Every summer for 75 years, young conductors and musicians from all over the world have made their way to the quiet Maine town of Hancock to study somewhere special: the Pierre Monteux School & Music Festival.
Rural Maine often feels like it is way off the beaten track. But for aspiring conductors, the Monteux School is the right place to be.
“This place means so much to me,” Tiffany Lu, the conducting associate at the Monteux School who spent four years there as a camper, said this week. “So many conductors come through here. It’s certainly one of the widest-known workshops, and it has such history. There aren’t that many workshops geared towards helping out early stage conductors.”
The history began in 1943, when French-born conductor Pierre Monteux and his American wife, Doris Hodgkins Monteux, founded a summer music school in Hancock, where she had grown up.
Monteux was the first conductor for many important works of the 20th century, including the infamous 1913 Paris premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” That night, the scandalized audience nearly rioted as the avant-garde, dissonant music and dance performance unfolded, but all reports indicate that Monteux stood firm during the uproar and calmly conducted his musicians safely to the conclusion of the piece.
He was a conductor with a gift for bringing new, difficult music to life, and led over the years a number of internationally prominent orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra. But Monteux had another mission, too.
“Conducting is not enough. I must create something,” he once said, according to the school’s website. “I am not a composer, so I will create fine young musicians.”
And for three quarters of a century, that’s what his namesake school has done. Every June, 60 or so students arrive with their instruments in tow, ready to play music together for six weeks. Of those musicians, 15 to 20 are aspiring conductors, who understand that when they’re not behind the podium, they will be in the orchestra, Lu said. That’s important to her because often, when people become conductors, they can forget what it’s like to be part of the ensemble. That’s problematic, she said.
“What really inspired me about the Monteux School … was his philosophy, which is a very humble one. It’s the idea that the conductor is just one more musician,” she said. “That the conductor’s interests are aligned with the orchestra. You give the musicians what they need. It’s rooted in humility and integrity, and it’s a place for people to learn about the bedrock of conducting.”
The students appreciate being on the coast of Maine, with the ocean and the mountains of Acadia National Park as a backdrop to their practices and performances. Many students have never seen such tall pine trees or dark, starlit skies before coming here.
“It’s so amazing to be here,” Lu said. “The natural beauty is spectacular.”
But the beauty is just part of what makes the school so special. When the students arrive, they find the summer camp-like atmosphere helps them detach a bit from the hectic busyness of their lives and focus on honing their craft. They study under Maestro Michael Jinbo, who is in his 23rd year as music director, and is only the third music director of the program. After Pierre Monteux died in 1964, Charles Bruck, one of his pupils, took over the school and served as the music director and master teacher for more than 25 years. In 1995, Jinbo, Bruck’s longtime student and associate, took over.
“The question the maestro always asks is, ‘Are you singing when you are conducting?’” Lu said. “Conducting is a very complete way of being a musician. You get to sing and dance all the time. It’s this very complete discipline.”
The students don’t just practice, they also perform. Weekly symphonic concerts, held on Sundays beginning on June 24, give the conductors and instrumentalists a chance to perform in front of a live audience. Additionally, five weekly Wednesday chamber-style concerts, called “Maine Chamber Music,” and a free children’s concert, to be held this year at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 12, are organized by members of the orchestra. All concerts are held in the Forest Studio at the Monteux School, and the season’s schedule can be found on the school’s website.
It’s all a part of the school’s tradition, which Lu hopes will continue well into the future.
“I really hope that the school will stay for the next 75 years,” she said. “I really want the principles at the heart of the school to last.”
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