Hello and welcome to Podium Time! Today we’re talking with Roderick Cox about how you should Think Before you Feel when you start conducting professional orchestras, or really any ensemble at any level. In his words: develop your intellectual interpretation before you develop your emotional interpretation. We tend to feel the music first or follow our favorite recordings, but Roderick teaches us that, especially when you move to professional conducting, you must have a well thought-out reason behind the decisions you make. We also discuss how the urgency that young conductors feel to be successful immediately is actually slowing us down because we focus too much on our image and being public before we’re ready, leaving us unprepared and not putting our best foot forward.
You will Learn:
- The many paths to a career for young conductors, and how today’s paths are vastly different from earlier generations
- Why your next gig will come from symphony admin, not a conductor
- The urgency of young conductors that you should actively avoid, and why you should not put conducting videos online too early
- How to decide in an audition if you should rehearse more with your words or with your hands
- Arguments for and against conducting competitions
- Why you should develop an intellectual interpretation before an emotional interpretation, and how rehearsals change when you’re conducting a high-level orchestra.
Learn more about Roderick at his website http://www.roderickcox.com
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