We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kalena Bovell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kalena below.

Hi Kalena , thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I knew when I was nine years old that music would always be a part of my life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Kalena Bovell and I am an orchestra conductor. My journey to music was not typical. I accidentally discovered I could sing at the age of nine. I was convinced that I was going to be a singer and in elementary school, my friends and I wrote songs that we would perform for students at school. Music very quickly became all I wanted to do. In middle school, I was accidentally placed into a beginning strings class and it was there I developed my love for the violin and classical music. While I loved singing, violin became my passion and was something that I wanted to pursue as a career. However, the typical violin student begins taking lessons when they are three or four years old. I started playing the violin at the age of eleven years old and didn’t have my first private lesson until I was eighteen. My late start to violin was due to a lack of education when it came to classical music. While I was serious about music and the instrument, my parents were unaware of the resources that existed for someone like me. They didn’t know about private lessons, enrichment programs, or the importance of a higher quality instrument. However, I was determined.

My path to conducting was by chance. I majored in music education in college and we were all required to a take a year of instrumental conducting. We spent about four weeks going through the foundations of how to read a score and learning various beat patterns. When I finally got the opportunity to step onto the podium in front of my colleagues, I remember raising my hands and giving a downbeat. The next thing I remembered was the amount of sound that came towards me. I was instantly hooked. Violin was my passion, but conducting very quickly became my heart.
Because of music, I have been able to travel, meet, and work with some amazing orchestras. I’ve conducted at the BBC Prom, made recent debuts with the Cincinnati Symphony and at the Colorado Music Festival. I also made history in 2023 as the first Black woman to conduct an opera in Canada, conducting a world premiere reimagination of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha. I was also recently awarded the prestigious 2024 Sphinx Medal of Excellence—the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization, and I was also named a 2022-2024 Awardee of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship. I lived a life filled with gratitude because it takes a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication for someone with my background to be forging a path in the field of classical music.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

It sounds very cliché, but I truly do what I do because I am committed to inspiring communities through music. Music saved my life. I battled depression between the ages of 19-24. At the time I was going to a community college working towards transferring to a 4-year university. My sole purpose for pushing through each day was to study music. During that time, music became like a person to me and I couldn’t let it down. I am also an advocate for music education. I’ve been fortunate to work with various youth groups and was conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony for four years. My goal with students has always been an experiential approach. I aim to create experiences that my students can take with them when they are no longer working with me. I also aim to provide students with opportunities that I never got to have a child. I strongly believe that representation matters and I also believe that people can’t be what they can’t see.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A huge lesson that I had to learn as a conductor was to be authentic and be both proud and comfortable walking in my authenticity. Imposter Syndrome is a very real thing amongst conductors, especially young conductors (myself included in that.) There is so much music and knowledge to learn that would take a lifetime. However, because of the demands of the profession, there is a feeling of needing to know these things now.

A few summers ago, I was guest conducting at the Sewanee Music Festival. I was walking to rehearsal and it was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining and there was a mild breeze blowing. As I was walking, I had a sudden realization that stopped me dead in my tracks. I became suddenly aware that I was wearing a pair of grey skinny jeans, a purple polo shirt, sneakers, and that my tattoos were showing. However, it was also in this moment that I realized, “This was me and I didn’t have to be anyone other than that.” After that, things clicked for me on the podium. Who I was off the podium was exactly who I was on. Walking into and accepting my power was a truly beautiful and transformative experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kalenabovell.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silvursmiles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077015169234
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalena-bovell-4675a02a/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK3tkwDD10YPpTRyWhqXSwg

Image Credits
Jamie Pratt Carla McDonald Chris Chistodolou Thomas Entzeroth