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Recent News
05.08.08How hard can it be?
Three weeks on from Baton Camp, and the students are trying out their conducting skills on Sinfonia Tamesa, a 60-strong orchestra of young musicians, in a church in London. Radio Times journalist Christopher Middleton visits them. He makes the mistake of asking whether it's as easy as it looks, and is promptly invited to have a go.
"The first thing you feel when you step onto the rostrum is that you've walked into a crowded room, full of people who are looking to you as if you have answer to an important question," he observes. He steels himself for the challenge, plunges his baton down and...nothing happens. It turns out that the orchestra won't play a note until the conductor's baton reaches the "beat one" position (due south).
Then they're off. The orchestra follows their master resolutely, even, as he puts it, "when they know they're heading towards suicide".
He makes it to the end, feeling like "a thoroughbred that's just run the Grand National", and with a new appreciation for the tough job of conductor.
Let's hope the Maestro students rise to the challenge.
Recent News
08.12.08More Maestro for Christmas
A revealing new documentary, Maestro: The Inside Story, will be shown over Christmas.
13.09.08Sue takes Hyde Park by Storm
Maestro winner Sue Perkins tonight wowed the 35,000-strong Proms in the Park audience at the Last Night of the Proms.
10.09.08Sue's win - first verdicts from the press
Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian’s arts correspondent, was first up with a review of the Maestro Final posted on the Guardian Culture Blog at 9.53 this morning. A Spectator review has also been posted by Henrietta Bredin.
09.09.08Congratulations to Sue Perkins!
At tonight’s Grand Final, writer and comedienne Sue Perkins emerged from the audience vote to win the BBC’s first ever Maestro competition.
04.09.08Vengerov flies in for Final
Virtuoso violinist and conductor Maximum Vengerov will replace Simone Young on the panel of judges for the Maestro Final on Tuesday 9 September.
02.09.08Dramatic vote saves Jane and Goldie
The Maestro series reached new levels of tension as four students faced the orchestra vote.
01.09.08Opera stars join Maestro
Soprano Rebecca Evans and tenor Alfie Boe will join the Maestro show for Episode 4.
01.09.08Do Men Hog the Podium?
Will female conductors ever achieve equality? I think they will, says conductor Madeleine Lovell
01.09.08Press on 'posh talent show'
TV talent shows come in many demographically targeted guises - I commend a different event - Maestro.
26.08.08Bradley exits the competition
Bradley Walsh did not survive the BBC Concert Orchestra’s vote this week.
26.08.08Behind the scenes
Maestro viewers have asked about the various musicians who have helped the students in their preparation.
22.08.08What the papers said ...
I watched Maestro (BBC2) mostly because it was there … how wrong could I be because it was riveting.
22.08.08Sue's reality check
Maestro student Sue Perkins posted a thoughtful article in the Guardian newspaper. These are her thoughts on what she has learned
22.08.08How Goldie got into Classical
Ex-grilfriend Bjork had a hand in Goldie’s conversion to classical …
22.08.08The Thoughts of Alex and Brad
Alex: “The first thing you have to learn as a conductor is how to stand up straight.”
21.08.08Lessons learned, by David Soul
Rejected student David Soul bares his … about what he learned from the Maestro experience.
19.08.08Second student leaves Maestro
Following the BBC Concert Orchestra’s vote, Bradley Walsh was saved and David Soul exited the competition.
19.08.08Don't smile at the brass ...
In the run-up to Episode 2, Katie Derham has been finding out how to get an orchestra to do what she wants …
12.08.08First student exits Maestro
The BBC Concert Orchestra decides who remains in the competition.
05.08.08How hard can it be?
Journalist Christopher Middleton visitis the students as they try out their conducting skills on an orchestra of young musicians in a church in London.
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