Post by Admin on Mar 9, 2016 8:00:13 GMT
There is a common misconception that anyone can conduct, that all that is needed is integrity, energy, charisma and great musical ideas.
This is not entirely true, because although I would prefer to believe that genuine conducting talent has value, at the most base level, gaining opportunities can be an issue merely of finance.
Unfortunately, conducting has somehow become or remained a bastion of feudalism, one which allows people with little or no idea what they are actually doing to rule over those who do, but perhaps it was ever thus.
Getting to conduct is one thing though, how we manage this immense privilege is entirely another, for I believe that, whatever the merits of the process of acquiring it, a position of privilege brings duties as well as benefits.
The principal duty must surely be to ensure that we do it well and here the salient point is that, whilst some, perhaps, are born with an intrinsic capacity to inspire musicians, no one is born with the expertise required to manage collective sound effectively.
True, some may have more natural capacity than others, but to be of any real use everyone, however lucky, rich or exceptionally talented, is obliged to acquire substantial knowledge and tangible skills.
This is not entirely true, because although I would prefer to believe that genuine conducting talent has value, at the most base level, gaining opportunities can be an issue merely of finance.
Unfortunately, conducting has somehow become or remained a bastion of feudalism, one which allows people with little or no idea what they are actually doing to rule over those who do, but perhaps it was ever thus.
Getting to conduct is one thing though, how we manage this immense privilege is entirely another, for I believe that, whatever the merits of the process of acquiring it, a position of privilege brings duties as well as benefits.
The principal duty must surely be to ensure that we do it well and here the salient point is that, whilst some, perhaps, are born with an intrinsic capacity to inspire musicians, no one is born with the expertise required to manage collective sound effectively.
True, some may have more natural capacity than others, but to be of any real use everyone, however lucky, rich or exceptionally talented, is obliged to acquire substantial knowledge and tangible skills.