Is conducting practical or simply theatrical?
📷@_curtisperry
As you applaud an orchestra's maestro as they walk upon stage to begin the concert, I'm sure some of you have wondered, do conductors influence their orchestras? You might even notice yourself or your friends looking at the musicians and whether their gaze ever lands on the conductor, or will it remain transfixed on their music stands. However, what the audience does not see beyond the show are the hours of rehearsal, wherein the conductor tweaks the performance and optimizes both musicians' knowledge and experiences to present their best performance.
You likely know the conductor sets the tempo of the music: when to start, stop, slow down, or speed up. However, what is more important is that in each score, there is much room for interpretation, and the conductor leads by conveying their approach to the music. Without this leadership, each musician would resort to their own individual opinion, and an orchestra would sound rather like a group of individual musicians playing, rather than a cohesive group. As the artistic leader of the orchestra, the conductor puts their own imprint on the performance by supplementing and altering elements of the music to create a unique and inspiring performance.
📷@_curtisperry
But just don't take my word for it, academics have also studied the artistic impact of the conductor. Researchers at the University of Maryland, using a combination of cameras and infrared lights on both the tip of the conductor's baton and the bows of violinists, measured the linkage between the movements of the conductor and the violinists. The study found that the conductors predicted the movement of the violinists, not the other way around.
Furthermore, perhaps more fascinating, the study had two conductors lead an orchestra, one a veteran who exercised an iron grip and the other an amateur. The study concluded that the more impact the conductor had on its players, the more aesthetically pleasing the music was overall. The scientists even had music experts listen to the performance of the orchestra led by both conductors and found the version led by the veteran maestro as superior.
What does that mean for OPO? Well, we have been fortunate to be under the direction of many incredible veteran conductors over the years who have provided their stellar interpretation of the music to our audience's enjoyment. And the future looks bright! We are delighted to welcome back three of our favorite conductors, Jonathan Dagenais, Emmanuelle Lambert-Lemoine, and Trevor Wilson to the podium for our 2024-2025 music season. They will bring their own artistic interpretation to some phenomenal music very soon
