I coulda been a
conductor! Actually,
it was on my list of things to do before I died. It started
when I was fairly young. I would air-conduct recordings of my favorite
classical works.
I probably ripped off the idea from watching Disney’s
animation of Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
 |
Fantasia (movie poster) |
If Mickey
Mouse could do it, so could I!
I loved
pieces like that – Sorcerer's Apprentice, Night on Bald Mountain, Pictures at an Exhibition. Flashy,
dramatic stuff.
In college,
I really wanted to take the orchestral conducting course, but it always conflicted
with touring choir. So – I settled for choral conducting.
Actually,
I’d been conducting choirs since I was in 7th grade, both at church
& and school. As a senior, I'd subbed for our director who was
recovering from a heart attack for about 6 weeks.
When I came
to West
Virginia, I was finally able to realize my dream. First I served as
musical director for a number of community theater productions. During a stint
as interim church music director, I conducted a small instrumental ensemble
performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria.
So, air-conducting can lead to real conducting!
Who knew?!