Students in awe of NZSO Conducting Fellowship in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington

Talented conducting students from across Aotearoa New Zealand are taking part in four exciting NZSO Conducting Fellowship Te whakawhiwhinga kaiārahi sessions in 2023.

With the generous and ongoing support of the Fellowship Programme’s founding partner, The Tindall Foundation's Mary Fitzwilliam Award, the first session in late January and early February had 13 conducting students – the largest number to date of tertiary-based students and young Pasifika musicians from the Auckland Sistema Aotearoa programme.

Under the guidance of NZSO Music Director Emeritus James Judd and Principal Conductor-in-Residence Hamish McKeich, each student took part in two days of preparation with pianists before to conducting the full Orchestra on stage at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre.

The extension of the programme to include artists from the Pasifika community has been made possible by the support of Creative New Zealand through its Senior Manager of Pacific Arts.

The second session runs 3-5 April, where the same group returns to conduct the Orchestra aimed at developing a different set of skills. The repertoire for the second session includes works by Rossini, Tchaikovsky and Mahler.

“The NZSO is committed to foster the next generations of artists in Aotearoa New Zealand,” says NZSO Education and Community Engagement Senior Manager Pascale Parenteau. “This unique programme provides a path for aspiring young conductors to develop their skills while engaging with their national orchestra.”

The conducting students were rapt at the opportunity to again work with maestros Judd and McKeich and NZSO players.

Anne Maroussia Filimoehala, who first conducted the NZSO last year, says what stood out for her was watching three conducting students use the same piece of music to conduct the Orchestra and the NZSO musicians play differently each time. In doing so, it showed the different styles of each student conductor. “I’m very nervous but grateful. We’re very privileged to be here.”

“The last few days have been tough, and they’ve also been exhilarating,” says NZSO Conducting Fellow Nicholas Forbes. “Conducting is a weird thing. Essentially you are practising on people, you can’t just go to a piano and spend hours and hours doing it, so this is amazing. You are suddenly driving a Rolls Royce having spent your life with a trusty Toyota.”

“I’ve really been enjoying the group dynamic because there are so many more of us this year and we’re really into this stuff – so it’s encouraging,” says Conducting Fellow Euan Safey. “And having the full orchestra is such an amazing opportunity.”

“We are very lucky to have some great tutors,” says Conducting Fellow Reuben Brown. “They understand our need to experience music in the palm of your hand and also have the innate ability to direct us in the perfect pathway of how to conduct.”