BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances this event has been cancelled.
It’s not uncommon for a conductor to present an outstanding performance of your favourite music before turning around and leaving the stage. But there’s room for this experience to be elevated, and it takes a very particular type of conductor to do so — one who values direct communication with audiences and orchestra alike.
Conductor Ingrid Martin will take her audience through old and new music in upcoming Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performance Imaginations Ignited. And she will guide them through this experience using a tool as powerful as it is simple: spoken word.
Ingrid, who runs online learning platform Conducting Artistry, knows that her job is to acknowledge the people who are making and hearing the music. It’s not only about serving the notes on the page. This school of thought seems a natural fit with the MSO concert, which has been designed to appeal to people who haven’t yet visited the orchestra, or might be looking for something a little different (right down to its 9pm start time).
On the program is Stravinsky’s famous Firebird and the world premiere of a new Australian composition, too. Ingrid talks to CutCommon about how she’ll help audiences make the most of it.
Ingrid, tell us how you were enlisted to conduct Imaginations Ignited.
I love classical music. My life’s work so far has been understanding how I can help others fall in love with it too.
Orchestral music is an artform steeped in tradition. This can often be a barrier to new people engaging with our art. One of the challenges we’re facing as a sector is reimagining what we offer to remain relevant and meaningful to today’s audiences. As a result, I’ve spent most of my career questioning our traditions and experimenting with new ways of working that keep what’s great about what we do, and update it for the 21st Century.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s head of artistic planning Katharine Bartholomeusz-Plows knows how passionate I am about this. Mid-last year, when the opportunity arose to lead a concert for newcomers to the orchestra, it was a perfect fit.
The orchestra’s event listing describes you not only as a conductor, but as a “guide” in this concert. How will you help audiences discover what goes on behind the music? And why might people need a guide?
If you’ve never been to an orchestra concert, it’s a pretty awesome experience, but it can also be intimidating. We have so many customs, and we often take it for granted that the audience understands. In reality, for the audience, it’s like stepping into a foreign world where you might feel excluded for not knowing what’s going on or why.
My role in this concert is to bring the audience into our world so they feel comfortable, welcomed and part of the family.
From a logistical point of view, I’ll be demystifying some of our traditions so that the audience understands what’s going on. When do I clap? Who’s who? Why does one person bow and not the others? Why do they play that long note at the start? Is that music too? Why do people go on and off stage?
I’ll also be introducing the audience to the music, and guiding them on how and where to listen so they have something for their ears to hold onto.
Many conductors will rock up to the podium, lead an epic show, then bid farewell. You’re taking things a step further in this event when you address the audience directly in the ways you describe. Why do you like talking to listeners?
Music is communication, and it happens between humans. So often in orchestra concerts, that human element gets lost. The orchestra and conductor come onstage, they play at the audience, then they leave. To me, that often — but not always — denies the essential humanity of everyone in the room. We’re people, sharing that experience together. Talking to the audience allows us to strengthen the connection between musicians and audience.
As an audience member, since I was a little kid, I always loved when the conductor turned around and spoke. I felt like my existence in the room was acknowledged and validated.
As musicians, our prime focus should be on serving the audience. However, sometimes we forget this when we’re caught up in trying to get everything right. I spend most of the show with my back to the audience too, so I love getting to turn around and actually look at their faces and connect with them.
Speaking directly to the audience an important reminder for all of us, in the moment, of why we’re there. The audience matters. Without them, it’s not a performance.
As a conductor, do you bring any of these approaches into your work with the musicians too? How do you use your value of communication to guide the orchestra?
Musicians are people, just like the audience. That might seem like an obvious thing to say, but sometimes this too can get lost when we get caught up chasing impossible musical perfection. We get sucked into thinking of musicians as musical machines, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Leading from a place of shared humanity is essential to empower the musicians to do their best work. Understanding that we’re all amazing, flawed human beings who are doing the best with what we can, with what we’ve got, is fundamental to how I work.
Keeping the audience at the centre of what we do is also essential to how I work with musicians. It’s important we keep coming back to that ‘why’ throughout the rehearsal process. It’s not about us. It’s about the audience. We’re here to serve them.
This event is all about introducing people to the orchestra, whether that’s people who have never been, or people who want something a bit different. This means it’s your job to give a good first impression! How do you want people to feel when you lead the orchestra through this event — knowing it could make or break their future relationship with the orchestra? No pressure or anything…
Haha! I want them to feel welcomed, excited, and curious. My dream is that the audience walks away in awe — that they have had a ‘wow’ experience, and are now hungry for the next one.
It might not be ‘wow’ every time. Sometimes it might be ‘oooh’ or ‘hmm’. But really, this is the role of art in society — to change people. This is what we need to aim for every performance, whether it’s your first or your 50th.
The program features another make-or-break scenario: new Australian music by a living composer. How would you describe 2022 Cybec Young Composer in Residence Alex Turley’s work River? And why should listeners get stuck into new Australian music from day one of their concertgoing experience?
I think it’s so exciting for both musicians and audience to be part of a ‘first’. The idea that no one in history has heard this music before is incredibly special for everyone in the room.
For me, hearing new music is an absolutely essential part of my life — whether on the radio, Spotify, YouTube, or at a concert. I love discovering new voices and want our audience to feel that too.
When Alex Turley, the composer of River, sent me the score, I emailed him straight back saying: “I LOVE this piece. I can’t wait to bring it into the world”. River traverses so many different emotions and soundworlds, which isn’t surprising given it follows the path of a river through mountains, valleys, and waterfalls, and eventually to the sea. Alex really knows the instruments and how to combine them to make interesting sounds and colours.
So what do you love about the rest of the program — including the fact that it starts at 9pm?!
As well as Alex’s piece, the other two are absolute bangers. The Marquez Danzon No. 2 is full of sultry melodies and infectious rhythms — a real party piece where everyone gets to have a great time. I have conducted it several times, but this is the first time MSO has played it, so I’m excited to introduce it to them.
The Firebird Suite is the opposite in the sense that it’s a piece well known and loved by the orchestra, but I’ve never conducted it before. It too shows off everything the orchestra can do, in spectacular fashion. This piece has been on my bucket list since I was a teenager, and I feel so fortunate I get to conduct it with the wonderful musicians of MSO in this show.
Parting words ahead of Imaginations Ignited?
If you’re a musician or seasoned music lover, this is the perfect gig to bring your non-musical friends to. By the end, they might have more of an idea of what you’re always raving about, and say ‘yes’ next time you invite them to a show!
If you’ve been before but haven’t been for a while, this is an opportunity to reconnect and dip your toe back in with a friendly guide by your side.
If you’re brand new: we can’t wait to meet you!
Hear Ingrid Martin conducting Up Late with the MSO — Imaginations Ignited at 9pm April 5 in Hamer Hall.
READ NEXT: Cybec composer Alex Turley chats about the world premiere performance of River
Images supplied.
