A female conductor is an interesting thing, because it first of all challenges the idea of a conductor as a dictatorial, dominant force, and maybe it reinforces the idea of a conductor as someone who is sharing a musical idea with people.
-Stephen Hough
Is Mr. Hough suggesting a woman won’t (can’t?) be a “dictatorial, dominant force”? What am I missing here? (I easily miss things.)
I read it here, in an article about women conductors. It also includes this:
I would never ever limit myself to thinking of somebody based on sexual priority, or being a man or woman, or young or old. It’s just not important. Music is as close as we get to God in this living world. This is an international language that everyone, somehow, understands.
-Anu Tali
Being female, and a symphony conductor, perhaps I might have an insiders insight. Being a conductor is about leadership, knowledge of music and the score, and the ability to inspire a large group of people towards a unified musical goal. Until about the 1960′s in the United States, women were not allowed the training necessary to be successful as conductors. Therefore, you saw very few in front of the orchestra. Currently, however, most graduate programs in the United States are filled with many women seeking careers as symphonic conductors. As women have risen to leadership positions in business and industry, they have also risen to leadership positions in music and on the podium. The change is gradual, but it is happening. I have never felt that there was a lack of opportunities for exceptional conductors that happen to be women.
Diane Wittry
Conductor –
The Allentown Symphony, PA and
The Norwalk Symphony, CT.
Thank you for writing, Diane.
What do you think about the first quote, though? Doesn’t he imply that women are unable to be the dictatorial type of conductor? While I prefer a conductor to be collaborative (but still the boss, thank you very much) and not a screamer or that sort of looming “god with a baton” sort, I would think that a woman could be that sort just as much as a man could.