On Nov. 28, while much of the United States was indulging in Thanksgiving feasts, 24-year-old Na’Zir McFadden was strolling alone through the streets of Boston, deeply engrossed in studying the score of Edvard Grieg’s “Holberg Suite.” He had contemplated driving down to see his family in Philadelphia, his hometown. However, he decided to take this day to unwind and focus. After all, he had little time to return to Boston before the next day’s 1:30 p.m. concert at Symphony Hall, where he would make his conducting debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

After the Performance: An Out-of-Body Experience

When asked about how he thought the performances went, McFadden struggled to find the right words. “It was just an out-of-body experience. I kind of blacked out a little bit, and just let the music come naturally,” he said. As one of the Tanglewood Music Center’s two 2024 conducting fellows, he shared the podium with BSO music director Andris Nelsons during the subscription programs on Nov. 29 and 30. “I was so ready to make music, and be in front of the orchestra, and the audience.”The experience of conducting with the Boston Symphony Orchestra was truly remarkable for McFadden. It was a moment that he would always cherish, a chance to showcase his talent and passion for music.

British-Finnish Conductor Ross Jamie Collins

British-Finnish conductor Ross Jamie Collins, 23, had a similar feeling about his own performance. At the Nov. 29 performance, he practically bounced across the stage on his way to the podium. He seemed to float with joy as he conducted the BSO in a piece close to his heart, Sibelius’s popular “Finlandia.”In a phone interview later, he shared his excitement. “I grew up singing the middle theme [of “Finlandia”] in school like everybody else did,” he said. When he was assigned the piece for his debut, he was overjoyed. “I had this spring in my step. I was somewhat elevated for hours,” he added. Backstage during the concert, someone affiliated with the orchestra (he couldn’t remember exactly who) approached him to share the moment, saying “it’s like once you get to drive the Boston Symphony race car, nothing else compares.” He’s never actually driven a Ferrari or Lamborghini, but “maybe one day I will, and I’ll get the analogy.”

The Tanglewood Conducting Program

The Tanglewood Music Center has had a conducting program for decades. Its conducting fellows mainly work with TMC ensembles and shadow the BSO music director or visiting guest conductors when possible. The schedule keeps everyone busy, as McFadden and Collins mentioned in a phone interview after an early Thanksgiving week rehearsal.McFadden, currently assistant conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Detroit Youth Symphony Orchestra, described it as “one of the most intense but musically rewarding schedules in my career so far.” He estimated that he was conducting “eight or nine” hours a day, with multiple ensembles. “The point of Tanglewood is to immerse yourself in as much music as possible.”However, this immersion usually doesn’t include public podium time with the BSO itself. Instrumental fellows of the TMC often join the BSO for concerts at Tanglewood, but conducting fellows don’t usually get similar opportunities. When they do conduct BSO players, it’s typically for chamber music in Ozawa Hall, which attracts smaller crowds.

Nelsons and the Next Generation of Conductors

Nelsons, now on an evergreen rolling contract with the BSO, was named Head of Conducting in Tanglewood in January. His sharing a Symphony Hall subscription program with the fellows goes hand-in-hand with his new title. Such an opportunity rewards the next generation of conductors for their hard work, not only adding an impressive line to their conducting resumes but also giving them the chance to leave a lasting impression on the BSO’s loyal hometown crowd.Having worked with and gotten to know the BSO players at Tanglewood, McFadden said rehearsing the full ensemble “didn’t feel like I was in front of a new orchestra. In a way, it felt like I was in front of musical family, people that I’ve known for some time.”Podium time is crucial for any developing conducting career, as Collins and McFadden emphasized. “You can’t have too much, ever,” Collins said. As a high schooler in Finland, he “kind of founded his own symphony orchestra so he could get to practice.” The ensemble consisted mostly of his teenage peers, with “a few professionals to keep the teenagers in check,” including his own mother on viola.In Philadelphia, McFadden’s opportunities were limited. He sent emails to every professional ensemble within a reasonable distance, asking if he could observe a rehearsal or conduct, but was mostly turned down. Conducting the BSO felt like a reflection of his hard work and the guidance of his mentors and teachers.Now, McFadden counts Nelsons among his advisers. “He’s not afraid to be vulnerable on the podium, and that just uplifts the music,” McFadden said of Nelsons. During their first conversations at Tanglewood, Nelsons told the fellows “not to be afraid of being ourselves.” After watching McFadden conduct the “Holberg Suite” in rehearsal, Nelsons pointed out that McFadden had been smiling more. “‘You’re always smiling off the podium,’” McFadden recounted the music director saying. “I think when the musicians see that a conductor is authentically being themselves, it makes them want to give everything to the music, because they see that you are doing the same.”