Conductor Ingrid Martin Photo: Supplied
It would be wrong to say Ingrid Martin has many strings to her bow.
For a start, her instrument of choice these days is a baton.
And in 2024, Martin is New Zealand's Assistant Conductor-in-Residence, which means the Melbourne-based musician will be hopping across the Tasman to help out with three of the nation's regional orchestras: the Auckland Philharmonia, and the Christchurch and Dunedin Symphony Orchestras.
At high school, Martin's main instrument was the French horn. She might have stayed in the string section if she hadn't displayed so much musical talent, and the school band already had plenty of violins but not so much in the way of brass.
But picking up the horn still wasn't enough for the teenage Martin. Her fascination with music led her to borrowing a whole host of instruments to try out at home.
Speaking to RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump, Martin recalls regularly knocking on her music teacher's door asking to borrow a clarinet for the school holidays, or a saxophone or a tuba or double bass.
"So I had a little bit of experience with each instrument and that turns about to be a very useful and important skill as a conductor."
However, Martin's multiverse doesn't stop at music. In order to be a conductor, she gave up a career as a doctor, specialising in emergency medicine.
"I was very torn between medicine and music ... I did do both for quite a long time."
Eventually Martin realised the sort of high-octane medical career she wanted wasn't compatible with being a conductor, but the skills she picked up in A & E have come in handy on the podium.
"I think one of the things that the two [careers] have in common is listening ... So much of conducting is about listening to what the orchestra is giving you, and then in real time, non-verbally giving feedback through your gesture."
Listening will be key part of her assistant conducting work, especially with the Auckland Philharmonia. It'll be Martin's job to wander the stalls of the Auckland Town Hall checking how the ensemble is coming across out in the auditorium.
"I try and sit in a different spot of the hall at different times throughout the week so I get a sense of, if you're someone coming to the concert, hopefully everywhere you sit you get a fantastic sound from the orchestra."
The Auckland Town Hall; it's not just the front row seats that count. Photo: Adrian Malloch
On top of conducting music, Martin also likes to talk about it.
In a recent Melbourne Symphony Orchestra gig, she gave up the baton for the microphone to discuss the life and music of Clara Wieck (Schumann) while the orchestra played the composer's piano concerto.
"I do think there's something special about knowing the stories behind the composer or stories behind how the piece came to be that really illuminate the music in a different way."
Martin will be doing her bit to bring other women composers to the fore during her time in New Zealand.
In September, she'll conduct the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra in a programme that includes works by the 20th century Englishwoman Ruth Gipps, and a piece by the Queensland composer, Betty Beath, that Martin likens - in impact - to the famous "Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber.
"It's an extraordinary string orchestra piece of hers called "Lament for the Victims of War"... it's incredibly rich and haunting."
