Healing through music

When Ingrid Martin swapped her stethoscope for a baton she swapped one high-pressure job for another, but she has no regrets.

‘‘I used to heal through medicine but now I heal through music.’’

It might sound cheesy, but Martin is a firm believer in the power of music to heal and she should know — she spent more than a decade training and working as a doctor in a hospital emergency department.

Twelve years ago, she hung up her stethoscope to make the commitment to working in music full-fulltime.

Not that she had ever put it aside. Ever since she picked up the violin — and later the French horn which she played until recently — as a child, music has been in her life.

‘‘I think when I was a kid going to professional orchestra concerts I thought, oh yeah, I reckon I could do that [conducting] but it wasn’t something that I kind of pursued seriously.’’

When it came to making decisions about a career, medicine seemed the obvious one.

‘‘To be a conductor there was no real clear pathway. Definitely when I was growing up, not seeing that many female role models just meant that it was something that I never really thought seriously about doing, until pretty recently.’’

But still interested in music, alongside studying to be a doctor, she took summer classes and courses in music and conducting.

When she graduated she started working as an emergency doctor while continuing to study music. She also got her teacher’s degree, figuring that was where her future in music would be.

‘‘Then I got more serious about it and decided to do my master’s in conducting.’’

She gave up medicine to work as a conductor and teaching in the community and schools space. She developed her own education programme, Conducting Artistry.

But when the Covid pandemic hit, conducting work dried up and forced Martin into some serious thinking about what she wanted to do. Some important people to Martin encouraged her to think seriously about taking her conducting to the next level.

‘‘Getting some important opportunities sort of solidified that confidence of, ‘oh well, other people think I can do this, you know, maybe I can’’ and when you actually get to do it, then you go ‘oh yeah, I can do this’.’’

One conducting opportunity that really stands out to her was leading a high school group performing an Australian premiere after the bush fires near Melbourne.

‘‘It was really an exploration of grief. And it was an amazing opportunity for these young teenagers to really express themselves through music.

‘‘And it was a very special performance. And I think the reason that one stands out is because of the power of music to move us and to heal.’’

She was named one of 10 international participants in the Orchestra of the Americas 2022 Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducting Fellowship, and in one day in 2022, she both made her debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and premiered her interactive original show ‘‘Conducting An Experiment’’ with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Then, last year, she was one of five fellows of the Australian Conducting Academy. Next she was named New Zealand Assistant Conductor in Residence working with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, and has recently moved from her Melbourne base to Auckland for the rest of the year.

The assisting part of the residency requires her to sit in on orchestral rehearsals and take notes on what it sounds like in the hall as it can be different to what it sounds like on stage.

‘‘That job is great because you get to work very closely with the conductor but also the musicians in the orchestra, and really refine your listening skills, as well as getting to observe a whole lot of different people and how they do the job of conducting, and learn through observation.’’

It is also an invaluable chance to ‘‘get runs on the board’’ conducting professional musicians, which is a similar but different proposition to conducting community orchestras and school groups.

‘‘It’s the opportunity to, I guess, drive the Lamborghini — again, very rare and very precious and there’s some things you can learn on your own, but lots of it is just about being there and doing it, and these positions give you lots of opportunities to do that in a pretty unprecedented and very concentrated way.’’

The intensity and concentration of the opportunities has accelerated her learning.

‘‘It is very exciting and never a dull moment. It’s a job that’s got a lot of variety. Everything from a Verdi opera that we’re rehearsing later this week;; last week it was the Lion King live to film and the orchestra is starting a brand new programme this afternoon, and we had a community bash yesterday with, like, 500 people playing alongside the orchestra.’’

The transition over the past few years has not been without its challenges. Self-belief has been a big one as societal norms of women in leadership positions mean she, like many women, question themselves ‘‘to a fault’’.

It can also be intimidating as a new conductor to stand in front of musicians who have an average of 20 years’ experience each but also inspiring.

’’The weight of that responsibility to come with a sense of authority and leadership and that you are going to lead this group of experts is a particular skill and one that I’m learning to get better at every day.

‘‘Thinking about how can you harness that and get everyone to bring that expertise to the table and how can you empower them to do their best work, that’s sort of the real job of the conductor.’’

It is also still a very male-dominated world, although it is changing.

‘‘But there’s still a long way to go and not just for conductors but also for composers and in certain instrument areas, there’s pretty low representation as well. So I feel like now that I’m starting to work in this world, part of my job is to pave the way for more women.’’

The other challenge is opportunity. At the beginning of any professional conducting career it is difficult to get work.

‘‘Work is very sporadic. You have no control over getting work. You just have to turn up and do your best and see if you are the right fit for the organisation.’’

‘‘One of the challenges of the model is the lack of agency for the musicians so you know my approach as a conductor . . . is how do I create a space where everyone can bring their best selves to the table and how do I, empower them to do that and help them feel like they do have a sense of ownership over the musical thing that we’re going to create that week.’’

In this area her medical training in psychology comes in handy, as does the problem-solving her medical career required.

‘‘I think it gives me a really healthy sense of perspective. So I think we can get very serious about our music, and so it should be, but it’s sort of balancing this fascinating sense of it means everything. What we’re doing with creating art and creating a musical experience for the audience means everything and it also means nothing at the same time.

‘‘And how do you kind of balance that yourself and how do you create that kind of environment with the musicians and in a concert?’’

To be blunt, Martin says in this job ‘‘no-one’s going to die which is pretty lucky. Even though it can feel like we’re going to die sometimes, but we’re not.

‘‘I think having that perspective is healthy and that’s definitely helped me being on the podium with professionals as we can take this really, really seriously and also it’s fine if someone misses a note.’’

Martin is looking forward to her performance with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, in particular the Betty Beath Lament for Victims of War piece for strings.

‘‘And it is just so poignant and emotive and deep. [A] very heartfelt and slightly agonising piece.’’

And also British composer Ruth Gipps’ seascape piece, which she says is very fitting for Dunedin as it generates images of the sun sparkling on water with the waves rolling in.

TO SEE

Other Lands, Dunedin Symphony Orchestra
September 21, 5 pm and September 22, 3 pm
King’s and Queen’s Performing Arts Centre.