Big Choices

I have recently been inspired by a colleague of mine, Brad Dell.  He is the Director of the ISU production of Sweeney Todd; and I have been enjoying my own private, mini-masterclass watching him work with the student actors/musicians in the show.

Brad talks to the actors a lot about making choices, especially big, bold choices.  He asks them to make choices about the motivations of their characters and then asks them to make choices what the character would do physically. Whether it is moving their arms, laughing, eye contact with other actors, these choices must be big and they must be bold. He asks them to make choices about the characters goals, and choices about what the immediate moments mean for the characters and what those choices mean for the story.

I have stolen every bit of it for my conducting class.

What else does a conductor do but make choices?  The conductor has to make a choice about what the character of the piece will be and how it will be represented during the performance.  The conductor has to make choices about how that character will be represented physically to the ensemble.  Choices from tempo, to articulations, to ensemble colors, and on and on.

What has been wonderful is that this idea has helped re-frame for me how I assess the work the student has done and what they need help with from me.  If they haven’t made musical choices, how loud, fast, soft, slow, character of entrances, how can they conduct the music well?  If they haven’t chosen how or who to cue or who to encourage most during a crescendo, if they haven’t worked out the choreographic element of their conducting task, how can they make their musical choices succeed?

And, of course, the biggest choice that the student conductor has to make is to accept the fact they while on the podium, in front of their friends and peers, some of whom could be roommates, bestfriends, exes, secret crushes (the number of possible social factors affecting the students are endless) that student conductor has to accept the fact that for those 6-8 minutes, he or she is in charge. As long as they are standing on that podium in front of the group, they are the leader of that ensemble and in charge of its musical well-being. That transition is at once overwhelmingly scary and hugely exhilarating.

Having this new frame has been completely eye-opening for me and one of those complete  ”Oh, Duh” moments. It’s been fantastic and how I fully incorporate will be continuously tested in my classes.

Thanks Brad.