 |
Alsop Brings a Passion for Expression to the Podium By SARAH CROCKER
As a 9-year-old child attending New York Philharmonic concerts, Marin Alsop discovered a role model who would shape the course of her life and career: Leonard Bernstein, whom she watched with admiration and awe, and who became one of her early heroes. It was here that Alsop's interest in conducting was first sparked.
 |
| Conductor Marin Alsop (Photo by Grant Leighton) |
|
Born into a musical family in Manhattan, Alsop was shaped very naturally by the many rich musical experiences around her. Both her parents were members of the New York City Ballet Orchestra; her father was the orchestra's concertmaster. Although Alsop began her career as a violinist on the New York music scene—having studied in Juilliard's Pre-College Division before earning her bachelor's and master's degrees in violin performance at the School—a fascination with conducting simmered throughout her youth and young adulthood. Even as a Juilliard student, she took every opportunity to play in conducting classes and observe conducting master classes.This month, Alsop—who is principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony, conductor laureate of the Colorado Symphony, and music director of the Cabrillo Festival—returns to Juilliard, to conduct the School's orchestra for the first time. "It will be neat to be on the other side of it now," she says. "I haven't really been back since my student days, so I am very anxious to see how the School has changed—especially the attitude of the orchestra."But Alsop is not new to working with student orchestras. She has conducted at the National Orchestral Institute and has appeared as guest conductor at the Curtis Institute of Music, Oberlin College Conservatory, and Manhattan School of Music, as well as other conservatories. She says that she makes few adjustments in her rehearsal technique when working with students. "I still remember how it felt to be a student playing in orchestra, and I remember often feeling patronized by a conductor, so I try to avoid that. I see working with students as a mutually responsible opportunity to make music." There is, however, one element of her personality that she tempers when working with students: her self-described sarcastic sense of humor. "Because sometimes," she says, "it is misunderstood."Alsop will conduct a program that includes John Corigliano's Tournaments, Hindemith's Der Schwanendreher, and Brahms' Symphony No. 2. Discussing her programming choices, Alsop explained that Corigliano is a good friend, and she embraced the opportunity to feature a Juilliard composer on this program. "I have only performed Tournaments once before, and it's sort of a showpiece, with virtuosic writing for many sections of the orchestra. It's an unusual piece, and I am fairly certain that it will be new to everyone in the orchestra." The Hindemith, a competition piece chosen by the School, is also something not commonly heard on programs. "It's a bit off the beaten track," says Alsop. "I am happy to be doing it." The Brahms was a natural choice, given the fact that she is in the process of recording a Brahms cycle for Naxos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra—the first disc of which is to be released on the same day as her appearance with the Juilliard Orchestra. "It's a big work that the students will know so, by choosing this more standard piece, I'm hoping to take the work to another level."The relationship of conductor to orchestra is one that Alsop has great authority in discussing, given her extensive experience on both sides of the podium. She says, "At the end of the day, the most important thing for a conductor is to be firm in one's convictions. You have to be able to convince people that you know what you're doing and lead in a humane way. A conductor also needs to be a good listener, a good diplomat—a sensitive person." Historically, the relationship between a conductor and an orchestra has not always been what one might describe as "humane." But Alsop feels that today's conductors are moving much more in that direction. "The image of today's conductor is far less autocratic and much more humane than it once was. You could look at the symphony orchestra as a microcosm of issues of power at large in the world—and in general, the world is a much more humane place than it was 50 or 60 years ago."There is no doubt that her career has been greatly shaped by Leonard Bernstein, who not only served as Alsop's childhood inspiration but later became a real-life mentor when she studied with him as a conducting fellow at Tanglewood. "It's hard to even describe what was so inspiring about him, because it was the entire person," she says. "When I was a child, he was bigger than life to me—it was complete hero worship. And then, when I had the opportunity to work with him at Tanglewood, he was even greater than I could ever have expected: generous, connected, and so totally committed to the people he was working with."
|
Juilliard Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor
Nadia Sirota, viola
Alice Tully Hall
Monday, February 14, 8 p.m.
Free tickets available in the Juilliard Box Office.
|
|
|
Asked to talk about being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, Alsop is reluctant to link any of her experiences to the politics of gender. "Basically," she says, "I think that it is just very difficult to be a young conductor—period. Any rejection I experienced or struggle I had, I attribute to this, and not to the fact that I am a woman." She denies feeling the effect of gender-based discrimination but adds that this is because she never let herself view it as an option. "I put it out of my mind," she explains, "and instead, I tried to use every rejection as an opportunity to better myself." This attitude has brought her to the point where she is today, and her bending of traditional stereotypes has brought her great admiration in the field.For Alsop, the road to conducting was in many ways untraditional. Before becoming a conductor, she worked as a freelance violinist in New York, playing with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Mostly Mozart Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, and American Composers Orchestra, as well as for Broadway shows and studio recordings. But she also looked to her musical peers for the opportunities that she needed to become a conductor. Says Alsop, "The difficult thing about conducting is that you can't really practice unless you have an orchestra to stand in front of. So I created my own opportunities to do that. Eventually, I formed a small orchestra made up of many of my friends from Juilliard."In addition to playing reductions of orchestral works, Alsop and her peers explored different kinds of music, including jazz and "crossover" repertoire. These experimentations have lent her an approach unusual among conductors—and, perhaps for this reason, she holds a pleasantly optimistic view of the future of classical music. The current generation of Juilliard students, she insists, is one with infinite opportunities. "When I was a student, it was almost unheard of to perform jazz in a concert hall setting; now it is almost a cliché. This is a great time to be a classical musician, because there are many more opportunities to explore different kinds of music and to encounter music in different ways."Alsop is also frank in her response to the concern of many of today's presenters and critics that classical music is a dying art form. This concern is not new, she points out—and yet here we are, still thriving. She states a simple fact, one that is difficult for some of us to hear but true nonetheless: "Young people are exposed to many kinds of music, including classical music, early in life. Most will go away from it after this exposure. But later in life, when they have more time, more money—when their lifestyle has changed—they will return to it. And I don't think there is necessarily anything wrong with having more mature audiences at concerts."Alsop's innovative approach and intense personal commitment to what she does have shaped her career in a highly individual way, and audiences can relate to that. Driven by a desire to communicate and a curiosity to explore, she is breaking down traditional barriers even as she upholds the greatness of an old and venerable art form. When Marin Alsop steps onto the podium to lead the Juilliard Orchestra this month, students and audiences alike will be treated to an example of where a life guided by a passion for expression may lead.Sarah Crocker is a master's student in violin.
|
