I can’t pinpoint when or why I started, but by the age of 11 or 12 I regularly tuned the transistor radio sitting on my bedroom bookcase to the classical music station, especially on dark mornings as I readied myself for school.
I neither played an instrument nor knew the names of composers, but I found the wordless stream of instrumentation -- strings, piano, timpani and horns -- soothing and beautiful. Without knowing song titles or historic influences, I could focus on the mood conveyed by the notes and create my own accompanying mental pictures or stories, if I chose. More likely, the music created a pleasant backdrop during what was often a cold, lonely start to the day.
Later, as a college student, I found that classical music was the only genre I could listen to and effectively study. Being a word person, opera didn't work. It's word-free music that calms without distracting me. As a full-fledged adult, classical became my relaxation music of choice as I read before bed; the quiet wind down time is still one of my favorite periods of the day. My novice’s appreciation for an art form I do not practice perhaps made an interview I once did for a newspaper feature about conductor Kay George Roberts unforgettable to me.
As a woman of color, her background made her a rarity in her profession, but during our conversation she steered any talk of challenges into examples illustrating how focusing on what mattered to her -- the music -- led to opportunities for success. No doubt her positive frame of mind contributes to her professional achievement and must shine through in each performance she leads.
I neither played an instrument nor knew the names of composers, but I found the wordless stream of instrumentation -- strings, piano, timpani and horns -- soothing and beautiful. Without knowing song titles or historic influences, I could focus on the mood conveyed by the notes and create my own accompanying mental pictures or stories, if I chose. More likely, the music created a pleasant backdrop during what was often a cold, lonely start to the day.
Later, as a college student, I found that classical music was the only genre I could listen to and effectively study. Being a word person, opera didn't work. It's word-free music that calms without distracting me. As a full-fledged adult, classical became my relaxation music of choice as I read before bed; the quiet wind down time is still one of my favorite periods of the day. My novice’s appreciation for an art form I do not practice perhaps made an interview I once did for a newspaper feature about conductor Kay George Roberts unforgettable to me.
As a woman of color, her background made her a rarity in her profession, but during our conversation she steered any talk of challenges into examples illustrating how focusing on what mattered to her -- the music -- led to opportunities for success. No doubt her positive frame of mind contributes to her professional achievement and must shine through in each performance she leads.
Conductor Roberts makes West Coast debut with OEBS
By Monique Beeler
STAFF WRITER
(Originally published in the Oakland Tribune/ANG Newspapers, April 19, 2001)
 |
| Photo: UMASS Lowell Magazine |
She has performed musical alchemy before school
children and royalty.
As a student, she waved a baton under the guiding eye
of Leonard Bernstein, and later became the first woman
to earn a doctorate in orchestral conducting from Yale
University.
Remember conductor Kay George Roberts' name.
Better yet, see her in action Thursday and Friday in
her West Coast conducting debut with the Oakland East
Bay Symphony.
The daughter of a psychology professor and a
university librarian, Roberts first picked up the
violin in the fourth-grade in a segregated, Nashville
grade school. Today, she counts among the few women
conductors in the United States and probably as the
only African-American woman conductor.
At least, she knows of no others active today.
``It's not something I dwell on,'' says Roberts, who
also is a professor at University of Massachusetts,
Lowell. ``I like to be considered as a musician
first.''
In person, Roberts presents an appealing picture in a
soft green sweater accented with a paisley scarf. Her
dark hair is pulled back tightly, revealing high cheek
bones and silver hoops dangling at her ears. She
laughs readily at herself _ at the suggestion that she
has any free time, for instance _ and at the sometimes
stodgy ways of her profession.
On stage, as a guest conductor with major symphonies
across the country, Roberts demonstrates a deep
concentration and a penchant for breaking with a
strictly 19th-century, European repertoire.
``I love all music,'' says Roberts, between sips of
tea in the art deco dining room at the Lake Merritt
Hotel. ``If I have a passion, it's for looking for new
work or rarely performed work.''
In one pet project, ``Hearing Amistad,'' she organized
a summer concert honoring the Amistad, a ship that
brought illegally enslaved Africans to the New World
in 1839. Through a landmark Supreme Court case, the
passengers secured their freedom.
For the 2000 concert, Roberts spotlighted the work of
five, living African-American composers whose work
focuses on the middle passage, or the journey slaves
made from Africa to the U.S.
In her Bay Area appearance, Roberts will lead the
Oakland East Bay Symphony in performances of Bartok
and Bach pieces, music popular with American
symphonies. At Roberts' suggestion, the concert will
also feature a fusion piece by contemporary composer
Michael Abels. The composition honoring Martin Luther
King Jr. is called, ``Dance for Martin's Dream.''
``It starts out with a solemn reflection on Dr. King's
life,'' Roberts says. ``(Then) he mixes dance forms _
he has blue grass, salsa, funk, with early orchestral
ballet. In one part there's Irish jig music in it.
That's all put together.''
As the composition symbolizing King's dream of a
diverse and harmonious society concludes, Abels
returns to a serious reflective tone, then introduces
a fast-paced rhythm known as ``beat box.''
``It closes with the beat box turning into non-violent
chants of Civil Rights marchers,'' Roberts explains.
When it comes to conducting dozens of musicians,
Roberts says the old ways of leading an orchestra are
over.
``The days of the old dictator conductor are out the
door, and it's not a style I want to emulate at all,''
she says.
Successful conducting, she adds, requires a certain
command and rapport with musicians.
``There's something intangible between an orchestra
and a conductor,'' she says. ``It's a certain
chemistry, and sometimes it works and sometimes it
doesn't.''
Based on the number of guest conductor invitations
Roberts has received from groups from the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra to the Dallas Symphony, hers is a
style that attracts respect.
Others in her field might wish Roberts had more female
company at the podium.
The largest 25 symphonies in the country, those with
budgets of about $10 million or more, report no women
conductors or music directors, according to the
American Symphony Orchestra League. Those with budgets
of $4 million to $10 million employ only three women
in top posts. When including smaller symphonies in the
tally, the figure rises to 55 orchestras, or 9
percent, nationwide.
``It's pretty pathetic,'' says Blake Howard of the
Women's Philharmonic in San Francisco. ``People can
debate about (reasons for) this for hours.''
As recently as 20 years ago, women did not consider
conducting as an option, Howard says. It's a difficult
skill to acquire, and few jobs exist, she says.
``Women who are more advanced and a little bit further
in their careers didn't start until they were in
graduate school,'' Howard says. ``Most of the men
started much earlier.''
Such was the case for Roberts, who discovered her gift
for conducting only after a professor in a Yale
graduate program encouraged her to try it out.
Far from bemoaning her ``late'' start in conducting,
Roberts relishes the job which allows her both to
conduct compositions by dignitaries, such as the King
of Thailand, and bring music education to future
generations. In her role as professor, she recently
won a $200,000 grant to introduce a strings instrument
program in the public schools of Lowell, Mass.
Who knows? Perhaps the project will allow her to pass
on the musical gift she received as a child.
``I wanted to be an astronaut _ it was a cross between
that and tennis _ but the money wasn't in tennis at
the time,'' says Roberts, an amused smile brightening
her face. ``I'm happy the music program came along _
it was the right thing for me.''
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