Muhamad Yusri

13 March 2017. I arrived at the BHCC at quarter to seven and was among the first few there. The preview was supposed to start at 7:00pm but as it was raining quite heavily, so many were late. While waiting for the rest of the participants to arrive, those of us who were there got to chat with each other and compared batons. When Maestro Tsung Yeh arrived, we were ushered to our seats on the mini stage that had chairs and stands for all of us.

The session began with personal introductions and I am really impressed with all of the other participant’s backgrounds and experiences. There were choir conductors, music teachers from the local international schools, music students from NAFA and China and band conductors. After the introductions, Maestro started teaching us the A, B, Cs of conducting. But due to limited time, he shared five.

1. Baton hold. I think this is a good example of what Maestro was talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3E5Ir0wABM 
2. Standing position on podium. Maestro suggested that we stand comfortably legs apart but with one foot slightly ahead of the other (it does not matter which). This is to enable stability and also flexibility.
3. Simple beat patterns (2,3,4). We went through some basic conducting patterns. Maestro corrected some basic errors in some of us.
4. The left hand. Maestro suggested that we do not let our left mirror the right too much. The left hand has the potential to affect the music and we should design patterns to enable and empower the left hand more.
5. Invisible table. Maestro shared that in the space we have to conduct, there was an invisible area made by different “tables”. First idea; lower table, middle table and top table. Then, we consider the left, middle and right plains. Finally, we look at the area near us, middle forward and forward. Kind of like a cube?

Once we completed this, Maestro began to work on repertoire.

Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn

A piece that was supposedly written by Haydn was possibly not written by Haydn at all! What we know was Brahms wrote the Variations and that was more important for the purpose of the masterclass.

We went through all but the last movement. This was due to shortage of time. For each movement, we discussed tempo (appropriate tempo) and challenges for both conductor and the musicians. We also discussed form and phrasings. Maestro shared how much he benefited from his time with Otto-Werner Mueller. One of the most important lessons he learnt was on the “bird’s-eye view” and the tempo links between movements. Maestro reminded us all to always remember how tempo affects the music and also the musician’s ability to play comfortably. The conductor needs to ensure that there is balance without compromise to the intentions of the composer.

We ended at 10:00pm and I am looking forward to the sessions on 19 March. We will be working with a String Quartet and Piano in the morning and then the full orchestra in the afternoon.