Replacing Conductors

[suzyq]

When NY Philharmonic Orchestra or for that matter any Orchestra that needs to replace their conductor, it's possible
to find that replacement could be their own musicians.

I guess it doesn't work that way, it seems whoever makes up the search committee looks elsewhere and they
could have home grown talent.

I wonder how the search works.  Thanks

[MishaK]

Well, Alan Gilbert was exactly that: home grown talent, a son of two of the orchestra's musicians. In US orchestras the decisions on MD picks are largely driven by the board. Sometimes you're lucky and they actually have a clue about music and/or care for there to be a collaborative symbiosis between conductor and orchestra, other times they have no clue and they just pick someone on the basis of reputation/cachet/hype who may have never conducted the orchestra before.

[Brian]

Well, Alan Gilbert was exactly that: home grown talent, a son of two of the orchestra's musicians. In US orchestras the decisions on MD picks are largely driven by the board. Sometimes you're lucky and they actually have a clue about music and/or care for there to be a collaborative symbiosis between conductor and orchestra, other times they have no clue and they just pick someone on the basis of reputation/cachet/hype who may have never conducted the orchestra before.

I can explain how the San Antonio Symphony hired their new chief conductor. They drove away their previous talent, Larry Rachleff, a noted conducting teacher at the Shepherd School and (judging from the SASO) a solid, charismatic orchestra builder. Part of the problem was that Rachleff has a penchant for eccentric repertoire (Janacek, Higdon, local Texas composers, several of his students at Rice), none of which goes well with the San Antonio board's desire to stick to Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.

So they imposed a new demand: any SA Symphony music director must agree to live in San Antonio, spending most of their year there, limiting guest engagements elsewhere, and spending the offseason meeting/schmoozing local philanthropists and business leaders. After Rachleff told them to buzz off, the SA Symphony managed to find a number of candidates.

What happened next was pretty cool. The finalists all got a concert in Larry's final season, and audience members could submit feedback, including ratings of each conductor and, for subscribers, a final ballot. James Judd was a candidate; so was a Bulgarian conductor, whose name I forget, who dared to program Prokofiev's Nevsky and would have been my choice*. The audiences and board ultimately agreed on Sebastian Lang-Lessing, a German who previously ran the Tasmanian SO, who apparently cheerfully moved to San Antonio. He's actually done a pretty good job since, being a very solid conductor of the old-school Germanic repertoire, and (unusually for a German?) adept at the necessary schmoozing and audience-flattering.

Anyway, suzyq, that's another answer to your question!


*EDIT: Rossen Milanov, who just got appointed chief conductor in Columbus, OH and at the Chautauqua Festival, in addition to leadership of a band in Asturias, Spain.

[suzyq]

Thanks for the info.

Guess I feel we have our own home grown talent who are as good or better and we should not go all over the world searching for conductors, singer and dancers.

I gather that that's not the way it works, sorry to say.

[MishaK]

Thanks for the info.

Guess I feel we have our own home grown talent who are as good or better and we should not go all over the world searching for conductors, singer and dancers.

I gather that that's not the way it works, sorry to say.

Depends what kind of ensemble it is and what its aims and objectives are. If you are a Berlin Philharmonic or a Chicago Symphony with a global following and an extremely high standard of excellence, you want the best regardless of where they come from. Other orchestras may be tied more specifically to a local tradition, feeding off a steady stream of graduates from the local conservatory. Yet others may be organized more around the focus of bringing classical music to a local community where community outreach and a conductor who is more locally embedded and connected is more important than having an international star.

[Brian]

Also, for local orchestras: there is a great appeal in having a local, home grown talent, as you say. But there is also a great appeal in having somebody who is "exotic" and foreign and exciting. You know, if a fiery young Russian conductor visits the Wichita Symphony, will they be swept off their feet?

[NorthNYMark]

So they imposed a new demand: any SA Symphony music director must agree to live in San Antonio, spending most of their year there, limiting guest engagements elsewhere, and spending the offseason meeting/schmoozing local philanthropists and business leaders. After Rachleff told them to buzz off, the SA Symphony managed to find a number of candidates.

Being relatively new to classical concert-going, the fact that what you describe here seems to be the exception rather than the rule has surprised me, I would think that conducting a major, world-class symphony orchestra would be a full-time job, but that appears not to be the norm, with big name conductors often seeming to have regular gigs on two continents in addition to various guest stints (I'm thinking of Kent Nagano as an example, who has a regular gig in Germany along with Montreal, but there seem to be quite a few others)  Is conducting considered less demanding than playing in the orchestra itself, or do musicians also tend to have concurrent positions in orchestras in different parts of the world?

[TheGSMoeller]

I can explain how the San Antonio Symphony hired their new chief conductor. They drove away their previous talent, Larry Rachleff, a noted conducting teacher at the Shepherd School and (judging from the SASO) a solid, charismatic orchestra builder. Part of the problem was that Rachleff has a penchant for eccentric repertoire (Janacek, Higdon, local Texas composers, several of his students at Rice), none of which goes well with the San Antonio board's desire to stick to Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.

So they imposed a new demand: any SA Symphony music director must agree to live in San Antonio, spending most of their year there, limiting guest engagements elsewhere, and spending the offseason meeting/schmoozing local philanthropists and business leaders. After Rachleff told them to buzz off, the SA Symphony managed to find a number of candidates.

What happened next was pretty cool. The finalists all got a concert in Larry's final season, and audience members could submit feedback, including ratings of each conductor and, for subscribers, a final ballot. James Judd was a candidate; so was a Bulgarian conductor, whose name I forget, who dared to program Prokofiev's Nevsky and would have been my choice*. The audiences and board ultimately agreed on Sebastian Lang-Lessing, a German who previously ran the Tasmanian SO, who apparently cheerfully moved to San Antonio. He's actually done a pretty good job since, being a very solid conductor of the old-school Germanic repertoire, and (unusually for a German?) adept at the necessary schmoozing and audience-flattering.

Anyway, suzyq, that's another answer to your question!


*EDIT: Rossen Milanov, who just got appointed chief conductor in Columbus, OH and at the Chautauqua Festival, in addition to leadership of a band in Asturias, Spain.

Interesting, Brian, I didn't know that happened. I saw SASO three times in one year, and one of the shows featured Shostakovich's 15th symphony which I was surprised to see programmed there.
The Richmond Symphony O. did a similar conductor search the year I moved away, I only saw one of the three conductors vying for the spot and he spoke before every piece and gave more personal insight into the pieces rather than any true history behind them. Was a little annoying.

[jochanaan]

Being relatively new to classical concert-going, the fact that what you describe here seems to be the exception rather than the rule has surprised me, I would think that conducting a major, world-class symphony orchestra would be a full-time job, but that appears not to be the norm, with big name conductors often seeming to have regular gigs on two continents in addition to various guest stints (I'm thinking of Kent Nagano as an example, who has a regular gig in Germany along with Montreal, but there seem to be quite a few others)  Is conducting considered less demanding than playing in the orchestra itself, or do musicians also tend to have concurrent positions in orchestras in different parts of the world?

What usually happens is that the associate, assistant or resident conductor prepares the orchestra while the "Music Director" is out jet-setting, then the MD comes back into town to conduct the last rehearsal or two and the concert.

[MishaK]

What usually happens is that the associate, assistant or resident conductor prepares the orchestra while the "Music Director" is out jet-setting, then the MD comes back into town to conduct the last rehearsal or two and the concert.

No, no, no. Not at the major orchestras for sure. The music director or the guest assigned to the concerts does all the rehearsals and they are loath to give away any of that precious rehearsal time, given how little is alotted these days. The assistant might prepare some sections and is otherwise lucky to get to conduct some family or pops concerts.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Well, Alan Gilbert was exactly that: home grown talent, a son of two of the orchestra's musicians. In US orchestras the decisions on MD picks are largely driven by the board. Sometimes you're lucky and they actually have a clue about music and/or care for there to be a collaborative symbiosis between conductor and orchestra, other times they have no clue and they just pick someone on the basis of reputation/cachet/hype who may have never conducted the orchestra before.

Now that Alan Gilbert is stepping down in 2017, any speculations as to who is getting the job? I would hate to see the NYPO take on another aging big name like they did with Lorin Maazel or Chicago did with Riccardo Muti. Maybe someone like JoAnn Falleta, who is another NY native (born and educated) will get the job. She is certainly better than Marin Alsop, and if Alsop can get a gig in Baltimore...

[MishaK]

NYT, has been profiling some recent guests supposedly considered as potential successors: Honeck, Mälkki. I would kinda like the former to stay in Pitts, the combination is just superb. Mälkki would be wonderful if the NYPO board had half the balls for such a move.