Today, the Friendship Centre can provide a Offers from DR on two concerts with promising young conducting talents. And for free.
Experience the six young talents from Malko Conducting School complete their studies by conducting Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen on 19 May 2022 at 19:30. You can also experience the young talents conducting the DR Vocal Ensemble for the final completion of their studies on 3 June 2022 at 19:30.
Read more about The future on the Podium I 19 May 2022 here
Free ticket link to the concert here
Read more about The future on the Podium II 3 June 2022 here
Free ticket link to the concert here
Below you can read about the Malko Conducting School and the upcoming Malko Academy for Young Conductors. DR-Byen is the setting for both schools, which bear the name Malko after one of the most forward-thinking conductors in Danish musical life. Nikolai Malko was born in Ukraine and until his death in 1961, he was a regular guest conductor of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. And with an extremely active interest in training young conductors for the world's concert halls. A task that DR has undertaken to continue with soon two conducting schools.
Based in DR-Byen, the school accepts six students who, over a concentrated two-year programme, are supported by the DR Symphony Orchestra and the DR Vocal Ensemble, with well-known conductors such as Fabio Luisi and Herbert Blomstedt giving masterclasses. And with conductor Ole Faurschou as a permanent teacher.
The purpose of the conducting school is to send qualified young conductors out into the Danish music scene. Perhaps to one day take part in the world-famous Malko competition - which is also held in DR-Byen every three years, where not only the three winners, but also the other candidates get a shortcut to a career in Denmark and around the world.
Although the school is run by DR, it collaborates with the music conservatories in Copenhagen and Aarhus and the Vocal Ensemble. It is financially supported by several private foundations. It was established in 2016 and the teaching consists of a theoretical part with subjects such as conducting lessons, work analysis, percussion technique, score playing and ear training as well as a not insignificant discipline for a conductor: leadership and practical interaction with DR's ensembles.
The students are aged 16-25, and the lessons are scheduled for two lessons per week, typically lasting five hours, and are held in the evenings and at weekends so that the students can attend school or study at the same time. Interaction with the ensembles necessarily takes place during the daytime. The typical student is in their early 20s, has played an instrument or sung in choirs and as a soloist, but they have never stood on the podium in front of an orchestra, at least not the professional musicians and singers they meet at the school in DR-Byen. And they must not have started the conducting programme at the music conservatories when they enter the school. The next class starts in 2023.
For most students, the optimal path from the Conducting School is to study conducting at a conservatoire - and most of them succeed, says Ole Faurschou. The first students have today graduated with their bachelor's degrees.
All applicants must pass a written ear training test. This is where the dream ends for some. Many are eliminated from the first written test and even more fail the following oral test.
In the third test, candidates have the opportunity to show their skills as instrumentalists and singers. Piano playing is included for everyone in all exercises.
The fourth test is your debut as a conductor in front of a professional choir or orchestra.
Then we're down to the six students who have passed the eye of the needle.
- "The number six was not chosen at random," says Ole Faurschou. "We want to avoid large classes because the participants at the school must have optimal practical skills, which would not be possible with large classes. Conversely, the classes must not be too small. My own studies at the Conservatory taught me the benefits of seeing and hearing the others, both the good and the not so good.
- Well, maybe, but it doesn't matter, because I'm sure they carry Malko and Denmark with them.
- Is the ambition to create the foundation for six maestros - as great conductors are often called - every two years at the Conducting School?
- It depends on what you mean by the word maestro. It's not a title we use much in Denmark, but it's quite common abroad. But there is also a recognition in the use of the word. So in that way, we want to give the students a stamp of quality.
- When I was young, I had to really struggle to get the right training and not least to get the opportunity to test my skills in front of a real orchestra. Therefore, I feel an extra responsibility to mould and elevate a new generation.
These words come from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor Fabio Luisi and are the reason why - in addition to giving masterclasses for students at the Malko Conducting School - he is also taking on the same role in connection with the latest addition to DR's music strategy: the Malko Academy for Young Conductors. The school opens in September.
And while it is private Danish foundations that support the Conducting School, it is a new Swiss cultural foundation, Fondation Caris, that supports the Malko Academy for Young Conductors, where students will have their travel and accommodation paid for when they travel to DR-Byen every third weekend on average. On the teaching side, there are also returnees from the Conducting School. Ole Faurschou will be the main teacher at both schools.
Dominik Falenski is not surprised that the field of applicants for the relatively few places is so broad.
-"There is nothing like it in the world," he says.
Or perhaps Or rather, talented, because there are so many applicants with fantastic potential. Many of them have already won European music competitions. The 110 applications will be reviewed by the Academy's permanent teachers. In addition to the written applications, candidates must include a 5-10 minute video of themselves playing an instrument or singing.
And then all 110 have to take an online hearing test at the same time.
- It's what you could call a pre-test. If they're not good enough for it, there's no reason to go to Copenhagen," says Dominik Falenski.
It is not a study programme, and it is characteristic that the applicants must not have begun their studies in the conducting programme at a music conservatory, as is the case at the Malko Conducting School. Hardly anyone has tried conducting - at most amateur orchestras.
- But the philosophy is that if they are good musicians, they have a good starting point for learning conducting.
- And then comes the final rehearsal. Part of it consists of a brand new piece written especially for the competition, it has never been performed before and the candidates don't know who wrote the music. They have 24 hours to prepare it, so for this part of the test they can't go on YouTube or anywhere else to hear it played. But even here, the applications have already been sorted further. After the second day of the three days of rehearsals, the field is down to between 8 and 12.
In the final rehearsals, the candidates will also conduct a chamber orchestra in Dvorak's Serenade for Strings, the aforementioned modern work, and finally they will conduct Grieg's Ave Maris Stella with 16 singers.
- Our hope is that in 10-20 years, you will see a further diversity of talented professional conductors in the European music scene. We want to provide the tools to get there.
- But isn't there a risk that they will stay abroad and not come back to Denmark?
- I think Denmark will have a place with them in the future, but if they don't come to Denmark, it's more us than them that would have a problem. The good orchestras have no difficulty finding guest conductors.
- It's not for me to decide, but I believe that the most important thing is the communication between the conductor and the orchestra and/or choir. This is crucial and we aim to contribute to this," Dominik Falenski concludes.
We have also asked the same question to the moderator, Ole Faurschou. He says:
- There are different schools. Herbert Blomstedt is in a class of his own. He has also conducted masterclasses at the Conducting School. It's important for conductors to pass on what they find important in music. It's also important that they trust their technique. If they don't get through with their communication, they try to compensate with shoulders or feet. And that's not always a good idea.
- If you have the basic stroke technique in place, you can conduct with a smile and a gesture, and you get a much better test," concludes Ole Faurschou.