I'm Alan Alder and this is Clear and Vivid. Conversations about connecting and communicating.

My dad took me to a concert when I was about nine years old. I mean, I've been to many

concerts before, but this one was different because the conductor came out and he was

cool and handsome and young and he started talking to us in the audience and then when he

started conducting, he would jump around like a lunatic and I turned to my dad and I said,

oh, I want to be the conductor. He's having so much fun and that was Leonard Bernstein.

And that's Mary and all stuff who years after that concert and with the mentorship of Bernstein

did indeed make it to the podium. In 2007, she became the first woman to become the conductor

of a major symphony orchestra when she was appointed music director of the Baltimore Symphony.

We caught up with her between her stepping down from that position and setting off on a major

international tour, conducting in five countries before the end of the year.

Marin, it's great to talk to you. This is going to be so much fun because we've talked about

communicating in so many different fields, writing, acting, politics and music, but we've never

talked about communicating from the conductor's podium. So this is a treat to be talking with you.

Let me start with an important question to try to understand more about conducting.

Why do we need a conductor? It's the element that the conductor supplies.

It's a good question. It's a good starting point because a lot of people say,

what are you doing? The role of the conductor is it's not really understood as well as I would

like it to be. The conductor is the messenger of the composer. It's almost like being a director.

You know, you read the script and you have to bring the creators' words to life. In my case,

I have to bring the notes, the creators' notes to life through my musicians to the audience,

all in the service of the composer. So it's really, it's acting as a conduit in many ways.

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