Fledgeling Conductors
In 1976 the Spanish Television programme "The World of Music" took on Enrique García Asensio to teach children the conductor's role in an orchestra. The Maestro explained how an orchestra works and would then choose one of the children to "play with the orchestra, so that he/she could experience how the baton in his/her hand imposes rhythm and intensity on the instruments." All the children that attended the programme wanted a baton and in each programme the Maestro García Asensio would give away three or four. The programme was aired until 1980 with great success. The Maestro García Asensio will always be remembered by a generation of Spaniards as the Conductor who gave away batons on television.
Today, more than thirty years later, we ask ourselves what's become of all those batons the Maestro gave away in The World of Music. Did his/her owner follow a musical career, became a music lover, composer, instrumentalist, conservatory professor?
We want to know if those fledgeling conductors flourished, we want to follow the story of those batons, discover the pedagogical value of television over time, reveal the emotions of the children who lived that experience and, in each case, how it influenced their vocation or professional career.
If you received a baton from the Maestro García Asensio on the television programme The World of Music and your professional or artistic life has been related to music, tell us your story. Fill in the following form and we will contact you.
If you want to arrange an appointment with the Maestro García Asensio related to Fledgeling Conductors, request it by email at prensasemillabatuta@garciaasensio.com and we will contact you as soon as possible.