"They told me that I" conduct as a man "": I manage the orchestra
IN THE WORLD OF ACADEMIC MUSIC GENDER INEQUALITY It happened historically. Despite the persistent public calls to abandon the age-old prejudices, women, for the most part, it is customary to ignore there, while there are examples of their success. Thus, according to estimates by the managing director of the Southbank Sinfonia orchestra in Britain, they make up only 6%. We talked to conductor Kristina Ischenko, author of the telegram channel Concrete Music, how strong are gender bias in academic music and what prompted her to manage orchestras.
On the choice of profession
I was born and raised in Chisinau, while my family is in no way connected with science or art. When I was five years old, my parents decided to send me to a music school: They worked a lot, and I did not go to kindergarten. I liked music already then, at the age of five. A year later, I entered the musical lyceum at the piano, and over time, my interest no longer needed help in the form of parental supervision. Closer to the senior classes, the desire to play music became quite conscious, although at that time I did not understand that, being not from a "profile" family, it would be difficult to build a career.
Over time, I began to feel that despite my sincere interest, I did not want to practice piano all my life. The moment of failure was difficult, the future seemed unclear (and it still seems), but in the musical lyceum there was an opportunity to transfer to one of four specialties: percussion, theory, composition or choral conducting. I chose the latter - it seemed that it most suited my young individuality, which I then saw her. The risk was considerable, I was dissuaded by the teachers - their main argument against was an incredibly limited labor market. But I made a choice and quickly realized that he was correct.
About study
After twelve years in high school, I entered the Moscow Conservatory for choral conducting. However, I wanted to go further, and I began to look for an opportunity to manage instrumental chamber orchestras. From the third year, having found amazing like-minded people in the Student Scientific and Creative Society, I began to collect small orchestras and perform not very popular music of the 20th century. For one of the concerts I organized, Alexander Manotskov (lively classic of Russian music, best known for the opera "Guidon" and the music for the film "My Dad Baryshnikov". - Approx. ed.) even wrote a play.
The competition during my admission to the Moscow Conservatory was, but far from being as serious as in the magistracy of the Juilliard School (one of the largest art universities in the United States. - PRome. ed.). About a hundred people applied for the audition, and only eleven were admitted to the exams, among whom only I and a girl from China were foreigners. At the same time, an average of one person per year is taken to the magistracy of the Juilliard school.
During the entrance to the magistracy, I was very surprised by the level of training. The Moscow Conservatory does not have a magistracy, but I got the impression that in the United States the level among those who are admitted to the introductory (in order to get to the introductory, you need to send five videos, two recommendations, after which there is a selection), much higher . Although the requirements for solfeggio are comparable - but again it is difficult to assess the complexity, since the success in this discipline, in my opinion, is largely dependent on talent. In the Moscow Conservatory there is an analogue of a conductor's magistracy- two-year professional retraining, but about fifteen people take this program for a year without a difficult competition and enough opportunities to rehearse with the orchestra. I did not even consider this option.
Now I live in the USA and I assist in one of the Boston orchestras specializing in the performance of classical works. The composition of non-permanent, depends on the repertoire and has several dozen musicians. I cannot say that I already see my ideal future, because it may well turn out that there is a terrible working atmosphere in a famous, award-winning team. I faced this, and I do not want to repeat this experience. I can say with confidence that I am ready to work hard for the realization of my ambitions; Fortunately, I am supported by relatives and friends. Now Ensemble Intercontemporain- the place of maximum intersection of my musical interests; Incidentally, this orchestra was run by the amazing professional Susanna Mulkki.
About the work of the conductor
During my speech, there is a tremendous responsibility on me, because, without distracting for a split second, I have to see and hear everything, think and simultaneously show the necessary tasks with my hands. This is a great intellectual and physical exercise, which with each rehearsal and concert becomes a little easier. But I, of course, still learn to be absolutely concentrated every split second.
Conductors can change, for example, the tempo and dynamic instructions of the composer, considering that thereby they will make the work better; sometimes they edit bad pieces in orchestration. The sound, with the exception of the technical errors of the orchestra,- a result that depends solely on the conductor. It seems to me that the main task of a professional- correctly, respectfully and subtly convey the score to the audience. The score is filled with a large number of instructions, but how it will sound is determined by the conductor’s work as an intellectual unit.- this is the interpretation of the work.
A hundred years ago, conductors rarely changed with orchestras, so the process of "playing" was much longer than it is now. Now, however, this requires a maximum of several rehearsals, although much depends on the professionalism of the musicians. I was also confronted with the technical unpreparedness of others - it is difficult to make a work plan, when there is a very heterogeneous level in one group, there are strong musicians and weaker ones. This happened with the choir, and with the chamber orchestras that I collected. Conflicts sometimes happen, but unlike technical problems, the conductor can quickly solve them — although at first I hardly knew exactly how to do it.
About gender inequality and prejudice
I have not wondered for a long time about the appearance of the conductor and the gender imbalance in the profession. In the Chisinau Opera and Ballet Theater, the staff of the workers was a female conductor, the strongest personality Ilona Stepan heads the department of choral conducting at the Chisinau Conservatory. I really did not hear sexist comments about them in my childhood.
Later I learned that women in the world do not always take such positions even in highly developed countries. For example, in the Metropolitan Opera, in both the Paris Opera Theaters, at the Bolshoi Theater, female conductors are not even included in the staff of permanent conductors. Already studying at the Moscow Conservatory, I heard from the "honorary professorship" that I was "too self-confident", "conducting like a man," should "come to conduct more feminine, skinny things, and also" woman’s life - family. " Before the conservatory, I hadn’t heard anything like that from lyceum teachers, nor from my loved ones - in me, on the contrary, developed a sense of self-confidence and willpower.
The terribly outdated views of the professors are not accidental, and I think that in Western countries just another culture of communication and rudeness is unacceptable. However, many women think derogatory about female conductors - even women themselves. I realize that this status quo is conveniently maintained by those who benefit from it. For example, often successful female conductors maintain stereotypes and level the merits of other women because they see them as competitors.
It's nice that now, in principle, strive for a different approach. For example, the most successful female conductor in the United States, Marin Alsop, is doing quite a few projects to support young fellows. The percentage of female conductors in serious positions is changing - though too slowly. I got the impression that the younger generation of musicians, including in Russia, is much more open to women behind the conductor's control, but it’s not they who distribute jobs and influence the labor market.
About the telegram channel dedicated to music
In March last year, I walked after classes at the Conservatory in Newspaper Lane past the McDonald's building, built in the “Luzhkov style”. I thought that the flowering of such an architecture coincided with the moment when the post-Soviet space finally shook off the consequences of the iron curtain. At that time, composers began eagerly to plunge into the world of the Western academic musical avant-garde, with which they almost never touched. Noticing the similarity of historical processes and how buildings and musical works are built - very strictly, otherwise the construction will collapse - I decided to launch a telegram channel.
At first, I did selections of buildings and music that were written in the same year. However, later the format had to be changed, because in many cities there are amazing architectural monuments, but there were no outstanding successes in the music field - or vice versa. Now I have three main topics: a not very popular part of academic music, including avant-garde; "non-academic" music is mostly experimental electronics - and architecture, mostly after the 50s.
I am interested in modern academic music, and I really want more people to know about it. Not all avant-garde is incomprehensible - and even if music is difficult to understand, conductors and composers should be able to explain the meaning of the work to a person with any education and background. I am also learning this.
