The NEW sound
Classical conductor Gemma New is in a class of her own – young, supremely talented, and a woman. The Kiwi-born maestro tells Emma Day why she’s here to do more than break glass ceilings.
Bundled up in a winter coat, Gemma New makes an unassuming entrance to Notes. It’s an aptly named cafe, given that’s what she spends her days poring over. Arriving with her head tilted down and hands in her pockets, it’s a stark contrast to the powerhouse that helmed the podium for the BBC Symphony Orchestra just two days prior.
New, 36, is one of the music industry’s most exciting young conductors, her meteoric rise culminating with an appointment as principal conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra last year. The Wellington-born musician is the first woman to hold the position in the orchestra’s 75-year history. It’s just one of her many firsts, but she’s reticent to bask in her achievements.
“I don’t like to talk about myself much,” she says with an apologetic smile after sitting down. However, when talking about the work itself, enthusiasm thrums from her like soundwaves.
“An orchestra is the greatest example of what one can do when you’re in harmony,” she says, a slight lilt betraying 12 years spent living in the US. “When you’re supporting each other, you create something beautiful and powerful that you didn’t even know was possible.”
Born into a musical family – her mother plays the violin and her grandparents always had jazz on in the house – New first picked up a violin aged 5. The piano followed at 7, then her first orchestra performance at 9.
“That’s what really got me hooked,” she remembers, “your senses are elevated, hearing what everyone else is giving.”
Three years later, at the tender age of 12, she realised she’d found her calling.
“We were playing at a concert of two youth orchestras, with over 200 young people on stage. It must have been a very overwhelming sound but for me, it was the most glorious, beautiful music-making I’ve ever experienced.
An orchestra is the greatest example of what one can do when you’re in harmony. When you’re supporting each other, you create something beautiful and powerful that you didn’t even know was possible.
Some musicians would also tell me, in a supportive way, that you may have a harder time. My response to that was always ‘good, I will learn more’. I may become stronger if I am pushed, so go for it.
“I jus tt hought ,‘ yeah, Iw an tt o be part of the orchestra for the rest ofm y life’.”
At 15, she got her firs tc hance to conduct , pi cking up the baton t ohelmas urprise performanc efora teacher’s leaving party.
“After that, It old m yb est friend ‘this is it, Iw an t to b ea conductor’.”
And New is certainly a woman of her word. After spending her teens performing in yout h or chestras, she studied physics, mathematic sandm usic a tt he University of Canterbury, before gaining a master’s in music from the prestigious Peabod yI nstitut ein Baltimore, US.
New’s time a tC anterbury still directly influences her work today .“I love the logic of mathematics and how it applies t oe verything – it applies t om usic as well. One of the las tc ourses It ook was proof theory and Iu se that algebra often to analy se s cores.”
Using mathematics t o in terpret music sounds complex, but New’s description of her role as conductor is simple.
“Ou r jo b is receiving sound, listening and then influencing the flow, the focu s or t he s tyle of playing,” she summarises. “The thing is, it’s not about me–i t’s about ho ww e all come together. In that first rehearsal you see what everyone is giving and I have to find ways of uniting us by t he end of the week.
“It ’s a conversation that happens with and witho ut w ords.”
It’s also a conversation that often begins alone, poring ov eras core lat e in to t hee vening. About 90 % of the work that goes int oa concert happens before that first rehearsal, with the energetic performanc ej us tt he cherry on top.
“When you look at a piec eofm usic, those are the notes on the page but there are about 10 differen tw ays every single bar could go,” New says.
“I spend a lot of time imagining at my desk, just going through t he m usic looking at every single note. It can b eq uit ea creative process, unlocking little treasure boxes of pearls of wisdom tha tt he composers left.”
Not all conductors find keys to these box esq uite as easily as New seems to, though. Marie-Hélène Bernard, president and CE O of t he S t Lou is S ymphony Orchestra, a tw hic h Ne w served four seasons as residen tc onductor, describes the Kiw iasana tural.
“There’s no pretension abo ut G emma; it’s all abo utt he m usic and it’s all abo ut b eing an enabler of performances. She is a quiet force.”
The life of a conductor, however, is more akin t oa whirlwind. Currently in London for a few days, New rattles off a list of upcoming work trips like a Google Calendar is imprinted on her eyelids. Edinburgh, Florence, Dublin, Wellington, Lyon, Dallas, New Jersey, Canada: she’ll b e on the road for four months straight. She calls San Francisco home, but say sin reality, she isn’t ever in one place for more than a few day sa t a time.
“Early oninm yc areer i tw as three or four cities in a week and tha tw as a bi tb rutal,” New smiles. “This is an improvement.”
A ty pical day isini tself a long journey. Rising at 6am, preparing for rehearsal, which can las tu p to seven hours depending on the country and orchestra, followed byw hat she terms a “post-mortem” of what she’s seen and heard. There’s more preparation for the following day, and then meetings.
“Thanks to the magic of Skype and Zoom Ic an always be working,” New says, unperturbed. “Iw asa ta board meeting until midnigh tt he o ther da yb ecause of the time zones and I’ll wake up sometimes at 5am for interview s in Canada so I sleep when Ic an.”
A self-confessed night owl, she spends her evenings looking at new music or learning languages – always on the clock. New doesn’t ,ho wever, switc hoff by listening to classic alm usic. That’s t oom uch like work; instead, she relaxes with podcasts.
She brings that same regimented approach to her w ork–ane cessar yt echnique as she bounces between a family of orchestras, her schedule mapped out 18 months in advance.
Aside from the NZSO, New is also music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (again, the first woman in the post) and principal gues tc onductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchest ra( you guessed it, the firs tw oman in this post, too).
Despite shattering these glass ceilings, New is reluctan tt o le t suc ha chievements be defined by her gender. Acknowledging tha tt here are far fewer women on the podium, she also argues that ever yw orkplac eis having a conversation around gender equality ,no t just t hem usic industry.
“I can only talk from my personal experience but I’ve found people to be really supportive,” she says. “I was often the only female in the class but I never wanted to be treated differently and that was very important to me.”
Indeed, that point of difference spurred her on. New was told in her earlier years that being a conductor was like being a C EO– she wouldn’t have time for a family.
“I wonder if they were saying that to the males,” she wryly asks .“But it didn’t deter me.”
The naysayers wer e al s ow rong. New tries to do two weeks on the road, one week at home, to spend time with her partner of 12 years, a pianist she met at college.
“Some musicians would also tell me, in a supportive way, that you may have a harder time. My respons eto that was always ‘good, I will lear nmo re’. I may become stronger ifIampu shed, s ogofo r it,” she says .“I refuse to see myself a ss omehow different.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Cate Blanchett’s conductor in the Oscar-nominated Tár, but New hasn’t had time to see it yet. She is, however, looking forwar dto Maestro, a Leonard Bernstein biopic due to be released this year. Hollywood A-lister, and the film ’s s tar, Bradley Cooper even attended one of New’s concerts with the New York Philharmonic as par tof hi sr esearch to embody the legendar ymu sician. But don’t expect a juicy anecdote.
“I didn’t get to meet him,” New says. “He came right at the last minute and left around the second half.”
Rather than stars of the screen, New is far more enamoured with the stars of the music stage. Her hands begin to passionately gesticulate when talking about the remaining two years of her tenure with the NZSO, particularly enthused about an upcoming appearance by violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.
“They ar ewo rld-class musicians, and by that I mean that they are some of the bes tmu sicians in the world. Working with this orchestr ai ss ome of the most satisfying music-making I’ve ever had as a conductor.”
New is particularly keen to “consciously champion” New Zealand music through her work with the NZSO, as well a ss upport young conductors through the orchestra’s programmes.
"It’s just so exciting to hear new voices,” she says. “We have a beautiful country and our composers are really inspired by nature, by ou rs tories ,byour experiences .We should have that supported and explor eda s much as we can.”
She won’ tbed rawn on future plans and dream appointments –“I ’ mju st building experience, taking notes and hopefully getting stronger ”–butit ’s clea rs he won’t be giving up the adrenaline rus h of performance night any time soon.
“I wish you could come up and feel it,” she sighs. “It’s absolutely magnificent. The orchestr ai s pouring its heart out and sometimes you’re on eggshells ,it ’s so delicate that you can hardly breathe and you don’t want to ruin this magic in the air.”
But doe ss he still get nervous, standing up in front of thousands, after hundreds of performances?
“For a conductor it’s not about me and that ’s s uch a relief,” New laughs. “It’s ave ry collaborative affair and that makes it a lot better.”
As Stephen Sitarski, concertmaster of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, confirmed when reflecting on New’s leadership, “she’s definitely a collaborato rr ather than a dictator”.
After the interview has ended, we stay in the cafe fo rs ome time, New keen to ask questions about my life and job. It appears that even off the podium, she’d rather not steal the spotlight.