Lead like the great conductors

Itay Talgam, international orchestral conductor and creator of the Maestro Program, delivered an insightful look at what makes for a successful collaboration between conductors (and/or leaders) and musicians at TED Global in 2009. In it, he explores what he calls the "ultimate leadership challenge: creating perfect harmony without saying a word."

I found the notion of seeking the perfect balance of control between ensemble and conductor to be one of the most interesting ideas presented during Talgam’s talk. This concept introduced my strongest take-away: the importance of ‘gestures of music’ that allow players to add their own layer of interpretation combined with a level of professionalism. Balance between the two was best described in Talgam’s quote: “authority is not enough to make people your partners”. Further, I appreciated his description of instrumentalists as partners in performance along with audience members. 

Talgam’s presentation triggered a few questions and thoughts on how to implement his concepts into my own work as I look to refine both leadership and conducting skills. For example, the conductor who gave his oboe soloist such autonomy and demonstrated great appreciation for the resulting musicality demonstrated a level of trust that would certainly be appreciated by his instrumentalist. However, I wonder how, as a conductor, you reach this level where you are fully present, but not overwhelmingly commanding.