Breaking Barriers Through Music: Philadelphia Orchestra's Assistant Conductor, Naomi Woo

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The heartbeat of any orchestra is the conductor.

The conductor sets the tone for the members and their music, and the Philadelphia Orchestra has a new assistant conductor, Naomi Woo. She's early in her career but already making a mark and paving a path for future generations of music lovers.

Naomi says conducting "feels kind of magical every time, especially with the minuscule amount of rehearsal time in which this happens. 2.5 hours of rehearsal, and then there's a concert."

She's living a dream sparked about two decades ago.

"I was 13 and I had the opportunity to play a concerto with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Just being near this incredible instrument of the orchestra, these incredible sounds, this feeling of what it's like when all of these people come together to unite around a shared goal of music making. I felt captivated by that," she says.

Tania Miller was conducting, marking the first time Naomi had ever seen a woman waving the baton.

"Seeing her. I thought, okay, maybe, maybe this is a job that I can do," she says.

She's doing the job as assistant conductor of the Philadelphia orchestra, whose principal guest conductor is another woman, the famed Marin Alsop. Naomi says about Tania Miller and Marin Alsop: "These women really paved the way."

Naomi also credits the Philadelphia Orchestra's music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, for being a big supporter of women conductors and composers.

Naomi herself is now breaking barriers, becoming the first woman to lead the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in its 64-year history.

"Representation is not the be all and end all, but it is something that helps people imagine more possibilities," she says.

She joined the Philadelphia Orchestra last year.

"They're the most incredible musicians, but it wasn't just that. I felt this warmth and this immediate connection. I love Philadelphia," she says.

She says normally auditioning for a conducting job is a terrifying experience, but not in the city of Brotherly Love.

"I came and shook hands with David Kim (Philadelphia Orchestra's concertmaster), who was just the most generous, warm person to meet. I think we had 23 minutes precisely in the audition and I left that room and I thought, I don't care if I get this job, because I just had the best 23 minutes of my life," she recalled.

Naomi's father is of Chinese descent and her mother is Caucasian. While she grew up in Canada, she has cousins on the Main Line and says they never miss a concert.

She hopes her work here serves to inspire the next generation worldwide, "to show young people of all kinds that there can be a place for them in classical music."

So what makes a great conductor? Naomi says in practice a conductor is keeping time, but a good conductor acts "more like a heartbeat than a metronome. There's a flexibility and also it's about the emotional side of the music."

She says a conductor's role is to harness the amazing skill, ideas, and artistry of the musicians, then bring it all together, "without changing what anyone is bringing to the table," but by synthesizing it while adding their own passion and signature.

Adding it's also important to build trust with and among the orchestra members for how they treat each other.

"That's as important as high quality music making. When we treat each other with respect, I think we're also able to make better music," she says.

Naomi says while she hopes to excited audiences, it is audiences who also energize her!

"The reason we make music is to share it with people. We don't do it just for ourselves. I always think of art as something that has the capacity to expand our imaginations and to make the world feel bigger," she says.

Naomi also reminds us that going to the orchestra is a wonderful reprieve from our fast-paced, modern lives.