Rachael Worby conducts "I Love Paris" at Descanso Gardens

A petite powerhouse ... a Maestra Magnifique! Yes, I´m mixing languages (Maestra is Italian, Magnifique is French) but after chatting with the renowned Pasadena POPS orchestra conductor, Rachael Worby, and having watched her in concert last year at Descanso Gardens, I can say with assurance that her musical knowledge and abilities are superb in any language.

Ms Worby will be conducting at Descanso Gardens again on July 17 & 18 in a symphony concert devoted to Paris! "I Love Paris" is the title, because "everyone loves that song and will connect it to all that is wonderful about Paris."

The concert will feature music from Cole Porter´s Broadway musical "Can-can," and what is considered one of Gershwin´s best works, the sensational "American in Paris" which explores all the sights and sounds a visitor might encounter in a Parisian day or night.

The program will also highlight guest vocalist, Karen Akers giving tribute to Edith Piaf´s legendary songs, La Vie En Rose and Chanson, and the Hip-hop poet, Steve Connell with "rising star" pianists Yangyue Fang and Hunter Noak, who will perform Saint Saens´s delightful "Carnival of Animals" in alternating recitations and music.

But what´s the story behind the charismatic conductor and music director? How did this diminutive but dynamic and passionate Maestra begin a career in a field dominated by men? What compelled her? Where did her journey begin?

"I wanted to be Leonard Bernstein," admits Worby about her childhood dreams, "and would often pose like the famous conductor." Raised in a home where everyone was musical (although none were working musicians), she started piano lessons at age six. Her teachers called her "gifted" which only fanned her parent´s enthusiasm. When she thought about quitting, they would pull out their old saying, "While you´re under our roof, there are two things you must do: brush your teeth and practice the piano."

Throughout high school, college and graduate school she majored in music. She also taught while working on her PhD in musicology. But always there was Leonard Bernstein and her dream of conducting.

Worby wrote letters to ten well-known instructors, asking to be considered as a student. Only one responded, but his reply was a firm, "Women can´t conduct." Drawing from an inner strength and determination she doesn´t understand even today, she traveled from Boston to New York to see the man. She literally knocked on his door and talked her way in. He finally consented to take her as a student, but after each lesson he would remind her "only men can be conductors."

"I don´t know if he meant it to toughen me up for the resistance I´d inevitably get in my profession, or if he was simply being chauvinistic." Regardless, she powered on and graduated. She won a competition, then a job, and then another. Eventually she was invited to Pasadena. Worby isn´t the first woman to become a conductor, but she is one of the very few in this country to do it."

When Worby conducted her first orchestra, she remembers, "When I took up my baton and raised my arms for the first downbeat, it was a surrealistic and strange experience, because the way I studied conducting was to conduct to silence, not to recordings. My arms felt very heavy as the sounds I´d previously only imagined in my head suddenly came to life."

(For dancers who´ve rehearsed with only a piano or a recording, Worby cautions them about what to expect from the "live" music of 70 instruments. She tells them to "be prepared for a Mack Truck of sound.")

But lifting a baton at the podium on concert night is only the "tip of the tip" of her responsibilities. As Music Director of the Pasadena POPS, she must have long-term vision for the orchestra, be a friend and fund raiser, help the community embrace and support the art. She must choose the musical direction for the season and decide what is played and when.

For each concert, she chooses the pieces to be played, as well as the soloists and guests, and determines the order and pace. She guides the entire event, much like a "quarterback in a football game."

She must have a working knowledge and modest ability to play each instrument in her orchestra. She must know how they function, down to the number and kinds of breaths it takes to blow each horn.

It sounds overwhelming to this repoter, but Worby insists, "Oh, no! It´s thrilling, challenging. Music is my passion. Music makes it all possible. It´s a dream come true."

"I LOVE PARIS" is performed at The Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada-Flintridge, CA. Friday & Saturday, July 17 & 18 at 7:30 pm (doors open at 5:30).

Tickets are $20 - $90. Call the box office (626) 793-7172 ext 16, or Visit online at www.PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org