Rachael Worby

Worby grew up in Nyack, New York with her parents Diana Worby, an English professor Empire State College, and Louis Worby, owner of a hardware manufacturing firm. She began to learn to play the piano at five years old and quickly became a disciplined musician thanks to her mother's insistence that she practice daily. Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concert at Carnegie Hall left a lasting impression on her. "Bernstein was young, articulate, funny and brilliant--someone who'd teach me about 'Peter and the Wolf' at Carnegie during the day and 'Beethoven's Fifth' on 'Omnibus' at night," she recounted in an interview for the Los Angeles Times. "Then I saw 'West Side Story' and got involved in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam struggles--and, again, there he was. The older I got, the more of an octopus he became."[1]

Inspired by Bernstein's innovation and activism, Rachael Worby dreamed of effecting change as a young child. "I was popular, smart, focused, politically astute, a leader, a voracious reader and a social activist. I was very full of self-worth," said Worby of her high school years.[1] While her parents nurtured her love for the arts, they actually advised her to go into teaching because of the traditions associated with conducting and their practical Depression-era mentality. Still, Worby was determined to emulate Bernstein and become both an educator and a music director.[2]

She holds a bachelor of arts degree in piano performance from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam and began graduate work in musicology, at Indiana University and Brandeis University. Spurred to further her training as a conductor, Worby directly appealed to Jacques-Louis Monod. Though he insisted that there would never be a woman on an orchestra podium, Monod provided weekly private lessons to Worby from 1976 to 1981. When she completed this training, she turned to Max Rudolf and Otto Werner-Mueller for additional study.[1]

Rachael Worby skillfully and assertively navigated the conventions of the music world. In one of her first positions, the trumpet section of an orchestra walked out when she stepped to the podium, as they refused to be led by a woman. "My father called me the Jackie Robinson of women conductors," Worby has said. She also distinguished her career through her "activist belief" that American symphony orchestras needed to be as committed to education and community engagement as they were to their artistic programming. Worby remains committed to prioritizing both artistic and social goals, leading world-class musicians in performances that take place in grand concert halls, coal fields, warehouses, factories, foster care residence halls, and libraries alike.[3] Unlike other classical enthusiasts, her tastes are largely eclectic, ranging from standard orchestral repertoire to the American Songbook, from Motown to Jazz, from Gospel to World Music, and from Pop to Film Scores.

After working as a Conducting Assistant for the Spokane Symphony for two years,[1] she became the Assistant Conductor for Youth Concerts at the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1984 to 1987 and excitedly accepted her childhood idol's former position, Music Director of Carnegie Hall's Young People's Concerts, which she led for twelve years[1] "In the last 15 years, she's grown tremendously, demonstrating to the world that she's a musician, first and foremost." said Ernest Fleischmann, former Executive Director and General Manager of the LA Philharmonic, in an interview at the time to the Los Angeles Times.

In 1986, she eclipsed hundreds of applicants[2] for the position of Music Director and Conductor of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. She was one of the handful of women worldwide honored with that title. In her seventeen years of leadership, the Wheeling Symphony increased its programming from six annual concerts to forty. This included regional touring and the creation of a Pops series and released the orchestra's first CD. "Rachael turned us into a professional institution," said Susan Hogan, former Executive Director of the Wheeling Symphony. "She's able to shift from one side of the brain to another and can tell you how much each company has contributed for the past 10 years. Of course, she had to fight, being a female conductor--and a Jewish urban woman--in a town with a heavy union atmosphere and old money. But art and harmony through conflict . . . that's life."[1]

She married Governor Gaston Caperton in May 1990. While continuing to serve full-time at both the Wheeling Symphony and Carnegie Hall, Worby took on several additional projects as First Lady of West Virginia. She created and hosted the nationally acclaimed Arts and Letters Series, an admission-free, live series, broadcast on public television which presented Carl Sagan, Tom Wicker, Jesse Jackson, Bob Woodward, Taylor Branch, Harry Belafonte, The American Boy Choir and dozens of other notable individuals. She also led the statewide campaign, "Thanks A Million", to raise one million dollars to eradicate illiteracy and created The Governor's School for the Arts in perpetuity.[3]

Worby returned to California and worked as music director of the Pasadena POPS from 2000 to 2010, where she continued her work as a dedicated orchestra builder. Her leadership increased the number of annual concerts and audience attendance while simultaneously securing ongoing funding to institute free-to-the-public concerts and expand outreach programs to underserved communities.

She enjoys a musical relationship and personal friendship with American soprano Jessye Norman. They appear together at music festivals and concert halls throughout the world. At Jessye Norman's request, Worby conducted the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in 2006 and served on the Honorary Committee of Carnegie Hall's HONOR! Festival in 2009 as Artistic Advisor and guest panelist.[3]

In 2011, Rachael Worby and a group of community leaders founded MUSE/IQUE, a counter-conventional orchestra in Pasadena reimagining the concert-going format to create an accessible, smart, and fun musical experience.[3]

"MUSE/IQUE and its Artistic Director Rachael Worby will speak to the creative heart of our city," said former Mayor Bill Bogaard in the organization's first press release, "by teaching our students, developing new talent, inspiring audiences and bringing the best performing artists in the world to our neighborhood. It is a welcome addition to the cultural landscape." While their musical taste is eclectic, Rachael Worby and MUSE/IQUE have a clear point of view. A concert is an immersive, communal experience and music itself, even the most beloved old standard or familiar score, is constantly alive with possibilities to be discovered through new contexts, surprising juxtapositions, and illuminating interpretations. The ambiance for the musical evenings offered by MUSE/IQUE will be sophisticated yet playful, stylish yet welcoming. Think friends mixing at a salon under the stars rather than passive strangers at a stuffy concert. Think nothing less than the transformation of the community experience of orchestral music.[4]

Rachael Worby conducting the MUSE/IQUE Orchestra at a summer event at Caltech. Photo captured by Ben Gibbs.

Rachael's musical endeavors have always had the hallmark of being full of creative spontaneity. Watching her work with the performing artists, collaborate with other disciplines, and inspire audiences of all ages and backgrounds is a treat to behold. Excitement about her new orchestra, MUSE/IQUE, is tremendous and a new star has been added to Pasadena's artistic constellation," said United States Congressman Adam Schiff in MUSE/IQUE's first press release.[4]

MUSE/IQUE is a dynamic, nonprofit organization that creates exhilarating live music adventures. Using the whole city as a venue, MUSE/IQUE goes way beyond the concert hall with spectacularly intimate performances which combine music, movement and ideas from a diverse range of genres. Under the leadership of renowned Artistic Director Rachael Worby, MUSE/IQUE's artistic collective consists of an acclaimed orchestra and top musicians from the worlds of jazz, rock, blues, gospel, and more, along with today's best singers, dancers, and thinkers. Together with an enthusiastic and growing audience base, these artists reimagine the possibilities for the live music experience. Founded in 2011, MUSE/IQUE is a membership driven organization presenting nine major public events each year as well as a wide range of education and community engagement programs.[5]

Since 2011, MUSE/IQUE has become a major cultural presence in Pasadena that reaches a broad and diverse audience. Notable MUSE/IQUE guest artists have included Jessye Norman, Angela Bassett, Rickie Lee Jones, Arturo Sandoval, Flea, Savion Glover, Charlie Haden, Steven Page, Patti Austin, Mary Wilson, Kevin McHale, Charles "Lil Buck" Riley, Joshua Henry, Laurence Juber, Mirai Nagasu, Nnenna Freelon, Darlene Love, Ballet Hispánico, John Hammond, Tommy Emmanuel and Colin Hay.[6]

Furthermore, instead of hosting concerts in the typical concert hall, MUSE/IQUE brings the music closer to the community by turning unconventional spaces into musical venues. "We're always performing in new and unexplored places, whether it's locker rooms, libraries, factory floors, or ice-skating rinks," says Rachael Worby. "Places that the community knows about because it's a space that's a part of where they live, but not necessarily a space to which they gravitate naturally… It's wonderful to bring people to a place and have them feel slightly out of their comfort zone, because it, right away, causes them to sit up and look around in a new way."[7] Producing Sponsor East West Bank explains the MUSE/IQUE format in its blog:

One example of uniting art with unusual community spaces is "GIRL/BAND," a 2013 program centered on female jazz musicians. The program included a screening of "The Girls in the Band," a documentary film about the trials women faced in the jazz industry from the 1930s to present day, and performances by contemporary female jazz players; all of this was held beside the lipstick-laden conveyer belts of the Avon Distribution Center in East Pasadena, Calif. The Avon factory workers, who attended and also volunteered at the event, were also honored during the program. "Sometimes we look for a community that is resonant, literally, with the idea," says Worby. "[Avon] is a cosmetics company, but its slogan is 'The Company for Women.'" By bringing together two seemingly disparate things, MUSE/IQUE makes people think more deeply about the music they are hearing and overturn preconceptions, whether about the music itself or the environment around them.[7]

Ultimately, MUSE/IQUE aims to deep connections within a community and bridge meaningful understandings of one another. "We imagined, to the best of our ability, what community meant person-by-person," says Worby. "For our definition, it was going to mean everybody. Live music is a basic human right. Whether or not you're a homeless person or a battered person, or you're a person of great wealth or a person of struggling means, you deserve to have great live music in your life."[7] Particularly noted are the energy of the events, the sense of fellowship, and Worby's unusual conducting style. "I'm not sure if you've seen her conducting—she's like a ball of fire," says Dr. Charles Elachi. "People come out so inspired from one of her events."[7]