As I walked into Roy Thomson Hall on an overcast Saturday morning to attend the Women in Musical Leadership Masterclass, an event devoted to uplifting early-career women and non-binary conductors, I was excited to support the three emerging conductors on the program, Serena Reuten, Monica Chen and Eva Legault. And I wasn’t the only one; as my fellow audience members streamed into the Hall, it was clear that everyone was looking forward to seeing the conductors’ work alongside the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO), and perhaps even more importantly, to get a sneak peek at how conducting, well, works.
Led by Tapestry Opera, with the TSO as lead orchestral partner, Women in Musical Leadership (WML) is a three-year initiative designed to develop the next generation of women and non-binary conductors and music directors in Canada. It was created to close what Tapestry refers to as the “leadership gap” in Canadian orchestras. Even though women make up 59 percent of graduates from visual and performing arts programs, they occupy only 25 percent of the titled conducting positions at major orchestras ($5 million+), and only 10 percent of musical director roles. Unsurprisingly, it’s difficult for women and non-binary people to get the type of professional mentorship and experience required to ascend to those top roles. So, Tapestry launched a program that would connect talented early-career conductors with exactly this mentorship and experience. This is good news for the wider industry, of course, but it also provides a fascinating opportunity for music lovers, who rarely get to see this side of musical development.
No wonder, then, that the Masterclass attracted a diverse audience of TSO and Tapestry supporters. As we settled into our seats, I realized I was surrounded by people of all ages and backgrounds. Younger attendees were as well-represented as long-time supporters, and I even spotted a little girl who was sitting rapt as Reuten took her place on the conductor’s podium.
I turned my attention to the stage, too, where Reuten stood tall, took a sharp inhale of breath and began slicing through the air with her baton—while just off to the side, TSO Music Director Gustavo Gimeno looked on, taking careful note of her pacing, eye contact and even the balance between showing what she wants each musician to do versus telling them.
Reuten conducted a selection from Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1; she chose it because, while the Finnish composer’s work has become as standard as Beethoven, Mozart and Dvořák, younger conductors don’t often get the chance to tackle these pieces. “I think it is such an important core part of the repertoire, so having the chance to work on [it] with an orchestra is invaluable,” she said later. After an uninterrupted playthrough, she asked the musicians to take it from the top, and the feedback began. Every so often, Gimeno interrupted her conducting with a question, comment or note, his approach Socratic, though not without humour. “This is a very sophisticated, responsive orchestra, so we have to ask ourselves, maybe it is me?” he said at one point, gently sardonic, prompting a smile from Reuten and a loud laugh from the audience.
If it wasn’t clear before, that’s exactly the moment where attendees realized we weren’t just watching a rehearsal, we were watching three WML conductors—Reuten, as well as Monica Chen, who is in her third year of the program, and Eve Legault, who is in her first year—learn how to become better conductors. Chen’s piece was Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, while Legault tackled Brahms’ Symphony No. 4.
Gimeno’s feedback differed according to each conductor’s style, strengths and the areas where they were still finding their feet. He reminded them that there wasn’t necessarily a right or wrong conducting decision; instead, their goal should be to clearly communicate the idea they want to explore, ideally through motion and eye contact, though verbally was okay—if they could communicate their ideas quickly, ideally in about 10 seconds!
Later, at a private Q&A, Chen reflected on the value of working with Gimeno on what she described as the lifelong journey of becoming a conductor. “I think each masterclass is a kind of checkpoint in my personal growth,” she said. “Each time I come back, I take note of the things I need to work on, and I keep them in mind throughout the entire year, and hopefully chip away at them [to get] a tiny bit better, even just 0.1%.”
Meanwhile, Legault noted how important it was to practice conducting, and not just study it. “Gustavo has prepared me perfectly, but when you get here, it's real, not virtual. All the theory [and] concepts… become an experience,” she said.
There was something thrilling about getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how an orchestral performance works; that afternoon, as the audience walked out of Roy Thomson Hall and onto the bustling streets of downtown Toronto, patrons, donors and other attendees could be heard discussing how they would feel learning how to conduct world-class musicians (intimidated) under the watchful eye of a master conductor like Gimeno (terrified), and marveling at all three of the conductors’ talent and grace under pressure.
Stacy Lee Kong is a writer, editor and culture critic whose work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Maclean’s and the Toronto Star.