The prevalent pop culture image of the conductor is Mickey
Mouse, robed in the garb of the sorcerer’s apprentice,
leading a parade of brooms and buckets to a fantastical tune. The
magic presented in Disney’s “Fantasia” film is
not so far from what goes on in UCLA’s graduate conducting
program.
Roughly a decade old, the program has established itself as one
of the finest in the nation largely due to the efforts of three
professors: Jon Robertson, Don Neuen and Thomas Lee. Each leads his
own section of the program and directs his own graduate students,
with Robertson in charge of the orchestral programs, Neuen running
chorale and Lee directing the Wind Ensemble.
The three all have significant backgrounds in conducting, both
at the collegiate level and, in Robertson’s case,
professionally. The program makes the most of its professorial
resources by staying small. Lee keeps only three students at any
particular time, of which only one is aiming for a doctorate
degree.
“(Lee) works with me closely and we have plenty of time to
talk about the music. He puts in the time with me to improve my
stick work, my podium etiquette,” said Victor Aguilar,
Lee’s current doctoral graduate associate conductor.
Aguilar taught and conducted high school bands for 10 years
before deciding to apply to the Wind Ensemble program. Much like
UCLA’s fabled Wooden-era basketball teams, the program is
able to recruit the best young talents from the United States and
beyond.
“I was conducting in Brazil in November and met a
prominent conductor in Tatui. He wants to get his doctorate from me
at UCLA,” said Lee.
This conductor will start school at UCLA in fall 2006. With the
few available spots filled several years into the future, the
demand and prestige associated with the program and its professors
continues to expand. This is good for students, who come into the
program with high expectations for future careers in conducting and
teaching.
Lee boasts over 20 successful university wind conductors from
his tenure here and at the University of Texas. Master’s
degree students are focused toward teaching at a high school level,
or working as the music director of a church or even with a
professional orchestra, while doctoral students have teaching at
the collegiate level as their goal. Aguilar has gotten hands-on
experience with UCLA undergraduates in the Wind Ensemble and
Symphonic Band.
“It’s a fun experience to me. I can’t imagine
teaching and being paid to have that much fun,” Aguilar said
after a recent rehearsal. “We were laughing, but we were
getting things done and we were talking about the music.”
In a self-declared Year of the Arts at UCLA, the enthusiasm
among faculty and students alike about their program and its future
seems contagious.
“They can move mountains when they love (conducting) that
much and they’re willing to go for it,” said Lee.