David Robertson: commitment

Transcript context

…Having been a music director, you’re also a manager of sorts. What is it managers can learn from conductors? Oh, you can only do your job by listening. That’s the only way to do the job. It looks as though you are somehow imposing your will on other people, but you’re not at all. My father was a research engineer. Although I didn’t have the mathematical skills to follow him into those domains, it’s fascinating to me — in the latter part of his life, he was often managing these brilliant scientists, many of whom were phenomenal at what they could do, but they couldn’t necessarily figure out how to do things together. So, your job is to figure out how to harness all of the collective artistry that’s right in front of you and manage to get it to move in the same direction. Yes, sometimes there are decisions that you need to take, like any manager, and it may be as simple as a short-term decision: “Tomorrow morning, let’s rehearse this and start with this, and then we’ll go to this other piece after the break.” Or it may be a long-term decision such as, “What are we going to play in the coming seasons that helps develop the orchestra?” Or it may be a decision that impacts the orchestra for 25, 30, 40 years that you won’t be involved with anymore, as when you give tenure to a particular player in the orchestra. But all of these things and the efficacy of them is based on your ability to really deeply listen to what is going on and listen to the different points of view. Which part of the orchestra do you have the most trouble with?…

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