塑造声音与时间

I first saw Elim Chan ’09 conduct in 2005 during the annual Autumn Serenade concert featuring all the groups in Smith’s choral program. 她是一年级唱诗班的成员，当时澳门葡京博彩软件还在唱诗班. 在澳门葡京博彩软件担任管弦乐和合唱活动总监长达27年, 我知道，当学生引导他们的同龄人, 事情可以朝任何方向发展. 在音乐方面很有前途的学生不一定喜欢指挥. 但埃琳给我留下了深刻的印象. She clearly had a gift for the physical aspect of conducting and a rare confidence level at that age. 

Elim has since become one of the world’s most popular conductors and a critical darling. 2022年在波士顿交响乐团首演, 《波士顿古典评论》写道,成龙是当晚的亮点. 作为一名指挥家，她体现了“少即是多”的原则. 就像弗里茨•赖纳(Fritz Reiner)或伯纳德•海廷克(Bernard Haitink)一样，她在领奖台上不会过于张扬. 但她的节奏清晰，手势简洁，线索准确. 而且，她的耳朵特别敏感.” 

香港人, Elim majored in music at Smith and went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees in music from the University of Michigan, 我也在那里做过研究生工作吗. In 2014 she was the first female winner of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, enabling her to spend the 2015–16 season as assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, 在那里她和瓦列里·捷吉耶夫密切合作, 后来成为洛杉矶爱乐乐团的杜达梅尔研究员. 从那以后，她一直势不可挡, serving as principal guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from 2018 to 2023 and principal conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra since 2019 while maintaining a demanding schedule of guest conductor appearances with top orchestras around the world.

讲台上亮相

去年4月, 我飞到了洛杉矶, where Elim—who lives in Amsterdam with her musician husband—was appearing as a guest conductor with the Los Angeles 菲尔。harmonic. 我安排与她见面并观看彩排. I had only seen her once since she graduated from Smith: I took some students to watch her rehearse for her debut with the Boston Symphony in 2022.

在很多方面，埃琳都没有改变，因为她是一个学生. 她是真实的, 非常谦虚, 仍然对世界抱有真诚的好奇心, 而且似乎渴望学习新事物，获得新体验. She’s vivacious, has a great sense of humor, and is the kind of person people want to be around. I can still see her amid the constellation of students who were always in Sage Hall and the Josten 表演艺术 Library. 但是今天, 而不是从塞吉到泰勒去吃午饭, 我们在洛杉矶一起走向迪斯尼音乐厅, 她会在哪里和L一起排练.A. 菲尔。.

就在我们谈话的时候，我第一次听到了她在领奖台上首次登台的故事. 在香港长大的艾林姆会弹钢琴、大提琴，还参加过合唱团. 14岁时, 当时她正在和高中女生合唱团一起参加一个音乐夏令营，威廉·韦纳特突然出现了, 伊士曼音乐学院的传奇合唱指挥, 被邀请去指导小组. 在韦纳特面前，埃琳的唱诗班老师让她当场指挥. 埃琳对这个要求感到震惊，但她准备迎接挑战. “我想，‘好吧，’”她说，“我不知道该怎么做——但我做到了.那天, Weinert taught her a little about technique and later sent her a package with a baton and a book on conducting. “我非常感动,她说。, 而是作为一个14岁的香港女孩, 我不知道如何成为一名指挥家, 那一刻，我爱上了太多的东西. 我喜欢音乐，但我也喜欢科学.” In the accompanying letter, Weinert wrote, “Keep playing the piano and keep studying.”

美国心脏协会! 时刻

当伊林到达澳门葡京博彩软件时, 她打算主修心理学，同时把音乐作为她喜爱的业余爱好. She took a basic conducting class (the only one offered at Smith) but wanted to pursue conducting further, 所以我和她还有其他几个人一起上了一个特殊学习班. 她还被邀请加入合唱团和室内乐歌手.

“在澳门葡京博彩软件，我抓住一切机会学习音乐，”埃利姆说. “我经常去图书馆. It’s one of the most special collections of books, scores, and facsimiles in the whole world. I would spend hours taking out all these recordings and burning them onto my computer. 我会说，‘哇，马勒! 马勒是谁??’”

在她大二时的春天，我们和美国合唱团一起举办了两场大型音乐会.S. 海军学院:一个在马里兰州的安纳波利斯，另一个在澳门葡京博彩软件校园. 题目是“从苦难到胜利”,” the concerts featured highlights from some of the most famous pieces of choral orchestral music, 比如奥尔夫的 《布兰诗歌Burana威尔第的 安魂曲马勒的 复活的交响乐巴赫的 颂歌和法尔纳的 安魂曲.

因为有很多更短的片段, 我认为这是邀请学生来指挥的绝佳机会. 一般来说，大学生很少有机会登上领奖台, and I have always felt that one of the reasons students come to Smith is to have the kinds of experiences that are not common elsewhere.

伊林指挥了威尔第的《伊拉克之歌 安魂曲是现存音乐中最激动人心的三分钟. 她说当她听完所有的片段后, 她意识到自己不会成为一名心理学家. “就是这样，”她说. “就是那一刻, 站在一个巨大的合唱团前面, 大型管弦乐队, 当然，《伊拉克之死》是最具影响力和标志性的音乐作品之一. My whole core was shaken, and a voice in my head told me I was exactly where I needed to be.”

留下印记

回到迪斯尼音乐厅，伊琳正在排练柴可夫斯基的《澳门葡京博彩软件》. 与洛杉矶爱乐乐团合作. 这是一首美妙的曲子. 据我采访的一个贝斯手说，L.A. 菲尔在音乐总监古斯塔沃·杜达梅尔(Gustavo Dudamel)的指导下，演奏的次数比其他任何作品都多. That can make it difficult for a guest conductor because the orchestra has a particular interpretation of the work in its fingers. 毫无疑问，埃琳对他们的版本很熟悉, 知道他们会怎么做, 让他们做自己的事. 但后来, 一点一点地, she asked them to play slightly softer here and make a bigger crescendo there—small but effective tweaks that dramatically change the delivery of the piece. 在四次排练的过程中，她在上面留下了自己的印记. 

“很多人问我作为指挥是做什么的，”埃利姆说. “大部分工作都是在排练中完成的. 你有80到100个经验丰富的音乐家, 你需要有人给他们一个愿景来统一他们的才能. 我每时每刻都能影响他们. 我在影响现在，并为下一刻做准备. 这是一个独特的位置，因为我可以在某种程度上塑造时间.”

的 concert on April 28, 2023, was a resounding success and received an instant standing ovation. It gained some notoriety because of reports that a woman in the audience loudly climaxed during the second movement. 的 洛杉矶时报 报道, “Silver Lake resident and music agent Lukas Burton said the sound from the audience member was ‘wonderfully timed’ to a ‘romantic swell’ in the symphony.”

知道何时该放下指挥棒

埃利姆是如何克服重重困难，成为一名成功的指挥家的? 她的指挥棒技术清晰而富有表现力, reflecting one of the fundamental principals of conducting: Try to talk as little as possible and communicate with the baton, 手, 脸, 和身体. 

她也以给予音乐家自由和空间而闻名. But most notable is the fact that her passion for the music envelops the orchestra and the audience.

“I have to feel like my 手 are actually touching the sound waves so I can mold them,” Elim says. “有时候我觉得指挥棒挡住了我的路. 的 baton is great, especially with a 大型管弦乐队; you need a focal point. 但是对于一些音乐, 在某一时刻, I put the baton down because that’s when I feel like I can just give a hug to the whole orchestra. 你可以拥抱声音. 有时候我觉得音乐就像包裹着我的手臂. 它会产生阻力，就像你游泳时一样. 感觉音乐就在你身边. 我试图传达这一点，并与管弦乐队一起塑造每一个时刻.”

思考未来

称之为“苦乐参半”,” Elim ends her tenure as principal conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra later this year. She led the orchestra through COVID and vividly remembers tears in the musicians’ eyes when they were allowed to finally play to a live audience of a hundred. “我们在巡演, 我们在新冠疫情关闭之前的最后一站是在俄罗斯,她说。. “我们在圣彼得堡爱乐乐团的大厅里演出. Now, I can’t even imagine when I will be in Russia again, because the world has changed.” 

Elim is booked through 2026 but is thinking about changes she would like to make in her approach to being a conductor. “我想把时间和精力花在哪里??她问道。. “气候变化和减少碳足迹对旅行艺术家来说是一个大问题. 我真的需要周游世界吗? 我要和整个管弦乐队一起旅行吗? 在当地社区培养对艺术的欣赏可能会更好. Instead of spending a week in one place, maybe spend two weeks to get to know the people. 也许我会承担更多的长期项目, 比如我与西班牙一个管弦乐团的青年项目建立了新的合作关系. 在接下来的三年里，我们将观看斯特拉文斯基的三部芭蕾舞剧. 这是我们共同探索的目标, 我们可以看到这些年轻的音乐家在这三年里不断成长.” 

追逐超越

我很高兴伊琳取得了这么大的成功，我为她感到无比骄傲. 如果学生对我说, “我想进入音乐界,” I feel like my first responsibility is to try to convince them that they should do something else because jobs are limited, 特别是在传导方面. But some students can’t imagine themselves doing anything but music; they simply must give it a shot. I coach these students—students like Elim—by giving them as many opportunities as I can.

“当指挥是有史以来最酷、最疯狂的工作之一，”她说. 她说:“这个行业的女性仍然不多，但情况正在好转. 我认为这是人类能做的最有成就感、最有回报的事情之一. How many concerts are there in a lifetime where you truly felt something special has happened? You should be able to count those 时刻s on one hand because they don’t happen often. 但当它们发生的时候，感觉就超验了. When they happen, it cancels out all the hardships, all the existential crises, and all the tears. 我认为这是我所追求的.” 

Jonathan Hirsh is a senior lecturer and the director of orchestral and choral activities at Smith. Cheryl Dellecese是Smith的高级编辑. 

故事图片由Christina Gandolfo提供