Alexandra Finnie

Northeast Wind Conducting Symposium

Clinicians: Allan McMurray & Christopher Hughes

One of the central themes of this symposium was that of being the music, meaning

expressing the music and representing ones interpretation of the composers intent, for the

sake of the music (Reimer). In the role of a conductor, this requires intimate score study and

preparation, trusting the ensemble, being vulnerable and using purposeful and meaningful

movements. We discussed these four elements at length throughout the course of the

symposium.

Score study is an integral part of the conductors responsibilities. Dr. McMurray

facilitated a discussion in which he introduced the idea of the score is your friend. This

discussion is based on the premise that detailed score study is of utmost importance for a

conductor. McMurray suggests approaching score study in the same way in which you would

meet and get to know a person. When building a relationship with a person, it is typical to ask

questions to get a sense of the persons background and life experiences. In terms of score

study, this means learning about the background of the composer and of the story of the piece

itself. McMurray suggests coming up with questions throughout the process of learning about

the score, and to get to know the emotions of the music (Langer). I have learned that the

process of asking and answering these questions will help me dig deeper into the meaning of

the music, and will inform my artistic decisions about how I interpret the music and the

composers intent, and how I will teach the music to my students. The process of continual

learning will also help me grow as a musician and as an educator (Dweck). McMurray also

provided us with a list of several helpful considerations that can help us generate our questions

and guide the score-study process.

In addition to score study, I learned a great deal about trusting the ensemble. A major

focus of the entire week for everyones conducting was to trust the ensemble, meaning to not
feel the need to maintain a beat pattern all of the time. When McMurry and Hughes were

working with me on this particular element, they instructed me to start the ensemble with a

breath and then to only conduct the musical line (no beat pattern whatsoever). This was very

nerve-wracking, but it was also very eye-opening. In conducting less, the ensemble was forced

to listen to each other more which promoted greater musicality and gave them more ownership

over their performance, and allowed them to communicate and respond more to each other

(Dewey, Vygotsky). I believe that this type of exercise is relevant even for beginner bands.

Once students have the basic foundation of a steady pulse, allowing them to focus on making

music together instead of just following a simple beat pattern will encourage them to listen more

intently and purposefully. This also opens the conductor up for being more expressive with the

musical line.

Another important focal point of the week was the importance of being vulnerable. One

of the biggest ways that I changed throughout the week is that I let myself open up and become

more vulnerable. Growth occurs through focused effort and allowing yourself to be stretched

beyond your comfort zone (Dweck, Vygotsky). I took a leap and tried new conducting gestures

and followed the advice of McMurry and Hughes. Doing this allowed me to progress rapidly

throughout the session. It also reinforced the importance of being authentic with

students/ensemble-members (humanism).

My last main takeaway from this symposium was that I learned about the power of using

meaningful movements. I learned that constantly showing a plain and boring beat pattern takes

away all motivation for students to look up at the conductor. It also wastes energy. The idea of

creating intentional and meaningful movements ties back into score study. In order for all

movements to be meaningful, the conductor must have made decisions about how the music

should sound (for every instrument and every second of the piece). This is helpful information to

me because I tend to be very energetic and encouraging for my students, which is a good thing.

However, sometimes I feel as if I am giving more energy out than my students are giving back. I
think that part of the reason for this is that I am not giving them a reason to look up at me since

not all of my movements are meaningful and part of the music. Instead of just trying to

constantly put more energy and size into my motions, I should remember that sometimes, less

is actually more. My students will learn to respond more to my conducting gestures if all of my

movements have a purpose, and if I use bigger and/or repeated motions only when needed.

Overall, this symposium taught me a lot about how to improve my conducting through

score study, trusting the ensemble, allowing myself to be vulnerable and to try new ideas, and to

make every movement meaningful. I am excited to continue to develop my conducting skills and

to apply them to my own teaching.