“Old Dogs” Can Learn “New Tricks”! Who Knew? Thomas McCauley John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University Mccauleyt@mail.montclair.edu
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was “stuck.” Stuck in my ways of thinking, in my ways of teaching, and in my ways of conducting. And I knew it. What I didn’t know was how to get “unstuck.” It was time for a change, but what kind of change? After attempting some of my past methods of moving through my inertia that, this time, produced no real improvement in my situation, I decided to leap outside my comfort zone to search for answers. So, I went to Bulgaria. Yes, Bulgaria. It was my “American Band Director in Bulgaria” experience that rocked me from my safety net and the mind-numbing boredom of my cozy professional life, and gave me the insight and motivation to move forward. Why Bulgaria, you ask? Because that happened to be the site of the 2016 International Conducting Workshop Festival. The International Conducting Workshop Festival is held each summer in locations throughout the world. A vast majority of its participants are orchestral conductors, mostly young orchestral conductors, from around the globe who come to the festival to deepen their knowledge of the orchestral repertoire, refine their conducting technique, and to make professional connections that will serve them well throughout TEMPO
their careers. This was no place for an aging, college band director with only a surface-level familiarity of orchestral repertoire. But, if I was to break through the chokehold of apathy that had me tightly in its grasp, I had to try something out of the ordinary. So, I submitted an application to participate in the festival. Never believing, even for one minute, that I would be accepted to participate, for reasons that are still not entirely clear to me, I was. This particular workshop was especially attractive to me because one of my long-time musical heroes would be one of the teachers at the festival. Maestro Larry Rachleff has been an inspiration to me since I first became aware of him in 1991. I have observed dozens of hours of Rachleff ’s rehearsals, both in Chicago and Rhode Island, over the course of many years. But, other than having the opportunity to work with him in two wind conducting symposia, I never had the chance to work with him in a setting like the ICWF. The prospect of conducting a professional orchestra, engaging with repertoire that I’ve never before conducted, and doing it all in front of Rachleff (and his colleague, Donald Schleicher, from the University of Illinois) excited and terrified me all at once. It was certainly enough of a 34
motivator to study and prepare the festival repertoire (Brahms, Mozart, and Mahler) to the highest degree I was able. Armed with as much confidence as someone like me could muster (and still scared to death!), I set off for Eastern Europe. My ten days in Sofia, Bulgaria were simultaneously enlightening, uncomfortable, and exciting. Rachleff ’s influence was, as always, incredibly motivating, and the professional musicians—both in the sextet and full orchestra setting—were a joy to work with. I learned many lessons, too numerous to mention. However, here’s the most important of them. Over the years, areas of my teaching and conducting have improved and have become “mine” (as opposed to me trying to be a bad imitation of someone else). This is a good thing, but like all things worth having, it had come at a cost. The price I paid was an imbalance in my use of energy on the podium. I was working hard, to be sure, but not in the most effective and efficient manner. With his hand literally on my shoulder, Rachleff continuously urged me to “calm down”—to use my energy more effectively and efficiently. The professional musicians were a huge help with this, although they probably weren’t aware of it. OCTOBER 2017
