The People Behind the Music, Onstage and in the Studio
Music and dancing so often go hand in hand that it can be hard to imagine one without the other, from piano accompaniment during class to the mournful oboe in Swan Lake. And many ballet companies have a whole team of people who work to make that music happen, whether it’s in class or onstage. To highlight some of these important jobs, Pointe spoke with three individuals about their roles in helping to make the music come to life.
Ty Boyle: Accompanist, Houston Ballet
Ty Boyle will be the first to tell you that being a dance accompanist requires skills beyond simply knowing how to play the piano. “Not every pianist, no matter how good their facility is or technique is, is cut out to do this work,” says Boyle. When he first started playing for dance classes, over 30 years ago, he went home “practically every night in tears” due to the new challenges he faced.
Now a full-time pianist at Houston Ballet Academy, Boyle—who also plays for company class a few days a week—has developed the skills necessary to be a good accompanist. The most important, he says, is knowing ballet terminology and having a decent music library. “Not only do I have to know how the steps look and how they might feel, I also have to find a piece of music that works,” Boyle says. The accompanist has to assess the combination the teacher is giving and quickly find an appropriate piece to play—which they might not always be able to do in time. “Some level of improvisation is also helpful, because they’re not going to wait for you to find the perfect piece, so if you don’t have something in front of you, you need to be able to make something up and have it work.”
Boyle also takes class level into consideration. The music needs of a young children’s class will be different from those of a company class. “As you get into more advanced levels, you need to be able to play with more breath, more energy, more dynamics.” Boyle draws from a broad range of repertoire in order to find the right fit, and will play everything from “Beethoven to Britney Spears,” he says.
Through his music, Boyle aims to uplift and inspire the dancers he’s playing for. “I always get a personal reward daily, just seeing how the dancers respond both to the music that I choose and to how I play the music that I choose.”
Elizabeth Warne: Orchestra Manager/Music Librarian/First Violinist, Milwaukee Ballet
At Milwaukee Ballet, Elizabeth Warne wears many hats. While she started playing for the ballet orchestra in 1998, she only took on her other roles in 2018.
As orchestra manager, Warne handles budgets, contracts for musical soloists and composers, union contract negotiations, music licensing, and program crediting. She also deals with the normal aspects of personnel management, such as hiring and letting go of employees, finding substitute players for shows, and managing internal complaints when they arise. “It’s a part-time position, so it’s a lot to manage, even just the mental headspace,” says Warne.
For her role as music librarian, Warne is tasked with organizing and readying the sheet music needed for each production. For Milwaukee Ballet’s upcoming production of Sleeping Beauty, she says, artistic director Michael Pink “has completely changed the roadmap of the order of pieces.” Instead of flipping back and forth between different sections of the big books the musicians perform from, Warne has decided to cut and rearrange the pages into the order needed for the performance. “I’m kind of looking forward to cutting the books apart,” Warne jokes. “I think it might be therapeutic.”
For each production, Warne also creates the “pit plot” (figuring out where musicians will sit and where equipment will go) and makes sure that each player has enough light and room to perform.
These added responsibilities mean that Warne must carve out additional time as an orchestra member. She’ll start practicing for a show earlier than normal so that if an issue arises as manager, she’ll still be performance-ready. The extra time and attention Warne now gives to her music shines through in her playing, she says. “I really feel like I’ve grown and improved, ironically, since becoming a manager.”
Charles Barker: Principal Conductor, American Ballet Theatre; Principal Conductor/Music Director, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
Trained as a violinist, Charles Barker started conducting early in his career and hasn’t stopped. “I found out that not only did I like it, but it was really easy for me to take the score and put it into my head,” he says. Currently the principal conductor at American Ballet Theatre, as well as the music director and principal conductor at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Barker’s career has taken him all over the country and the world.
As PBT’s music director, Barker works with the PBT Orchestra Committee on auditions for incoming players to maintain the highest level of professionalism. “I tend to like to build a family so we’re all working together and we all want the same thing,” he says. He discusses programming with the artistic director, such as how past programs worked and if proposed future programs are musically feasible. Barker also works with the pianists in rehearsal. “They help me and tell me ‘This dancer is a little bit taller and not quite as fast as this dancer.’ They fill me in.”
Working as a conductor entails more than just leading the ballet’s orchestra during performances. To help mount a production, he has to communicate with the dancers, rehearsal pianists, the artistic director, choreographers, dance critics, composers of commissioned work, and sometimes even the lighting and costumes designers.
Barker believes getting to know each dancer and the role they are performing is an integral part of conducting for dance. Ultimately, he says, a conductor’s role is to make music within the context of the larger theatrical event. “If the ballerina is still in a pirouette, you have no place but to wait for her, otherwise it would look ridiculous,” says Barker, who is married to a former Australian Ballet principal.
Barker started his career with ABT over 35 years ago. (One of his sons, Max Barker, dances with ABT Studio Company.) Having the opportunity to work with incredible musicians at the Metropolitan Opera House, and around the globe, has been a rewarding aspect of Barker’s job. “Being with 60 to 80 musicians is one of the most exhilarating things you could possibly imagine. Standing on the podium conducting Romeo and Juliet or The Rite of Spring—it’s just so marvelous.”
