mentally challenging. This workshop really serves as a 'litmus test' for the nerves," says workshop faculty member Stephen Cleobury, director of music at King's College, Cambridge and chief conductor of the BBC Singers. "There are no short cuts to becoming a conductor. It's something you can't learn by yourself in front of a mirror. Workshops like this are incredibly important in providing young conductors with a forum for self-analysis and skill enrichment," he adds.
That so many leading conductors adjusted their schedules to participate demonstrates their commitment to nurturing and mentoring the next generation. "Stephen Cleobury literally flew to Chicago in between his classroom commitments at Cambridge," says Duain Wolfe. Master faculty members in addition to Meier, Wolfe, Morgan, and Cleobury included Fiora Contino, general director of Opera Illinois and former faculty member at Indiana University and the Peabody Conservatory; and James Paul, music director of the Oregon Coast Music Festival and principal guest conductor of the Grant Park (Chicago) Festival. Conducting mentors responsible for reviewing videotapes with each young conductor post-session included John Alexander, president of Chorus America and artistic director of the Pacific Chorale; Tom Hall, board member of Chorus America and music director of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society; and David Hayes, board member of Chorus America and music director of the Philadelphia Singers. Other musical participants included the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the CSO's training orchestra comprised of young musicians engaged in pre-professional work themselves, and members of the renowned Chicago Symphony Chorus, who played and sang in seven of the nine conducting sessions. Musicians from the Chicago College of Performing Arts Orchestra (Roosevelt University) and the Northwestern University Chorus also lent their talents to two of the conducting sessions. A half-dozen seminars on various musical and nonmusical issues were led by CSO personnel including music director Daniel Barenboim, president Henry Fogel, vice president of artistic programming Martha Gilmer, and composer-in-residence Augusta Read Thomas.
Learning At Every Level Meier peppered his sessions with pleas for the conductors to project their emotional energy: "If you don't have energy, the audience will go home." Daniel Barenboim challenged the fellows to "not just ask how the notes are written, but why?" in order to achieve a total understanding of the music. The overall theme of the faculty message to the young conductors remained singular - develop a clear and definitive vision of the work and integrate it into every gesture - priceless knowledge these young conductors will benefit from for years to come. The master faculty said the Chorus America/Chicago Symphony Association workshop was an amazing learning forum for them as well. "Conductors don't have the opportunity to spend time with other conductors in person, so to have nine other colleagues to share experiences with was very rewarding," says Duain Wolfe. "There is not always a mutual regard between orchestral and choral conductors. But everyone worked together seamlessly, without an ounce of resistance to each other's comments or viewpoints," adds Stephen Cleobury. "No clash of egos at all," says Gustav Meier. "It is out of the ordinary to see this level of conductors matched with the high quality resources that Duain was able to assemble," says Fiora Contino. "I just wish all of us had more time together. We just began scratching the surface."
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