Articles

We are ensuring that the next generation of conductors has the tools to bring music to life with integrity and power.

“Most of the conductors who conduct today, they don’t really have technique, but they also don’t believe that there is such a thing. Right now there is this basic shift to believing that everybody who is kind of musical, and who has musical ideas, can somehow, through some individual power, communicate these ideas to the orchestra without studying or without having a formal education in conducting. And that’s why you have a lot of conductors right now who just can’t express themselves any other way than with words…”

A recent post on a Facebook conductors group about the tempo connection between the Adagio and Allegro in Mozart’s overture to Die Zauberflöte drew a great deal of comment about the opening of this piece.

It seems to me that the development of a conductor has parallels with the life cycle of the butterfly: only once the various stages have been passed through can we see any real result.

One of the reasons I am careful about the orchestras I teach with is because step one of this game is being able to make provocations which work with musicians who are able to react to them. 

Video and commentary for Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture

“Should I listen to recordings when preparing scores?” This is a question I am often asked and the short answer is “no” but for those interested to know why I take this position, I decided it is time to elaborate somewhat.

These are the “rules” I came up with when I set myself the challenge of distilling a few key guidelines for conductors.

Perhaps the most important development in my own thinking arising from the 2024 Audite International Masterclass has been in relation to the way in which we connect ourselves to the sound.

“So many conductors will come on stage, cut the air with their hands and jump around, and audiences are delighted, even though musically there’s nothing.”