CONDUCTORS ENSEMBLE, 2023 (two-channels video, 07:17 min each) transcends the conventional orchestral experience and challenges the preconceptions of a musical composition. In a creative and experimental way, it comments on the nature of music, leadership, and collaboration. The first scene takes place in a concert hall, in which the conductors stand where we usually see musicians, with their faces facing the audience. The music that is performed is the first part of the “Magnificat” by John Rutters. In the second scene, the same group of conductors is in a rehearsal studio. They were asked to recreate from memory an individually chosen composition, freely moving in the space, which shifts our focus on the choreography of the conducting itself. The absence of conventional instrumentalists opens up a world of possibilities, redirecting our attention to the gestures, expressions, and interactions among the conductors, turning their role into both a musical and performative art form. The conductors themselves become the sole performers, showcasing their interpretative prowess and collaborative synergy. Listening to the concert performed only by the conductors, we will hear solely, often inarticulate, sounds or whistling of the baton/hands. All these elements usually are seen as distortions or noise, but paradoxically they can give a new meaning to the performed music. Thus, at the same time, they draw attention to the values that are usually of little importance to the listener. Unveiling unheard harmonies, they open up a room for interpretation.In an orchestra a conductor performs a somewhat authoritarian function. They set the tone for the whole concert, organize and trigger a creative atmosphere. Is a good symphonic concert possible without a conductor? What happens if we disrupt the accustomed orchestra-conductor order? And what if we comprise a collective only of leaders? Only of women? Today’s world needs a change.

Performers: Justyna Bęben, Katarzyna Chlebek, Magdalena Cichoń, Wiktoria Gołębiewska, Urszula Kowal, Agnieszka Kowalik, Karolina Podwysocka / Video: Michał Lutrzykowski - video4bands and Anna Łukasiewicz / Audio: Kamil Kęska

Co-financed by the City of Bydgoszcz and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland. Possible due to support of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. 



Conductors Ensemble © 2023 by Weronika Trojańska is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0