Lu Making Magic
by Bailey Basham, Messenger Staff Writer
In Tiffany Lu’s world, conducting is about the closest she can get to making magic. There is little more miraculous than waving the conducting wand and hearing the pieces jump to life right off the paper.
In her second year as visiting assistant professor of orchestral conducting, Lu hopes to share that magic with the Sewanee community as this season’s conductor of the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra (SSO).
Originally from Tampa, Fla., Lu completed most of her conducting and violin education in the northeast United States, moving from New Jersey to upstate New York, and most recently to the D.C. area where she earned her doctorate in orchestral conducting in 2019.
“I’ve been a violinist since I was three and playing in orchestras since I was 13, though I didn’t get on a conducting podium until my junior year in undergrad,” Lu said. “With the SSO, most of our time is spent in rehearsals, and it’s hard and detailed work. Fortunately, we have a super dynamic and engaged department of music at the University that understands that music is about community, and a symphony is one of the greatest expressions of that because you can feel the community on stage as well as off.”
Lu said that ubiquitous sense of community is one of the main reasons she was drawn to music as a child, one of the reasons music has not lost its magic years later.
“Having participated in that community from a very young age, it was one of the few to which I felt I unquestionably belonged, always. I really hope that the group is that, for all of its members–students, professors, and non-University community members,” she said.
The symphony orchestra’s first concert was held on Oct. 2, and featured Georges Bizet’s “L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2,” and a symphonic suite from “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” by Howard Shore and arranged by John Whitney.
“Following a very successful first concert, it’s nice to feel like I’ve finally arrived in Sewanee. Technically, I have already been Orchestra Director here for a year but starting a job like this under COVID circumstances was limiting, obviously, in terms of what we were able to put out into the community. In some ways, it feels like I am starting the job all over again. But we had a very successful COVID year in orchestra, getting to experiment with alternative formats, venues, and music free of the pressures of public performance. Now the group is at record enrollment, and ready to take on many more seasons of music-making,” she said.
The second concert of the season will be at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 3, in Guerry Auditorium. Mark your calendars for a performance featuring Christmas music from the big screen and a world premiere work by a member of University Faculty.