10 January 2026
Paul Nicolaou sits down with 2026 NMC Conductor, Andrea Quinn
By 2026 Media and Communication Participant, Paul Nicolaou
During the Alexander Orchestra’s rehearsals this National Music Camp, some members of the orchestra had a special opportunity to make their way onto the podium and conduct their peers, guided by the orchestra’s 2026 conductor Andrea Quinn. I sat down with Andrea to chat about the value of this experience…
Paul Nicolaou: I noticed in rehearsal you invited the musicians to the podium to conduct. Why do you think it’s important to give young people that opportunity?
Andrea Quinn: I think it’s massively important, because unlike playing musicians, conductors don’t have the chance to practice their art until they get into public, in front of the orchestra. It’s something that is available very rarely; even if you’re a conducting student at an academy of music, you may only get 10 minutes in front of an orchestra once every two weeks. And of course, however much you study a score, until you get in front of the orchestra and try the sheer physicality of conducting, and are able to listen as well—which is also very hard because we get so taken up with what we’re doing that our ears very quickly can get blocked—the more experience young conductors can have of that, the better. This is an ideal scenario; we’ve got an orchestra sitting here, wanting to play, wanting to use all their time… Those possibilities really don’t grow on trees.
Andrea Quinn in rehearsals with the Week 1 Alexander Orchestra
Paul Nicolaou: Do you think those benefits might also extend to the peers seeing their fellow musicians conduct?
Andrea Quinn: Yes! I think it’s wonderful for peers to see their fellow musicians; they may have a new respect for how difficult the art of conducting is. When a young conductor is in front of the orchestra and is experimenting with different ways of conducting, different physical gestures, then they begin to see how the conductor’s gestures directly affect the way the orchestra plays… So it’s very useful for the peers of these young conductors to see them on the rostrum, and to see them experiment with different sorts of sounds. Because often orchestral musicians react subconsciously to what is going on, on the rostrum. When a young conductor is up there and is being coached, (so they are stopping and starting, they’re experimenting with different gestures), the orchestra begins to realise that actually how they’re acting subconsciously becomes more of a conscious thing. They realise how the conductor can change the sound, can get in the way, can disrupt things, can make things really wonderful, can show a new phrase that maybe the musicians hadn’t expected. It’s something that I suppose orchestral musicians generally take for granted in terms of what’s happening on the rostrum, but then when they see young conductors being coached, they begin to realise what goes into conducting and responding, that osmosis in both directions.
Andrea Quinn conducting the Alexander Orchestra in Concert 1 of the AYO Summer Music Festival
To hear the perspective of a participant who had the privilege of some valuable time on the rostrum, be sure to check out fellow Media & Communications participant Izzy Eagle’s Week 1 Blog entry, where she spoke to violist Alex Arthur about his experience.