I’ve shared a couple of articles on Facebook about the Chicago Symphony hiring wünderkind conductor Klaus Mäkelä (as well as the travails of typing his name). My friend Cecilia just sent me this great blog post about it, comparing his hire to that of Thomas Sonderland (not gonna even try with the ø’s and ä’s I’m sorry!) at the Minnesota Orchestra, featuring this fantastic quote:
“At the end of the day, here’s my concern: I don’t want audiences to lose an ally, if a day should come when they need one. I want this art form to endure, and to make people’s lives better. That’s literally all I want.
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Remember: an American music director is only a conductor in his spare time.
First, he is a fundraiser, a psychologist, a detective, a scholar, a gladiator, a mediator, an inspiration, a party guest, a punching bag, a schmoozer, a showman, and a symbol. Oftentimes, what he does on the podium is of secondary (or, depending on the day, tertiary) importance.”
The article is by Emily E. Hogstad, on her fabulous blog Song of the Lark.
Why am I so taken with the hiring drama of major American orchestras? I’m a freelancer who shouldn’t care! I don’t know. Its the royalty of our weird little niche world. Classical music is so old-fashioned! (Note her use of all male pronouns up there. Not wrong.) Maybe it’s the same reason I loved Succession, but with great music involved, too. Hey, Succession also had great music! There’s been a movement at play with orchestras having composers of color in residence, and it’s been so amazing to see the music that’s come out of that. So why are the conductors still overwhelmingly white (& usually from Europe), and male? Is it because of the boards? The pipeline of talent? Hopefully it changes soon.
