"Maestro, put down your baton" - the trickle down effect of poor leadership

Play me!

I've been fortunate in my career as a musician to play with a variety of different orchestral ensembles - full symphony orchestras in performances of compositions like Stravinsky's fabulous Firebird, Resphigi's nauseating love affairs with Italy, Martin's quirky pieces for chamber orchestra, a variety of piano and organ concerti (my favorite!), Bach cantatas, masses and instrumental pieces....I am lucky, lucky, lucky. Playing "orchestral keyboard", as it's called, is one of my favorite things to do - my dream job, in fact. There is just no comparison to playing inside of that musical animal. It's chamber music on steroids.   It's passion on wheels.  But only when the players are the best and the conductor is stellar.

Well, there's the rub. 

I've sat under some fantastic batons for some incredible musical experiences, and this result is almost always a direct product of the ability of the person wielding the stick to work with the palette in front of them. A talented conductor can take a stage full of a variety of different skill levels and make incredible music with it. Someone who's not-so-talented...well...they just make life hell for everyone. I remember going to performances of what it arguably one of the world's best orchestras under one of their "secondary" conductors. The orchestra completely ignored him and instead depended on the masterful leadership of the concertmaster. I'd never seen so much head cue-ing in my life. Some might consider this disrespectful to the conductor, but I call it survival and believing that it's more about respecting the music and its demand for excellence than it is about blindly following an idiot. At that level, anything else is a waste of time. Play hard - and play well - or go home.  (As an aside, you should REALLY read Gary Graffman's memoirs, "I Really Should Be Practicing" - a wonderfully entertaining read with fantastic anecdotes about some of the most famous conductors and orchestras of all time.  Oh yeah, and some great stories about Graffman and his concert career.)

I've sat under a few of those "not-so-talented" batons, but not many (thank heavens). You can usually tell what you're going to get before the conductor even opens the score.  It's how they take to the stage.  How they approach the podium.  How they hold the stick (that communicates VOLUMES).  Some are humble, some are confident, some are arrogant - but these aren't necessarily the determining factors.  It's hard to explain.  Something just oozes out of their pores.  You can feel when you are in the presence of great musicianship and skill, sometimes despite the personality of the person.  You also know when they have absolutely no idea what they're doing. I imagine this is true in every profession.  But there's nothing more frustrating than watching the tip of that stick and wondering what the hell he's trying to say.  

What is your point, Nicole?  My point is that this is a universal phenomenon, not just a musical one.  Poor leadership ruins orchestras, companies, communities, churches, families...pick whatever institution you like, and the need for inspired, skilled, consistent leadership is paramount.  The trickle down effect of poor leadership is confusion, chaos, wasted time, demoralization, brokenness, and the eventual destruction of the "ensemble" and its mission.   Surviving poor leadership takes the most dedicated, most skilled, and most creative "ensemble" and an enormous amount of external support.  And after extended periods of time even these brave warriors could crumble.  Survival depends on a lot of things - you have to know who you're working with.  You have to know where you're going.  You HAVE to trust each other.  You have to believe in your "product".  You have to be willing to do what it takes - everything it takes - to fulfill your mission.  

But sometimes you have to channel your inner Kenny Rogers and "know when to run."  And run fast.  Drop your bow and go.  Leave the music on the stand and move on.  Because there are times when "surviving" a situation takes more than you have to give, or more than you really should give.  And let's face it - walking up to the conductor en masse and saying, "Maestro, put down your baton" is rarely an option unless you are the bravest of souls willing to gamble with commiting professional suicide for a cause worth sacrificing yourself for.    

Now THAT takes serious leadership.