Perhaps they're on their way to becoming the future stars of the world's conducting podiums one day. At least now they get the chance. And the start. Shortly before the summer holidays, Malko Conducting School held an entrance exam for the so-called talent line. And six young people between the ages of 18 and 25 will shortly be starting an extensive incubator for aspiring conductors. The six have been admitted to the talent programme. The school was initiated by DR's choirs and orchestras.
In the previous - and first - class at the school, which started in 2016, two of the four participants are already moving on. One as an orchestral conductor, the other on the choral conducting programme. This is happening in Stockholm, because although conducting is taught in Denmark, it's mostly in the form of a postgraduate programme on an instrument at the Swedish Conservatory of Music, which is where the two young Danes are starting their studies. But they haven't slept on it.
The Malko Conducting School is a two-year programme where young people are taught everything from ear training to percussion technique and leadership. An average of six hours a week, divided into one or two lessons. And it all takes place in the centre of the music, so to speak. It is done in close collaboration with DR's ensembles and with the most competent teaching staff headed by the chief conductor Fabio Luisi himself. Once a month, there will be an internship with instrumentalists from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra or singers from the Danish National Vocal Ensemble. The programme also includes masterclasses with star names such as Spanish Juanjo Mena and Danish Michael Schønwandt and Thomas Søndergaard.
Classes take place in the afternoons, evenings and weekends, so it doesn't exclude school, other classes and work. In the first class, there was a high school student from North Jutland. She was given time off school to attend the conducting school and was lucky enough to have a sister to spend the night with in Copenhagen. The new class also includes participants from outside the Copenhagen area.
The only formal requirement for admission is that you must be able to read music.
If you have the ambition, but have not been accepted or are too young to participate in the Conducting School's talent programme, the school organises workshops in DR Byen and across the country where children as young as 12 years old can try their hand at leading professional ensembles.
The purpose of the Conducting School is for DR to help bring more Danish conductors into the music world, and it would be a dream come true if one of the school's students could one day participate in the Malko Competition and maybe even win it.
Both the school and the competition are named after Ukrainian-born Nikolai Malko, who conducted - and professionalised - what is now the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He died in 1961. It is the DR Symphony Orchestra that carries on his legacy. The Malko Competition among young conductors is held in the Concert Hall every four years and attracts international attention. Hundreds of young conductors from all over the world compete to win because it gives them access to engagements in a number of international concert halls.
A panel of examiners with representatives from DR's choir and orchestra, headed by conductor Ole Faurschou, will select the six lucky young people for the Conducting School course. Ole Faurschou is also a mentor for the students. Just as he teaches at the school
Ole Faurschou explains that the selection criteria have changed slightly from the first to the second team, which is starting now. Previously the lower age limit was 16, now it's 18, and this time the chosen ones are playing an instrument or singing. But what they have in common is that they are walking around with a conductor in their stomachs.
There are basic music courses around the country that prepare young people for three years to enter music conservatoires. But the Malko Conducting School is a niche and unique in that students get to stand on the podium in front of a top professional orchestra and choir. And both, of course.
Ole Faurschou emphasises this as something unique that opens new paths for future conductors. He himself is a trained choir conductor from the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Another very special benefit of taking part in rehearsals and concerts together with DR's musicians and singers is that the young people will also be better equipped to become skilled conductors.
-This way, they get the musicians' and singers' perception of the different conductors' work with the ensembles. What is it that makes one conductor excellent, while another doesn't work well with the musicians and singers? They can discuss this with the professional musicians and singers in DR," says Ole Faurschou.
-"In addition, you learn a lot from your fellow students during the course," says Ole Faurschou and emphasises that it is not the school's job to emulate other forms of teaching. The Malko Conducting School must be something very special.
DR's choir and orchestra collaborate with the Royal Danish Academy of Music, the Royal Danish Academy of Music, the vocal ensemble Dekorum and Concerto Copenhagen on the Conducting School. It is supported by private and public funds, but with DR as coordinator.
Listen to the portrait series about the four future conductors who have just completed their time at the Malko Conducting School, here.