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Talia Ilan @taliailan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

𝐈’𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠? 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑

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Talia Ilan @taliailan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

But beyond all of that, there is no question that a conductor needs to be a musical person. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫?

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Talia Ilan @taliailan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It would be pretty disastrous if a conductor could not maintain a steady pulse or tempo, for example, or if they were unable to identify players’ mistakes during rehearsals. These are, of course, basic standards that should be a given.

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Talia Ilan @taliailan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

After all, we would surely agree that a conductor who cannot read an orchestral score is simply not acceptable. Right? Nor does it make sense for a conductor not to know the instruments of the orchestra, or the stylistic differences between composers and genres, and so on.

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Talia Ilan @taliailan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

In other words: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞, 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞?

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Talia Ilan @taliailan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

But if we ask what the ideal conductor is supposed to do, perhaps we should first talk about what they need to have in their toolbox.

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Talia Ilan @taliailan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞? Well, that depends on what type of conductor we are looking for.

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Talia Ilan @taliailan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

What makes someone a genuine conductor? Is pure musicality enough to lead an orchestra? What do orchestral musicians actually need from a conductor? I have spent years exploring these and many other questions and I have found some answers. THE GENUINE CONDUCTOR Coming soon!

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Reposted by Talia Ilan

henselpushers @henselpushers.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Our report on gender and racial diversity in orchestral programming just dropped and I'm too tired to make a whole thread about it but you should browse through:

Equality Diversity
in Global Repertoire
110 Orchestras worldwide
ORCHESTRAS SEASON 2025 - 2026

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Reposted by Talia Ilan

NPR @npr.org · 22/09/2026

As the classical concert season ramps up, two of America's finest orchestras will soon be led by new conductors when Daniel Harding takes over in Los Angeles and Elim Chan leads in San Francisco. n.pr/3TMdswi

n.pr

Meet the future of the LA Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony

As the classical concert season ramps up, two of America's finest orchestras will soon be led by new conductors when Daniel Harding takes over in Los Angeles and Elim Chan leads in San Francisco.

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