We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vlad Vizireanu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Vlad, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
My advice for aspiring conductors is to gain experience through masterclasses. These are plentiful throughout the world. This will not only give you some practical experience in technique, rehearsal strategies, and repertoire, but you will have filmed conducting sessions to use for applications to graduate conducting programs.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My career in music was somewhat of a zigzag. I began studying piano seriously around ten years old and spent the next seven years participating in masterclasses and competitions to gain more instrumental experience. I was accepted into the UCLA music program for piano performance where I also developed a keen interest in music history. This interest blossomed into a professional switch into Musicology – with a specialty in Medieval music. While in the Master’s program at UT Austin for Musicology, I met a special professor who saw a conductor in me. He encouraged me to take private lessons with Peter Bay of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and I was accepted into the Master’s program at Indiana University and further in the Doctoral program at Arizona State University.
Conducting is unique in the musical arts because we are the only performers in the orchestra who don’t actually make a sound. Our communication is our instrument, and it is our responsibility to develop a vision for the piece as advocates for the composer.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Many people call the arts a luxury. These are usually the first to be defunded in times of crisis. I learned this lesson very clearly during the pandemic. The one thing I said to everyone who advocated for these cuts was: “imagine what you would have done with your free time during the pandemic had it not been for literature, film & TV, music, poetry, and the plastic arts.”
This is what I want to impart the most to non-artists. Much of our lives is consumed by the arts. Once we have paid the bills, our lives revolve around artistic experiences; we look forward to them and depend on them. That’s definitely more than just a luxury.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
In all honesty, I don’t have much personal experience with NFT’s. I hear them mentioned occasionally and nod along, but I don’t have a particular opinion either way.
One thing I think about though is that, unlike the plastic arts (in which the product is essentially a finished NFT), musicians recreate a piece of music every time they perform it. Each performance is its own NFT; it can’t be reproduced. The notes on the page are like words on a script. A musician reinstantiates that piece of music anew much like an actor reads the same lines of a script in a unique way every time they pick up the script.
In that sense, we are NFT creators ourselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vladvizireanu.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maestro_vizireanu/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VVizireanu
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vlad-vizireanu-8100a749/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VladVizi/videos
Image Credits
Michael Roud Photography