BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE WITH CELINE CHONG
When it comes to gaining experience in an orchestra, Tianyi Lu reckons it’s “kind of a chicken and egg thing”.
“You can’t get a job without experience, and you can’t get experience without a job,” the conductor says.
“It’s tricky for a young musician to enter into the professional world without having some kind of experience with professionals.”
With this in mind, it’s fitting that the 28-year-old is preparing a concert that’ll see tens of burgeoning performers on stage with one of the nation’s leading orchestras.
Aptly named Side by Side, this Melbourne Symphony Orchestra event will unite MSO staff players with approximately 36 Melbourne Youth Orchestra musicians, and 10 Masters students from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.
The result? About a 50/50 split between emerging and established players.
“I think that playing this program will not only give the younger musicians an insight into what it’s like playing with a professional orchestra; but more importantly, it’s also allowing them to have more confidence,” Tianyi says of the upcoming collaboration.
“You can spend months and months imagining what it’s like, or practising, or going to masterclasses. But being there in that moment with a group of people – you pick up so many subconscious things, and in a very fast way.
“They learn how to listen, how to breathe together, how to play in nuanced ways and achieve a level A sound.”
Tianyi is herself fairly new to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Last June, she took on the role of the first-ever MSO Cybec Assistant Conductor, under the watch of Sir Andrew Davis.
“I think this is an ideal position for me at this stage in my career,” she says.
“I’ve come out of the conservatoire and what I really need now is experience; getting to know how professional orchestras tick. Because, like I said, it’s a big leap from working with students and amateurs – which I’m still doing – and then going to professional orchestras.”
Tianyi says she’s quickly learning how to conduct efficient rehearsals, approaching each like a performance in itself.
“You have to feel the momentum of it,” the conductor explains.
“And a lot of it is psychology – knowing what to do and what not to do, how to bring out the best in people, reading the room, seeing the energy levels, and trying to pace things in a way that will deliver the best result.
“That kind of thing can only be perfected by experience. And as a very young conductor, you’re at the beginning of that journey. I feel a huge responsibility to make it a good experience for everyone in the room.”
While she may consider herself a young conductor, Tianyi is proving to be a natural leader.
“The way I think about leadership is quite contrary to the traditional idea of what a conductor should be: the typical maestro with the death stare!” she jokes.
“I think of myself as a facilitator, a coordinator, an enabler. I feel like my job is to allow the musicians to shine in the best way that they can, and to coordinate things so they become stitched together in a whole.”
In Side by Side, musicians young and young at heart will come together to present works by Bernstein, Elgar, and a world premiere by MSO Cybec Composer in Residence Ade Vincent.
She describes Ade’s work What Was Just a World is a Star as having “taken a thread from Bernstein” and using this West Side Story influence to unravel his own a theme.
As for the Bernstein itself, Tianyi confesses that the classic West Side Story film may seem a little old-fashioned, but its Romeo and Juliet tale of love will always resonate with us.
“And it’s just such a great work!”
Bernstein was a composer, educator, and – like Tianyi today – a conductor who was well-versed in the works and history he presented to audiences.
“You listen to any of his recordings and it’s just unmistakably him,” she reflects.
“You may not agree with his interpretations, but at the same time it’s hugely convincing because he was such an incredible musician.”
In the past, Tianyi has seen Bernstein’s Mass performed in Los Angeles. And now, and she looks forward to leading her own performance of his West Side Story Symphonic Dances to celebrate the composer’s centenary.
While she predicts young cello soloist Eliza Sdraulig will present a memorable performance of Elgar’s infamous Cello Concerto, Tianyi hasn’t actually yet met the performer. In fact, the orchestra will be under plenty of pressure to put together their best possible performance in the space of just three rehearsals and one dress rehearsal.
“This is what it’s like to work in a professional orchestra!” she says – adding a promise to make the experience an enjoyable one.
“At the end of the day, people are people. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a student or a professional. Everyone just wants to be there to make music to the best of their ability and to work with their colleagues.
“For me personally in the last year, gaining this role here – I’ve grown beyond what I can actually recognise.”
Within the past six weeks, Tianyi has conducted youth orchestras with kids aged just 13 years old; professional performers; and amateur orchestras alike. She understands that “trusting your instincts” and developing positive relationships is the best way to go – and she achieves her own sense of fulfilment after working with fellow young musicians.
“Young people always amaze me,” she says.
“I cannot stress just how important every single opportunity for young musicians is; to work with great mentors, to work with great colleagues, to experience the joy of making music together.
“And I just think it’s essential for musicians of the future to thrive.”
Watch Tianyi Lu conduct Eliza Sdraulig (cello), Masters students from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, young players of the Melbourne Youth Orchestra, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
MSO Side by Side takes place at 7.30pm, June 2 in Hamer Hall. Tickets are just $35. See you there!
Images supplied. Tianyi captured by Antony Potts.
