In Tuesday’s (3/29) Wall Street Journal, Stuart Isacoff writes, “Orchestral conducting is a mysterious art. … Conductors must have a strong personal conception about the music, then convey it to the players through facial gestures, hand motions, bodily contortions, and—so it often seems—psychic vibrations. … Opportunities to demonstrate and refine these skills are rare. Thus the League of American Orchestras established the biennial Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, in which up-and-coming conductors can showcase their talents for an audience of orchestra search committees, managers and artistic administrators. The most recent one took place here last month, when the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra became the plaything of six talented newcomers, selected from a field of 150 applicants.” Conductors at the event included Yaniv Dinur, Christopher James Lees, Marcelo Lehninger, Sean Newhouse, Robert Treviño, and Joseph Young. “A lot was at stake. ‘There are about 2,000 orchestras in America—some large, some small—and they all need conductors,’ ” said League President and CEO Jesse Rosen. “The audience included professionals with the power to boost careers … For the conductors, the chance to work with a top-notch orchestra seemed almost reward enough.”
Posted March 29, 2011
