Conductorland

Here is a follow-up post to something I wrote a few months back. 

I believe strongly that people everywhere deserve to hear great music. Aspire to the best in yourself, but, don’t make excellence & acclaim a goal in and of itself, etc. etc. 

This post is intended to say something else. 

I currently have two conducting positions. I really like them both. I’m glad I get to do what I do. Sure, there’s room for improvement, and room for growth, but, overall, I do consider myself a lucky duck. 

And want to know the best part? I wasn’t their first choice! For reals, they looked me over, and went, “next”! 

With the first job, their top choice wanted too much money. With the second, well, I don’t know why, but that other person fell through, and I got the phone call long after I thought I was out of the running. 

And I knew this going in, when signing the contract.  

So my first day of work arrives. Was I going to make a big stink about being second best? Was I going to be self-conscious? Petty? Was I going to let it eat at me...”these people didn’t even want me to begin with” and so on? 

Not a chance. 

I took both opportunities and I ran with them. And I’ve been successful. 

Wanting to write this post for some time, actually, but waited until I could say I was successful. One job renewed me for another three-year contract last fall, and the second just offered me a six-year contract.  So yes, I’ve been successful. 

It’s a reminder that, well, auditions aren’t these perfect mechanisms that always give the best results. Particularly with conducting. Objectively evaluating conducting technique is something very few people can do. And so, for us, there are many, many subjective factors, as opposed to just who can play the excerpt list in the most polished, least flawless way possible (which is, of course, no small feat). 

Charisma, temperament, countenance...these begin to matter. 

So, not winning a job...well, maybe you were the better conductor (by a conductor’s standard), but, you lacked other qualities that the orchestra needed in that moment. 

I was fortunate because in my case, being the lucky runner-up gave me an opportunity to prove myself, and to give something my best effort. 

Whenever a newspaper attempts to cover a conductor search, “speed dating” is one of their go-to phrases for explaining the process to laymen. And it turns out, I’m not a terribly suave first date. But, I grow on you if you give me some time. 

I’m okay with that. 

I hope you too will be able to find the upside to these kinds of situations. On the podium, we need to be prepared in case things don’t quite go according to plan. Through hours of study and preparation, we can become unflappable on the podium, always confident and assured, even in the midst of a trainwreck.