By Laurie Niles: This week I posted a few thoughts on conductors, as I've been thinking about the impending departure of several major conductors on the West Coast (Esa-Pekka Salonen from the San Francisco Symphony in 2025, Gustavo Dudamel from the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2026) ...and the search for their replacements.
It made me wonder about everyone else's thoughts - what do you most value from a conductor/music director? And where are you coming from with that? As a player? Audience member? A board member? Something else?
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A symphony's music director is many things to many people, and when searching for one, it is important to keep that in mind and find someone who has the right balance for a given community.
I'd love to have a wide-ranging conversation, where people share the different things they value. As a section violinist, I value clarity of physical communication quite a lot, but I also love to hear an inspiring story. And I'll say, I feel a certain pride about a conductor who really connects with the community, because that connection helps people to understand and enjoy the thing I do and the thing I love so much!
I've assembled a list below, and I know that the answer is really "all of the above"! But in the interest of starting a good discussion, please choose one aspect that you feel strongly about at the moment, and feel free to talk about this in the discussion.
You might also like:
- On Conductors: A Good Beat, and You Can Play to It
- Discussion: When to ignore the conductor?
- Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen to Leave San Francisco Symphony in 2025
- Conductor Gustavo Dudamel to Leave LA Phil for NY Phil
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