Conductor/Composer Training Workshop

A workshop with the
Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
Marin Alsop, Music Director

Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, CA

Friday, July 30 - Wednesday, August 4, 2010

 MARIN ALSOP: Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Conductor Emeritus of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in Britain and Music Director Laureate of the Colorado Symphony; Musical America’s 2009 Conductor of the Year, 2007 European Woman of the Achievement Awardee, 2005 MacArthur Fellow and Classical Brit Female Artist of the Year awardee, 2003 Gramophone Artist of the Year, and winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Conductor of the Year 2002; in 2008 Alsop was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; former posts include Principal Guest with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the London Sinfonia, Creative Conductor Chair of the Saint Louis Symphony, founder of Concordia Orchestra at Lincoln Center, and Music Director of the Eugene Symphony in Oregon; her recordings have garnered nominations for a Grammy, Gramophone, and a Classical Brit Awards. Alsop attended Yale University and received her Master's Degree from the Juilliard School; in 1989 she won the coveted Koussevitzky Conducting Prize at the Tanglewood Music Center and was a prizewinner at the Leopold Stokowski International Conducting Competition in New York; she is heard regularly on National Public Radio. www.marinalsop.com

GUSTAV MEIER, a member of the Distinguished Visiting Faculty in Graduate Conducting at The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He received his diploma from the Zurich Conservatory in Switzerland and undertook additional studies at Academia Chigiana Siena. Meier serves as Music Director for the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra in Michigan and Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut. He has regular appearances as guest conductor in Europe, South and Central America, China, Canada, and throughout the United States. Meier was former director of the Conductors Seminar at Tanglewood from 1980-1996, and former faculty at Yale School of Music, Eastman School of Music, and University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. His awards include the Luise Vorgerian Teaching Award from Harvard University, the 1996 Ditson Prize for a commitment to consistently perform works of American composers, and the Max Rudolf Award in 1999 from the Conductors Guild. He teaches regular master courses in such cities as Kiev, Bejing, Mexico City, and Adelaide.

GRAMMY winner JENNIFER HIGDON is one of the most performed living American composers working today. She is the recipient of many awards, including a Pew Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship and two awards from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. Her list of commissioners range from the Philadelphia Orchestra to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; from eighth blackbird to the Tokyo String Quartet; and from The President's Own Marine Band to such artists as Hilary Hahn. Higdon received a 2010 GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto. She holds the Rock Chair in Composition at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

 

The goal of the Conductors Guild Training Workshops is to provide the maximum amount of specific and insightful guidance on both technical and musical matters to each attendee in a constructive, encouraging, and non-competitive environment.

This workshop is distinguished by bringing early-career conductors face to face with early-career composers on the subject of interpreting their works. The goal of this professional training program is to give promising young conductors the skills they need to become partners in creating, and leaders in interpreting, promoting, and performing new works for orchestra. Participating conductors team up with three selected composers to work on subjects including modern score analysis, coaching, practical guides for the rehearsal and the interpretation and performance of contemporary works. The program culminates with a concert called In the Works featuring three short works by workshop composers, each performed multiple times, each time by a different conductor.

The workshop is divided into two tiers:
 • Participant: seven core conductors for whom extensive podium time and video documentation will be provided
 • Auditor:   thirteen observing attendees for whom no podium time will be granted

This workshop is sponsored by the Conductors Guild and is opened to members of the Conductors Guild only. However, if you are not currently a member of the Conductors Guild, you have the option of joining by including a separate membership application with your workshop application. You may also apply online. The Conductors Guild does not accept workshop applications from non-members.

Hindemith:  Mathis der Maler
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Beethoven: Eroica
Three student composer works: TBA

Participants are required to study all listed repertoire in preparation for this workshop. In consultation with the faculty, they will be given some choice of the segments they will conduct.

Application Fee:    $50
Participant Tuition:   Funded by the Bruno Walter Conducting Scholarships
Auditor Tuition:   $300

Participant confirmation is due not later than May 14, 2010. Confirmation and tuition for Auditors is due in full not later than May 14, 2010 by a credit card or by a check payable to the Conductors Guild. Payment will act as a deposit to reserve each Auditor’s place in the workshop. Payment will be refunded only if the withdrawing applicant’s place in the workshop is filled by another Auditor.

The Cabrillo Festival's Bruno Walter Conducting Scholarships will cover each Participant’s tuition and provide a $600 scholarship to help offset out-of-pocket expenses.

Bruno Walter (1876-1962) was one of the twentieth century's greatest conductors, equally at home conducting an opera or symphonic orchestra. He was also a gifted pianist, a recording artist and an author. Since his death, Walter's estate has been dedicated to assisting emerging conductors in their career development and providing the mentoring and hands-on learning opportunities required to advance them in their field. In 2010 the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation granted the Cabrillo Festival, under Maestra Marin Alsop, funds to make this workshop tuition-free and thereby diminish barriers that might stand in the way of the most promising young conductors. These scholarships will serve as a continuing legacy to Maestro Walter, reminding musicians and the public of his invaluable contributions to opera, symphonic music, and the training of young conductors, during his lifetime and long after.

Participants in this workshop will be eligible for the 2011 Thelma A. Robinson Scholarship/Award of the National Federation of Music Clubs. This $1,000 prize is given biennially to a U.S. Citizen who has participated in at least one Conductors Guild Conductor Training Workshop and who has not reached his/her 35th birthday by March 1st of the season of participation. The faculty at each workshop will nominate one eligible Participant who demonstrates accomplishment, musicality, and promise in the field of conducting. The present skill level of the candidate and his/her degree of improvement within the workshop itself will be considered. The candidate from each workshop will be asked to submit his/her video from that particular workshop to the Conductors Guild office for subsequent evaluation by the Thelma A. Robinson Scholarship/ Award selection committee.

Application Deadline: Thursday, April 8, 2010. The completed application form, DVD, and application fee of $50 should be mailed to:
 Conductors Guild
 ATTN: Cabrillo Workshop
 5300 Glenside Drive, Suite 2207
 Richmond, VA 23228-3983
 
Please note that submission of a DVD is strongly recommended, and applicants should furnish one whenever possible. In the case of a large number of applicants, DVD evaluation will be a determining factor in the selection process. Consult the CG Video Guidelines for suggestions regarding the preparation of a conducting DVD. Please make sure your DVD will play in most DVD players (not just a computer). DVDs will NOT be returned. Please do not include originals. It is your responsibility to clearly identify your DVD. The CG Workshop website also contains important information about workshop application review procedures, and about the goals and format of CG Workshops. Late applications will not be accepted.

All applicants will be notified of their acceptance status by Friday, April 30, 2010. Please do not contact the Guild office for notification information prior to this date.  

»Cabrillo 2010 Workshop Application Form in Adobe PDF format (163k)

»Video Guidelines for Workshop Applicants