THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607030218
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 83 lines
For show and tell, they brought in a real-life symphony conductor.
When it came time for WFOS broadcast students to discuss classical music, which makes up the bulk of the station's daily programming, instructors Dennis McCurdy and David Desler brought in a local expert: popular Virginia Symphony conductor/director JoAnn Falletta.
Falletta is among several professionals in the radio and music fields who have discussed their work with summer students at WFOS, the radio station of the Chesapeake public schools.
Last week, for example, McCurdy and Desler held their annual summer broadcast panel. The station's summer school students were able to talk to, question and listen to professionals in commercial radio and television.
Panel members talked straight to the students about the good and bad found in radio and television careers. Horror stories, salaries, job requirements, passions and job security were some of the subjects the veterans discussed.
The students got the exposure to professionals in addition to a mandatory two weeks of classroom study and practice playing ``real radio'' on the airwaves.
Falletta, the symphony's affable conductor, met with the students and several music fans at an open-to-the-public seminar held at the Chesapeake Center for Science and Technology Monday.
The discussion, co-hosted by McCurdy and WFOS announcer Vince Brown, was also videotaped by Desler to be screened for other summer broadcast students.
Falletta said she enjoys events like Monday's panel discussion.
``I feel good about the future of music when I see young people like this interested in radio and classical music,'' she said. ``I can feel and see their enthusiasm. I'm so pleased that Dave and Dennis set this up.''
After McCurdy introduced Falletta to the audience, he opened the discussion by asking a question that's on every music lover's mind.
What does a symphony conductor do? Do the musicians really pay attention to a conductor during a performance?
The Juilliard-trained Falletta said a conductor is merely a musician whose ``instrument'' is the entire symphony.
She said a conductor is important during the final performance, but he or she does his or her hardest work during rehearsals. She said that's where musical passages are isolated, perfected, gone over, discussed and rehearsed.
``In performance, the conductor has to inspire the musicians to give that extra 10 percent,'' Falletta said. ``The success of any piece is reflected in how much work and effort was spent in rehearsal.''
And while conductors move on the podium trying to inspire their musicians, they also move when not waving a baton.
Take Falletta, for example. When not working with the Virginia Symphony, the peripatetic conductor seems to be always on the road.
She was recently in New Zealand, where she recorded the works of film score composer Jerome Moross with the New Zealand Symphony. When not going from one classical recording session to the other at home or abroad, she is also a guest conductor at several symphonies nationwide and internationally, including recent concerts in South Africa.
Besides being the symphony's conductor, she is also its musical director, choosing the works that will be performed during each concert season.
In order to keep a symphony's repertoire modern and vibrant, Falletta said she chooses challenging and lesser-known classical works, along with the creations of modern classical composers.
``Most people prefer to hear older pieces,'' she said. ``But to keep a symphony from becoming a museum or a dinosaur, you have to find new music that is at once compelling and accessible. We need to choose music that effectively reflects life in the 1990s. When choosing new music there is a certain amount of risk-taking and a lot of luck, but we have to keep trying.''
Falletta said the symphony experience should be for everyone. With the reduction in funds for education, a symphony experience is an increasingly important part of a student's overall education, she said.
``Some people think the symphony is not for them,'' she said. ``They think it's too formal. But it really is a natural, easy and exciting experience. Fear is a big factor in keeping people away. In this video/visual society of today, people need to just listen to the music. There's enough out there to allow people to just listen.''
McCurdy pointed out that Falletta is a pioneer of sorts, being one of the few successful women conductors in a field dominated by men.
She said while she was working and studying toward her goal of being a conductor, she never thought about how difficult it could be to crack this musical men's club.
``It never occurred to me that all conductors are men,'' she said. ``I never made the connection until it was brought to me when I was in school.''
When she was a youngster, Falletta said she studied piano, cello and classical guitar along with music theory and history. by CNB