Becoming La Maestra with Rebecca Tong

Competitions Are for Horses, Not for Artists?
Today we are going to discuss a sensitive and yet, somehow controversial topic - music competition. Composer Bela Bartok‘s famous quote says, “Competitions are for horses, not artists.” However, some of us, including myself, dream about winning a major competition and then have a career that just takes off at times.

Professional ensembles, agents, or businesses continue to organize conducting competitions, and we continue to enter them because we are seeing people successful through this route. However, we are not seeing those who won a competition without a major career, not to mention those who tried, also worked hard, perhaps equally talented or qualified but didn’t win the glory. We only see the flamboyant and sparkling part of the business.

With the pressing call for more diversity in the conducting field, la Maestra was the first conducting competition for women only, which was held in March 2021 in Paris amidst Covid-19. My guest today is the winner of the inaugural La Maestra Competition, Rebecca Tong, and she will share her journey before, during, and after the competition with all of us.

Rebecca is Resident Conductor of Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra and is Artistic Director and Music Director of Ensemble Kontemporer. She recently completed her two-year tenure as Junior Fellow in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music, and previously studied at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. During her studies, Rebecca worked extensively in assisting the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and frequently collaborates with the Hallé Orchestra and Manchester Camerata.

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