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ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS

30  November  2013  Last  updated  at  02:14  GMT

Esa-­Pekka  Salonen:  10  tips  to  becoming  a  conductor

By  Alison  Feeney-­Hart
BBC  News

Esa-­Pekka  Salonen  is  the  principal  conductor  of  the  Philharmonia  Orchestra  in  London.

His  career  took  off  when  he  stood  in  at  the  last  minute  for  a  sick  conductor  when  he  was  just  25.

Almost  25  years  later,  he  was  recently  named  conductor  of  the  year.

1.  Love  the  music

I  think  the  most  important  thing  is  passion,  you  really  have  to  love  the  music.  You  have  to  love  the  music  more  than  you  love
yourself  in  a  way.  I  didn't  have  any  great  dreams  of  conducting  as  a  kid  but  I  loved  music  for  sure.

I  was  highly  suspicious  of  conductors,  they  seemed  to  be  attention  grabbing  people  who  looked  kind  of  disgusting  with  their  combed
hair  and  unreal  clothes.  But  when  I  started,  it  was  something  that  came  quite  naturally  to  me  and  I  discovered  that  I  rather  enjoyed
it.

So  it  wasn't  a  childhood  dream  that  finally  became  a  reality,  it  was  more  like  going  with  the  flow  and  lots  of  seemingly  random
events.

2.  Go  to  rehearsals

You  have  to  train  as  a  conductor  to  be  one.  Get  into  one  of  the  conducting  classes  at  a  college  or  a  music  academy.  Even  before
you  do  that,  the  best  education  for  someone  who  wants  to  become  a  conductor  is  to  sit  in  rehearsals.  That's  where  you  learn.

A  concert  is  just  a  concert,  that  is  when  we  deliver  what  we  achieved  in  rehearsals.  To  know  how  to  get  to  that  point  you  have  to
witness  the  process.

3.  Learn  to  play  an  instrument  well

Most  people  start  quite  early  and  they  start  by  learning  to  play  an  instrument.  It  is  unimaginable  to  be  a  conductor  without  being  able
to  play  something  well.

It  doesn't  matter  so  much  what  you  play,  it  can  be  the  piano  or  the  bagpipes,  but  you  have  to  know  what  it  means  to  play  something
well.  Otherwise  you  will  not  be  in  a  moral,  mental  or  ethical  position  to  demand  the  same  thing  from  an  orchestra.  That's  really
important.

4.  Accept  that  you  are  just  a  waiter

The  composer  is  the  chef  and  conductors  are  the  waiters.  Both  are  totally  honourable  professions  but  we  have  to  accept  that  if  I
conduct  a  piece  by  Beethoven,  I'm  just  a  waiter.  I  might  be  head  waiter,  but  waiter  none  the  less  and  I  am  there  to  make  sure  the
food  comes  to  the  table  on  time  and  intact.
5.  Shed  your  thick  skin  and  don't  scare  people
Ranting  and  raving  and  scaring  everybody  doesn't  work  in  my  opinion.  The  conductor  as  a  lion  tamer/policeman/  kindergarten
teacher/priest  is  no  longer  necessary.  It's  about  being  able  to  focus  the  thoughts  and  ideas  of  a  large  group  of  people  and  enable
them  to  achieve  the  desired  artistic  result.

I  don't  think  thick  skin  is  a  good  thing  to  have  in  this  profession.  On  the  contrary  you  need  to  be  sensitive,  you  need  to  be  able  to
feel  the  vibes  of  an  orchestra  on  a  human  level  to  be  able  to  pick  up  what's  going  wrong.

6.  Stay  in  shape

Conducting  can  be  quite  hard  work.  If  someone  who  wasn't  used  to  it  tried  to  stand  up  and  hold  their  arms  above  their  shoulders  for
two  hours,  I  think  most  people  would  faint.  We  eat  out  all  the  time  after  concerts  too  and  we  eat  late,  so  it's  easy  to  over  indulge.

I  try  and  stay  in  shape  so  I  run.  Exercise  for  me  is  a  mental  experience,  it's  my  own  time.  Sometimes  after  a  week  or  two  you  can
feel  like  you  have  totally  exhausted  your  social  capabilities,  at  which  point  to  be  totally  alone  is  fine  to  recharge.  It  takes  a  lot  of
energy  to  keep  a  large  group  of  people  focused.

7.  Get  a  good  stick

I  get  all  my  conducting  sticks  in  [Harry  Potter's]  Diagon  Alley.  No,  not  really,  all  by  batons  are  made  by  a  third  generation  stick
maker  in  Tokyo.  His  grandfather  started  the  business  and  he  made  batons  for  some  great  conductors.

There  is  nothing  magical,  it's  just  wood,  but  if  you  are  going  to  hold  this  piece  of  wood  in  your  hand  for  hours  and  hours  every  day  for
years  you  get  very  specific  about  how  it  must  feel.  It  becomes  a  part  of  you.

I  went  to  Tokyo  just  to  meet  Mr  Moriotso.  There  were  huge  shelves  with  rows  of  little  coffins  containing  sticks.  Mine  were  so  high  up
he  needed  a  ladder,  I  ordered  three  cases  of  the  same  one.

8.  Make  little  excursions  outside  your  comfort  zone  daily

I  think  the  biggest  danger  for  young  people  is  to  do  too  much  too  soon.  Make  little  excursions  outside  your  comfort  zone  daily  or  at
the  very  least  weekly,  otherwise  you  will  stagnate  and  that  would  be  a  mistake.

Find  the  balance  between  safety  and  danger.  You  cannot  exist  in  the  danger  zone  but  also  shouldn't  exist  solely  in  safety  and  that  is
without  any  exceptions.  It  is  OK  to  take  your  time.  Being  a  Finnish  person,  things  can  be  quite  slow  so  it  took  me  seven  years  to  talk
to  my  wife  for  the  first  time.  We've  been  married  for  22  years  now,  so  it  was  worth  the  wait.

9.  Tweet
I  think  it's  so  important  to  engage  in  these  things.  Why  would  we  be  any  different  to  other  art  forms?  Why  wouldn't  we  have  to
engage  with  our  audience?  That's  one  of  the  problems  that  classical  music  has  had,  we  think  we  are  the  mountain  to  which  everyone
else  has  to  come.

I  cannot  assume  that  people  automatically  want  to  come  to  a  concert,  listen  to  something  written  200  years  ago,  performed  by
people  wearing  clothes  from  the  1880s,  conducted  by  a  man  or  woman  making  ritual  movements  that  seem  to  be  vaguely  connected
with  what  is  going  on.

Our  duty  is  to  communicate  to  the  world  and  let  people  know  what  we  are  doing.  It  is  an  arrogant  and  stupid  thought  that  classical
music  should  somehow  exist  in  a  bubble.

10.  Be  a  boy  or  a  girl

The  gender  of  a  conductor  is  of  no  importance  anymore.  The  musical  world  is  perfectly  open  and  willing  to  embrace  female
conductors.  There  is  no  reason  for  girls  not  to  go  into  conducting.  The  business  is  ready  and  I  know  from  experience  there  are  no
reasons  why  female  conductors  can't  be  just  as  good  if  not  better  than  male  ones.  We  are  ready.

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