Last week, I watched one of the best conductors in the world in concert. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts more than six orchestras around the world. Most frequently, he works with the Metropolitan Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal. A year and a half ago, he and the Philadelphia Orchestra traveled to Ann Arbor to perform Brahms’ A German Requiem with the UMS Choral Union, the choir I sing with. It was a delight to work with him. Last week, he returned to town with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. I bought tickets in the second row. I wanted to see how he does what he does so well.
For someone who has never done it in any formal way, I think about conducting often. I wish I had studied choral conducting while I was in music school, and these days I find myself wondering whether there might be avenues to learn without going back to school. I would welcome that.
I imagine it would be immensely gratifying to conduct. But deep down, I suppose I’m a bit like a football player who wants to learn ballet in order to be better at football. I’m a nonprofit leader and community curator who wants to learn conducting so I can be a better nonprofit leader and community curator.
It really is the best analogy.
When you’re conducting, you don’t face the audience. It’s not about you. You face the performers. You find ways to look in their direction and see them in their strengths. You make eye contact and invite them in. You try to maximize the ways different sounds and rhythms work together. Sometimes you aim for the best possible blend of voices. Sometimes you make sure a particular voice part has the spotlight.
And as much as you need to stay in touch with the performers — really listening — you also need to stay in touch with the music itself. You need to internalize what is central. The vision, shape, form, and execution. You need to embody it. You need to live it in those moments.
See how this is a helpful analogy for serving community well? And for being a good leader?
Last week’s concert was incredible. As I watched Yannick Nézet-Séguin conduct, I noticed so much. He was absolutely locked in, connected relationally to the ensemble. And he truly embodied the music. He had most of it memorized, and he moved like a dancer up there —so expressive. And yet, the attention always remained with the performers.
The experience was deeply relational, even intimate. When the concert was over and it was time to acknowledge the soloists, he didn’t simply gesture for them to stand. He went over to each one, hugged them, and bowed to them. His appreciation was evident, and he was present throughout the entire evening.
Here’s one of my main takeaways: This conductor, who was embodying the music and gesturing to bring people in, was also receiving from the ensemble the entire time. I noticed a great deal of trust between them. He was receiving their energy, too. He wasn’t just keeping time or marking beat patterns. He was gesturing expressively with the music and connecting deeply with the performers onstage.
And yet, he wasn’t the center. That relational posture allowed others to shine.
So how do we lead by receiving? By marveling at the strengths people show in our communities? By inviting them in?
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 