BY MIRANDA ILCHEF
Orchestral percussionist to classroom teacher to professional conductor isn’t a typical career trajectory — but it’s a path Jen Winley found herself on. And it’s one that has led her to the podium for the upcoming Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performance of Mozart and Brahms.
The polymath’s musical curiosity has been evident since childhood.
“I was always interested in music and rhythm from a very young age,” Jen says.
“I used to make up rhythms and patterns on anything I could find – even my bedframe when I was supposed to be going to sleep…I just found things to tap on and loved to make up songs.”
That childhood obsession turned into piano lessons, which turned into percussion lessons, which led to a blossoming freelance career as a percussionist and timpanist performing in many of Australia’s orchestras — including the MSO.
After several years, it was time for a new challenge.
“I decided to go into classroom teaching, which I just adored,” Jen shares.
“I ended up with a concert band that I loved conducting. It was just about my favourite thing to do, even though it was on a Friday after school, which is not usually a teacher’s favourite time to be at work.”
Jen become curious about how to improve her skills as part of her professional development. She ended up having some lessons with WA Youth Orchestra music director Peter Moore. As she became more involved with the organisation, she continued to develop and grow, and in 2022 landed herself the position of assistant conductor of WASO.
“There’s always been a progression of continuous upskilling, and now I have sort of accidentally ended up working with professional orchestras. But I still have a passionate drive to work with youth ensembles, and I continue to do that today.”
Jen also found that her timpani background has laid the foundation for her conducting endeavours.
“The most important transferable skill from percussion to conducting, aside from rhythm, is a sense of colour,” Jen says.
“As a percussionist, you spend your life in colour, and we learn what certain colours feel like in a tactile way. Now I know the colours that I want, and I have the language to describe them, rather than just focusing on melody, rhythm, and harmony.”
Jen conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in March and will return in August to lead the orchestra through Brahms’ expansive First Symphony and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12, with Faure’s Suite from Masques et bergamasques serving as the entrée.
Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 is historic and hefty work. It took the composer nearly two decades to finish writing it. The overarching mood is solemn and dark, and it is crafted with the care and skill of a master composer at the peak of his career.
Preparing to conduct this work with one of Australia’s finest orchestras could seem like a daunting task. For Jen, it all starts with the context.
“I like to go back and really understand where the composer was in their story, when they were writing it, and what might have been going on around them. It helps me to understand the intention of the work.”
From there, she starts to break down the piece, examining the broad structure before circling in on the finer details.
“I don’t have all the answers yet, because I don’t think anyone can when they conduct a masterwork for the first time. But I know I’ve got to try and find a way that makes sense to me as a musician, because otherwise you are just a cover band.
“It’s got to come across as authentic. I can’t just ask the orchestra to give me a ‘house version’.”
Jen feels strongly about the importance of cultivating an interaction with the orchestra that facilitates the sharing of ideas. She found this to be a particular strong suit of the MSO when in March she conducted Ears Wide Open.
“They were very interested in what I wanted to bring, and they wanted me to lead them there.
“Although I haven’t conducted a full program before, I feel that this is a pretty good indicator that the musicians of the MSO are attentive to the ideas I have.”
In the MSO’s August concert, the Brahms symphony will be paired with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12 performed by Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham. The concerto is sparkling example of the pleasant elegance for which Mozart was renowned.
Jen finds the creative partnership required to prepare a concerto particularly rewarding.
“I love the collaboration,” she says.
“Something like Mozart can be taken in historical way – lean and transparent – or if it is on a big Steinway then the orchestra needs to provide a larger sound.
“As conductor, it is my role to support the soloist, so I really like knowing more about their approach so I can help the orchestra provide the correct setting.”
Hear Jen conduct the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Mozart and Brahms, 7.30pm August 15 in the Melbourne Town Hall.
Images supplied.
