Muhamad Yusri

19 Mar 2017. When I got to the venue at 8:50am, the room was still being set up for the morning’s session with the String Quintet and Piano which started at 9:00am. The first half of the morning was dedicated to each of us conducting a movement or two of the Brahms. Maestro was quick to correct us when we had issues with baton technique and I learnt to focus on lateral conducting. Being a band conductor, I find this idea of conducting laterally from left to right, as opposed to up and down very difficult to do but I noticed the effect that gesture has on the flow of the music. One pattern that Maestro suggested i considered was the infinity sign. During the morning’s session, I got to work with the 2nd Variation and a little of the 3rd Variation. I felt quite lost generally but Maestro was generous with his direction and guidance.

After lunch we all worked with the full BHSO. We don’t really know what movements of the Brahms we would be conducting! It depended on where the last candidate stopped. I was last for the Brahms and Maestro gave me a choice! I did the Theme and the Finale. As I has a little more time, I did the 7th Variation too. It was a really amazing experience.

After the break, we has the privilege of having Yew Shan play the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with us. He was truly amazing and we were very fortunate to have such a talent to work with. He was supportive to all of us. I was last to conduct and I got to do the section after the cadenza to the end of the first movement. I had 5 minutes but it was an amazing 5 minutes! The adrenalin rush!

It was my first proper experience conducting an orchestra and I feel truly humbled and blessed to have the opportunity to experience it. I have learnt a lot from Meastro Yeh and also from my fellow participants during the masterclass. They are all amazing talents and I feel really happy that they are conducting here in Singapore. We need more community orchestras! BHSO is an amazing group and standing in front of them and sharing a musical moment was truly amazing. I will always remember the Brahms and Mendelssohn now. A really big thank you to Maestro Adrian Tan and the BHSO for hosting this conducting masterclass. I hope I can be part of the 5th edition!

My fellow participant Joshua Yong did a recording of my session. I will upload that once I get the clips from him. I thought I wouldn’t record it for myself but I am really glad that Joshua did do one. At least I have some recorded memory of the time I had on podium with the BHSO!