When I was young, I watched for the first time a competition for conductors called the Malko Competition. If you do not know of it, it is 24 upcoming conductors, 25-30-ish old, that work with a pro-orchestra. They work through pieces of music and perform them with the orchestra in front of a jury and audience. Beside the recognize amazing talent of the orchestra having to play the same pieces of music in so many different interpretations, I want to talk about the conductor. Even as a kid I recognized that there was something that the conductor did, that all in the concert hall could hear or see. I saw the acknowledgement and accolade those young conductors received.
The conductor is a weird position. For the uninformed it seems like the conductor is merely someone who could not play an instrument himself, but keeps showing up with the band, like an overexcited groupie. Waving his or her arms like they had some sort of imaginary remote control of the orchestra, like me playing the imaginary drums to Prog. Rock in my car. But for the trained ear, they hear it, they see the conductors influence, the preparation, the personal interpretation, the work with the orchestra. Variations in style and technique, how they engage and interact with orchestra to achieve their vision of the piece of music. The conductor is often written with the greatest font on recordings for a reason. The same piece different depending on who conducts.
But if you are uninformed, you could in theory show up, tap the baton, wave your arms, stare at the trombones and bow at the end. And for the uninformed onlooker, they may equally not hear or see a difference. For them you are the conductor. There is a level of skill and competency in this you cannot see, unless you can see it. So, the point I want to make is, that it seems that in modern work life, we meet both those who can see and those who cannot. But we recognize the prestige of the conductor, we imitate the conductor, we may even convince ourselves, “I am a conductor!” Because we cannot see or hear the difference. They pursue the acknowledgement, the story of being a conductor, and not the lifetime pursuit of the skill. The Organizations may reward the imposter and the real thing equally, or they even acknowledge the fake one more, since they are never limited by the constraints of the craft. Skill does not only allow to do something, but it also reveals the boundaries. Boundaries the imposter know nothing of. But for the informed, they see that they are merely relying on the orchestras ability to get through it on their own, and then taking credit at the end. It seems there is threshold of skill that is not always seen or recognized. There is no longer any value in being skilled, merely looking like the skilled. Perhaps that is why everybody loves TV-shows where amateurs pretend to be skilled. Nut It is dogs playing poker.
As an EA, I am often questioning myself, am I a real conductor, or am just an idiot waving my arms.