The Toronto Star
May 7, 2009 Thursday

Much more to conducting than waving a baton;
Veteran maestro Nurhan Arman believes novice conductors try to do too much

by John Terauds, Toronto Star

You can taste the difference a good chef makes, just as you can hear
the work of a great conductor. But conductors, like chefs, don’t often
share the secrets of their success.

As in fine dining, there’s a special alchemy that goes into a great
concert – and impossible to achieve if you don’t know your ingredients
or lack technique.

"An orchestra is like an X-ray machine. They can see what’s inside
your head," says Toronto maestro Nurhan Arman. "If you have no idea
what’s in the third trombone part, it will come out muddy, because
they can tell. It’s a strange energy, like a magnetic energy. No one
can explain it."

That’s only the beginning of the story.

Arman is the founding music director of Sinfonia Toronto, a chamber
orchestra made up of 13 string players, with other instruments added
as needed for a seven-concert season.

The group presents the final concert of its 10th-anniversary season
tomorrow night at Grace Church on-the-Hill, with hot young Montreal
violinist Alexandre Da Costa.

Tomorrow’s program includes a Serenade by Toronto-based composer and
pianist Heather Schmidt alongside favourites by Mozart and Dvorak. Da
Costa will show off with flashy encore pieces by violin legend Fritz
Kreisler.

Arman’s hard work in building relationships with young composers,
quality soloists and careful ensemble playing paid off handsomely this
season. The ensemble earned a Juno Award for Flanders Fields
Reflections, a CD of string pieces by Kingston-based composer John
Burge.

Pulling all this together demands a well-rounded artist.

"Conducting is not just one profession, but it is an amalgamation of
many professions, of many careers put together in one person," says
Arman. "That is why it is so difficult. That is why it is so
subjective, and that’s why the success rate moves around a lot. We
don’t have good criteria for judging conducting."

The Armenian-born maestro has a busy career guest conducting in Europe
– he spent the early part of spring in Italy. He has also taught
conducting, locally at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

For him, waving a baton is the least of everyone’s concerns. Arman
knows colleagues who spend hours working in front of a mirror. But,
ultimately, "the motions a conductor makes are only a reflection of
how much they know about the score," he says.

Arman believes inexperienced conductors often try to do too much:
"Before facing the orchestra, you’ve spent 200 to 300 hours on a
program, so when you get to the first rehearsal, the inexperienced
conductor will want to fix everything all at once.

"There are so many things you want to do your way, but each time a
conductor stops an orchestra it drains away the energy," Arman
explains. "You have to be able to read in the air the amount of
patience. If you make too many changes, it’s not good."

He compares rehearsal time to the life of airplanes: "The number of
kilometres doesn’t matter. It’s the takeoffs and landings that
constitute the wear and tear."

Arman describes how years of experience allow him to plot out
rehearsal progress from day one to the first performance. "Some of the
ideas a conductor has have to bake a bit in the mind of the
musician. They don’t get accepted automatically," he says.

"You can’t turn up the oven to 500 to speed up the cooking. You’re
just going to burn the food."

Watch a video of Alexandre Da Costa playing some Jimi Hendrix:

http: //bit.ly/Tl50r

WHAT: Sinfonia Toronto, with violinist Alexandre Da Costa
WHERE: Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd.
WHEN: Tomorrow @ 8 p.m.
TICKETS: $7-$35 at 416-499-0403