RESPIRO E MOVIMENTO®

DISCOVER YOUR REAL POTENTIAL

CONDUCTOR

Interview: Maite Aguirre, Pianist

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Maite Aguirre

What are the particular challenges/excitements of working with an orchestra/ensemble?

I think the biggest challenge is to be able to ignite in my players and singers the desire to make the best music they are capable of. The task of the conductor can’t be micromanaging musicians all the time. Of course, there is a bit of that during rehearsal, and it is necessary to have acute ears and be precise. But then on the stage we need to let go. And there is the challenge, to achieve control and freedom at the same time. Needless to say, this is also the most exciting part of the job!

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Interview: Kelly Lovelady, Conductor

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Kelly Lovelady

Who or what inspired you to take up conducting and pursue a career in music?

Conducting felt inevitable for me as a teenager: a natural evolution despite my oblivion at the time to everything it would eventually entail! The realisation was unceremonious- not really a dream or desire but a moment of clarity. I was lucky to find my two conducting teachers in the years that followed and both continue to mentor me almost 18 years on.Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

I think my tastes and philosophies are largely the result of producing my own work. When you find yourself responsible for every detail you start to reconsider the possibilities. If your self and sanity are malnourished by the freelance world you create your own opportunities to fill the void. We need to constantly find ways to feed our appetites, grow our hearts, explode our minds. The energy, money, years we pour into these projects is lost if we’re not completely wild about the music and causes we champion. When you’re the one writing up the budget it really recalibrates your values.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

I spend most of my hours managing and financing my projects. I could easily give every day to score study alone and it’s hard not to mourn this time which might otherwise have been spent getting the music into my bloodstream. I’ve grown to understand that the luxury of being able to control the environment my performances inhabit is not to be taken lightly. For me the experiential aspects of music for our audience: physically, aurally, visually, emotionally- are the determining factors for the success of a piece or project. The more powerfully we can impact at a physiological level, the greater potential for our performance to evolve and develop in the mind and memory of the listener in the days, months, years that follow.

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Bringing Women Conductors To The Front Of The Orchestra

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Dallas Opera General Director Keith Cerny had a lot to say about the issue of women being looked over for the industry’s top jobs,

“I think there are some individuals who are opposed to the idea of women leaders, whether on the podium or running large opera companies. Fortunately, there aren’t that many of those people, but there’s certainly some. But, more generally, I think it’s an issue where, because there’s fewer women in those positions, search committees and general directors and symphony CEOs don’t tend to think so much about hiring women for those opportunities.”