Among our OCSM Conference guest presenters were Jaime Martino (whom I interviewed in the June issue of Una Voce) and Michael Mori, executive leadership at Tapestry Opera. They are the co-founders of Women in Musical Leadership, a program offering mentorship and support for women conductors early in their careers.
What Jaime and Michael particularly wanted to discuss was conductor evaluations, and the ways we judge and talk about those who lead us. In WML’s work with young conductors, they see how feedback from musicians can play an important role in their development; WML has also developed an evaluation metric of their own. (Note: Results of OCSM Conductor Evaluations are not intended to be shared directly with conductors; in many cases, though, feedback gets filtered and shared in some form.) They have also seen how certain comments on evaluations perpetuate old biases: they may seem preoccupied with conductor’s appearance, clothing or manner of speech, even when these have little to do with the musicianship on stage.
We had a wide-ranging discussion about why this might be the case, and how we can change our culture. Conductors put their whole selves in front of us and the audience. We can’t censor our thoughts or pretend not to notice gender or appearance. But we can strive to keep our comments objective and focused on the art and craft of conducting. We can also consider that leadership can take many forms, and there are many ways to be an effective conductor.
Thank you to everyone who responds to our OCSM conductor evaluations, or to the evaluations used in your orchestras. Your opinions and comments help raise the standards for our industry; they also may help a young conductor realize their strengths (or weaknesses), and perhaps find their voice. Not many forms can hold so much promise, or have so much impact.
- Matt Heller, OCSM Secretary
At the Saskatoon Symphony, we have been without a permanent music director for the last 3 seasons. We have had guest conductors for every concert. After a while, all the conductors become a blur, except for those who either have been very positive or very negative and abusive towards the orchestra.
It is important that the members receive the evaluations and try to fill the form out. In our orchestra, we are always looking for versatility. Is a conductor able to conduct classics, pops, modern music or small chamber concerts? Filling out the forms also helps the players to recall what they experienced before, over time and different styles of programmes. We can observe if there are improvements in conducting, communication and other issues. While we are still without a permanent conductor, our management is using information gathered from these evaluations in making decisions.
Lillian Jen-Payzant, Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra Delegate
October 2024
