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Short Update

So I have been quite busy starting year two of my fellowship that I forgot all about this blog.   I will update more often as soon as things slow down a bit.  October looks like a busy month for me.  Bernstein’s Mass with the BSO is starting this week.  It should be very interesting to watch something of this magnitude come together (lighting, staging, Marching band, Adult choir, boy’s choir).  ALSO I conduct the Peabody Symphony Orchestra next week which is going to be exciting.   I’ll be doing two pieces:  Bartok’s Two Portraits (Portrait No. 1) and the US Premiere of Fang Man’s Noir.  The past two weeks  I have been doing some promotional work for the concert including radio plugs and audio program notes.  So to get you excited about the performance (because you are coming…right??) take a listen to my short program notes I recorded.

Bartok

Fang Man’s Noir

I do have to mention I said some incorrect information in the Noir program notes.  Matisse’s Jazz was a book of Prints.  I said it was a painting of his, nevertheless, a lot of them are very vibrant works.

Year in Review

Year two of my fellowship is about to start and I am pretty excited. There are so many plans for growth in the second year and I am expected to “step up my game.” I love a challenge. But with year two around the corner, I guess I should look back on the things I have done this past year.

Year one started out a little unnerving, because for me the orchestra world was a whole new business. It took a while for me to figure things out but I had great friends and colleagues helping me along. A group of people from the League of American Orchestras, the BSO, and Peabody all sat down to lay out some goals. By the end of the day I had 3 pages of goals, or a work plan, that were to be achieved for the first year. These goals fell into three basic categories: artistic, institutional and leadership development. Looking back and checking off everything I worked on, I can see I accomplished a lot in my first year!

I would list everything but I believe this entry would go on forever. But highlights include:

Artistic Growth. I spent the year observing a world class orchestra and how they play under different conductors. It’s amazing how each conductor can make an orchestra sound so different. The first time I witnessed this was with Gunther Herbig. I’ve never heard the orchestra sound so transparent.. I could hear every part of the orchestra. He made the ensemble play softer than I ever heard before.

Conducting the Orchestra, having them be so patient with me and watching my growth has been very rewarding. The first rehearsal with the Orchestra was Mozart’s Magic Flute overture. From that point on I really worked to be an efficient and communicative rehearser on the podium. I have learned a lot of that from Marin who is very efficient all the time. Also, some people forget that I use to conduct bands (I often forget) and working with strings and the full sound of an orchestra is a little different. But I’ve had a lot of work done on technique at Peabody with Gustav and the Peabody Conductor’s orchestra. I’ve also taken some violin lessons.

Institutional Growth I’ve learned so much about an orchestra as an institution and taken part in different department activities: Watching the artistic advisory committee, attend artistic planning meeting with Marin. I have a better understanding of personnel issues and the audition process. Working with marketing and development and attending some of their events has been an eye opener in how much work they do and how much goes on behind the scenes to make an orchestra run smoothly. I’ve been working the most with PR, learning the ins and outs of how to develop a story, serve as damage control and generally promote the Orchestra. But most importantly, PR has helped me to become a better public speaker and a more confident, thoughtful interview subject, and I’ve really begun to refine my “image.” I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent prepping for many profiles, but I know that I am getting better at presenting myself as the leader that I am working to be.

Leadership Skills As with everything in life, with leadership there is always room for growth and improvement. But, I think I’m really fortunate to be around the right people to learn from. From the podium to the community, Marin is someone I really admire as a leader. I’ve had chances to work on being a leader on the podium with Marin mentoring me and I’ve had a chance to see how she deals with important issues as a leader of a major organization.

I’ve learned so much that you might say “What else is there to learn?” So much more. In Year Two I want to focus on my artistic product. All the other aspects are important but I have to remember that I am here to conduct and none of my other work matters if I’m not an effective conductor. So my plans are to really hone my skills this final year. I have a few performances already lined up for the 08-09 season. The first one will be with the Peabody Orchestra on October 21. I will be sharing the podium for this concert with Mr. Meier. Originally I was going to conduct the Maryland Premiere of a piece by Joseph Schwantner, however plans are on hold for that event. Any any case year two is bound to an interesting year so keep reading the blog.

Modern Day Liszt…Air Lang Lang

Classical music and Adidas. I wish I were the first one to make this connection. Lang Lang has his own sneakers made by Adidas. But it’s typical for this guy, he’s a rock star in my book. Just look at his website: The guy already has endorsement deals with Audi, Sony and Rolex. Fred Child of the radio program Performance Today said it best when he commented that “Lang Lang, no longer just a player…now a playa.” It’s amazing how some people could have a problem with this. Some believe something like this will damage the art of classical music. Some believe that artist should only endorse things they are associated with (apparently an artist and shoes aren’t associated).

Lang Lang is an amazing pianist and he has cultivated an amazing image that appeals to the masses. It’s another image that shows that classical music is not a private club that doesn’t allow sneakers and jeans.

Maybe I’ll endorse Gillette (since I have a shaved head) and Gatorade like Tiger Woods.

Some thoughts on Perception

I got back to Baltimore just in time to witness something different at the Meyerhoff; Deadheads.  I wasn’t familiar with the name until promotions for the show were being made.   I walked in a Meyerhoff hall full of tie dyed shirts and may have smelled an aroma that wasn’t too foreign to Santa Cruz.   At any rate I thought it was a different crowd but someone on staff told me that only 20% of the audience were new to the system.  That means 80% of the audience had been to a BSO program before.

I think it’s cool that we created a program to reach people who would not have experienced a symphony concert.  I hoped it served to change the perception of the orchestra.  I have been reading Edwin Outwater’s blog and I like how he’s thinking creatively about the role of symphony orchestras and challenging perceptions.    We aren’t just a stuffy music museum…we can play music that is for everyone.  However people still have negative and often inaccurate perceptions, so how do we start changing minds?   It’s a great question that I don’t really have an answer to yet.

He also points to an article about elitism that is very interesting.  In the back of my head I knew that classical music was less “elite” then other brands in our culture as far as ticket sales and service but this article really puts it into perspective.   But in the end our problem is that elitism is all a state of mind, a perception.

I think a small part of the perception comes from intimidation.  People believe that you really need to have a “specialized knowledge” to enjoy a symphony concert.   Not true!  Mark Swed says “sure, it helps to know a little something about it, just as you need to know a little something about baseball to enjoy a game.”  I don’t know much about baseball and probably wouldn’t enjoy the game because I would be the guy wondering why the innings are taking so long.  But if I had someone there explaining a few things to me I would probably appreciate the game a lot more and might enjoy it.   So maybe that’s what we need in classical music…think about tearing down the intimidation factor to change our status away from being perceived as “elitist.”   Maybe we just need more conductors speaking off the cuff.

Cabrillo

So I am just returning from Santa Cruz, California where I participated in the Cabrillo Contemporary Music Festival Conducting Workshop.  It was just two years ago when I attended the workshop for the first time and got my first “big break”.   This year I was so excited to be back. It was great to see that some musicians, the directors and even the photographer remembered me.  I was so happy to see some of the people who really encouraged me to keep working two years ago.

Santa Cruz really serves as a perfect place for a festival.  First off, I forgot how beautiful the weather was in Santa Cruz…no humidity, and temperature in the 80s with a cool breeze.  Add a frothy drink and its paradise.  I wish I could bring it all back to Baltimore with me. It’s amazing how much the community reflects the objective of Cabrillo.  It’s such a hip town for such a hip event!! The community gets so involved as well.  They provide breakfast and some housing for the musician AND they volunteer behind the scenes.  I have to say a big THANK YOU to Peter for picking me up from the airport!!

The environment at the workshop is very intense but encouraging.   What makes it work so well is the collaboration with Marin, Gustav and the Orchestra.   It’s not just Marin and Gustav teaching…it’s everyone.  Musicians talk freely to Marin as well as to the conducting workshop participants.  It’s engaging for everyone.  Yumi, the concertmaster, told me to take all of it [feedback] in because soon it’s going to be gone.   It helped me remember how valuable my time is with the BSO and Peabody.

How often do conductors have professional orchestras help them fix mistakes…not often enough!!   Once I finish this fellowship I wont have the opportunity to sit down with a group of musicians to discuss the clarity or character of my beat, or the intensity of my rehearsal. It’s great to hear professional musicians tell you what a good job you did, but its even better to have them help you improve.    I have been so fortunate to be in such engaging learning environments (BSO, Cabrillo, and Peabody).   I have one more year to soak everything in.  Even though some of it may feel discouraging it’s all valuable in the end.

The Conductor-Composer Workshop…The Cabrillo Experience

Just one week after my performance in Baltimore I set out to Santa Cruz, California for a conducting Workshop with Marin and Gustav. One big component of this workshop is working with composers.

Seven conductors and three composers…you do the math. We were all paired with a composer and one lucky composer had three conductors. Our task was to prepare a piece for a performance on the last day of the workshop. My piece was by Fang Man, from New York, and her piece Sketch was really different and new for me. Before I arrived she told me about composers she was influenced by… Takemitsu, Lutoslawski. These are composers I haven’t studied, so I knew I was in for a challenge. However the biggest challenge was with myself. One of my objectives in this workshop was to sharpen up my rehearsal style. I have received some feedback in the past about the need for me to take more control in a rehearsal. But I knew it was something I had to develop through time and practice, so the Cabrillo workshop was a great opportunity.

I really stepped up my game at the rehearsals at Cabrillo. During the first rehearsal we had some problems with the parts, which slowed me down, but this is very common when working with new works. However, on the second rehearsal I took the chance to really be assertive and put this piece together. I felt like I was speaking a mile a minute, but the musicians stayed engaged and we really accomplished something. I knew I could feel good about it when John Corigliano shakes my hand right after I leave the podium saying, “That was a first class rehearsal.”

The performance came out pretty well. Mandy (Fang Man) felt good about it and I did as well. The interesting part of the whole conductor and composer relationship at Cabrillo is the collaborative process. Mandy, Lee (a conductor preparing the same piece) and I spent long nights dissecting the score and making changes.

Lee Mills, Fang Man, Joey Young

I’m not sure any other conductor spends so much time with the composer making revisions…and I’m not quite sure what the standard practice for a conductor-composer relationship (I’m really interested to know how much say a conductor has in a new score…it’s something new to me), but, it was very interesting to spend time figuring out what was going on in the composer’s head.

The festival was a great way to start forming relationships with composers. The three composers (Fang Man, Clint Needleman, Ruby Fulton) all have a unique voice that I would really like to work with sometime in the future. I really urge you to take a listen at each of them on their website sometime. Let them know what you think!!

Artscape

Yesterday’s concert for Artscape was pretty fun.  The crowd was awesome.  This concert really gave the BSO a chance to open it’s doors to the greater Baltimore Community. I really enjoyed seeing such a diverse and young crowd (especially the two little girls dancing in the front row!!).  I hope everyone enjoyed it….I did!!

Well I’m off to Santa Cruz, California for a Conducting Workshop with Marin and Gustav on Friday.  We’ll be working on some big repertoire so it should be loads of fun.

Shameless Plug

Sorry for the Lack of updates. But If you happen to be in Baltimore on July 19th come check me out!!

OrchKids

The kindergarteners at Harriet Tubman Elementary School are pretty happy right now: Starting in September, many of them will have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, courtesy of the BSO’s new OrchKids after-school program. “Why are you so excited?” I asked several of the children at the recent program announcement. Their enthusiasm was infectious, as one after another, the kids would answer, “Because we’re going to play instruments!”

It’s true, the kids will learn music next year, but I have high hopes that they’ll get much more than music instruction. By design, the OrchKids program will use music as a means to create social change in some of Baltimore’s neediest communities. . The program will start with 25 first graders from West Baltimore’s Harriet Tubman Elementary, who will participate in the program three days per week while receiving musical instructions and partaking in enrichment activities intended to build life skills like cooperation, leadership and self-esteem. The first half of the school year will focus on an introduction to musical concepts, like rhythm and melody. In the second half of the school year they will be introduced to different musical instruments and ultimately choose their own and begin lessons.

This is such a great program. Not only is it a music program but also serves as a hub for the kids in the community. These children now have a place to be safe and stay out of trouble.

It’s easy for me to relate to these kids and understand the opportunities that they may have because of the OrchKids program: One of the reasons I started music was from my father’s desire to get me in some type of activity. He was hoping that it would keep me out of trouble, and for the most part it did. I started my musical training in the sixth grade on trumpet. At that time, who knew that I was going to carry on in my musical endeavors! What I did know was I enjoyed the many social and learning opportunities that came with participating in musical activities. I would spend almost three hours a day after school practicing with my colleagues and receiving lessons from the eighth graders. My band director really provided his students the chance to engage in creative and team-building activities, while fostering our musical growth. As I stayed in the program, I developed a sense of pride in myself, my work and in the organization as a whole. When my eighth grade year came around I jumped at the opportunity to mentor the new sixth graders.

When I taught high school I realized that my students were fortunate enough to have so many opportunities thrown at them: Math Club, Art, Poetry readings, Boy Scouts, all sorts of sports, Dance. Sometimes I thought these were taking away from the opportunities that I attempted to give them. However, I learned that all of these activities gave students a glimpse of themselves, a glance at what they are capable of. But most importantly, the students found fulfillment in their work. In my classroom, some knew they weren’t going to be musicians but they learned, through all the activities they were involved in, to take pride in everything they do.

It’s hard to believe that some kids don’t have the same opportunities (or more) growing up as my students and I did. This is why OrchKids and El Sistema (the Venezuelan music program on which OrchKids is based) are so important: they provide opportunity where opportunity is lacking. This sort of model is very similar to programs I am acquainted with in the schools. However for places like Baltimore, where instrumental music may not be available in the schools and everyone is searching for a new avenue to advance the social welfare of young people, OrchKids is a great start.

I fell in love with music and conducting because classical music reached out and found me. Hopefully, the BSO and OrchKids can do the same with someone at Harriet Tubman Elementary School.