Conducting Artistry
Ingrid Martin
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Top 10 Conducting Artistry Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Conducting Artistry episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Conducting Artistry for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Conducting Artistry episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
S2E1: Get prepared for the big picture
Conducting Artistry
11/20/23 • 37 min
In this episode delve into the complexities of selecting repertoire, organizing logistics, and maintaining a balance between administrative tasks and artistic vision. We highlight how preparations vary depending on the context - be it school ensembles or professional orchestras - emphasizing the importance of effective leadership for a successful performance.
Join us as we examine the contrasting needs and planning demands in an educational setting versus a professional setting. We stress the importance of advanced planning and clear rehearsal schedules, particularly in a professional context where schedules may be set far in advance. We also underline the necessity for flexibility in a school or community setting. A crucial takeaway from our discussion is the importance of giving players a sense of preparedness and safety before a performance, which can be achieved by playing through the entire symphony without stopping.
Finally, we scrutinize the three stages of rehearsal and score study, shedding light on the value of understanding the overall structure of the piece before diving into details. The repetition and multiple run-throughs, while demanding, can lead to musicians feeling comfortable and confident in their performance. We wrap up our discussion by emphasizing the importance of intentional planning, clear communication, and a well-defined vision for a successful performance.
Ready for more? Check out Ingrid's resources:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
Sign up to the mailing list for quality info like this, delivered straight to your inbox (about once a month)
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
Sign up to the mailing list for quality info like this, delivered straight to your inbox (about once a month)
Email us with your questions & feedback
S2E7: Memorable Performances - Balancing Stability vs. Risk Taking
Conducting Artistry
01/08/24 • 35 min
Listen in as we discuss the critical role of the conductor in setting the emotional and musical thermostat throughout in the soundcheck and during the concert to ensure that both the ensemble and the audience are swept up in the performance. From maintaining a cool head during unexpected mishaps to the subtle art of body language, we reveal personal anecdotes and strategies for keeping the ensemble focused and creatively engaged.
This episode brings to light the elusive 'extra gear' that musicians and conductors aim to unlock during live performances. Discover how the combination of mental adjustments and practical techniques can elevate a concert beyond mere rehearsal, transforming it into a deeply moving experience for everyone involved. With a special focus on the balance between stability and risk-taking, Tom and I share insights on how perfection is not the ultimate goal, but rather the emotional connection that music creates between the performer and the listener.
Sound checks and concert preparation take center stage as we navigate through the intricacies of acclimatizing to different acoustical environments. I offer essential strategies to ensure musicians and soloists are comfortable and well-balanced within the performance space, while also highlighting the significance of preserving energy for the pinnacle moment. By rehearsing key passages and creating a supportive atmosphere, the ensemble is primed for a confident and enjoyable performance. So tune in and let us guide you through the conductor's journey from the soundcheck to the final, resonant chord of a concert.
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
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S1E7: Engaging Players and Audiences with Thematic Programming
Conducting Artistry
12/07/19 • 28 min
Benefits of thematic programming
- Explore composers' responses to an idea in depth and breadth
- Deepen players' and audiences' connection to the music
- Focusses marketing efforts and capture new audiences
- Opportunities for collaboration and cross-curricular links
- Opportunities for creativity and non-musical elements in performance
How to create a themed program
- Specific themes vs. Broad Themes
- Example program & extra-musical elements
- Make a huge list of related works then cull it down
- Use techniques discussed in prior episodes to create shape of program
Download the full details of themed programs including program notes, list of works, photos and non-musical elements:
- The Sound of Art
- An Invitation to the Dance including Death by Tango (Soundcloud) by Edward Fairlie
- Beyond the Stars
Action Steps
- Pick a theme and find 5 pieces that fit the theme
- Write down who is the target audience for this theme and 5 places you could advertise to this audience
- Pick one image that could be the program cover
Share your action steps with us on Instagram! Take a photo or screen shot, tag us @conductingartistry and use hashtag #conductingartistryinaction
Keep on learning!
Check out our blog, resources and courses at ConductingArtistry.com
Follow us on Instagram
Join the community Facebook
Check out our videos YouTube
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
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Email us with your questions & feedback
S1E6: Discernment: How to Pick Quality Music
Conducting Artistry
12/07/19 • 32 min
Discerning quality and appropriateness when selecting music.
What does artistic excellence look and sound like?
- Expectations
- Form, shape & design
- Orchestration & density
- Style
- Development
- Idiom
- Musical validity
- Appeal & interest to players, audience and us
- Being the adult in the room - training musical palates rather than pandering
Download the Determining Excellence Checklist
Blog post: Why can't the kids pick their own music? {LINK to blog}
Stephen Budiansky's Washington Post article: The kids play great, but that music...
How to develop your own discernment and taste
- Getting out of the rehearsal room
- Listening beyond your ensemble/genre
- Listening to great (and bad!) performances
- Listen outside classical music
Musical Inspiration for Conductors (Youtube playlist)
Appropriateness
- How to listen
- Where to listen
How to select music that is appropriate for your:
- Ensemble
- Occasion
- Audience
Download the Determining Appropriateness Checklist
Action Steps
- Select a work that is new to you and assess its artistic excellence using the checklist.
- Select an upcoming performance in your calendar. Assess the work from Step 1 for its appropriateness to that event using the checklist.
Share your action steps with us on Instagram! Take a photo or screen shot, tag us @conductingartistry and use hashtag #conductingartistryinaction
Keep on learning!
Check out our blog, resources and courses at ConductingArtistry.com
Follow us on Instagram
Join the community Facebook
Check out our videos YouTube
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
Sign up to the mailing list for quality info like this, delivered straight to your inbox (about once a month)
Email us with your questions & feedback
S1E5: Finding New Music: Being A Repertoire Detective
Conducting Artistry
12/07/19 • 32 min
4 best sources for quality repertoire and how to use them
1. Repertoire lists
- State lists & festival lists
- Teaching Music Through Performance Comprehensive List (2019) - Band, Orchestra & Choir
- Frank Ticheli's List in the MBM Times Magazines
- Best Music for High School Band (book)
- Best Music for Young Band (book)
- World Association for Symphonic Bands & Ensembles
- Tim Reynish (UK Conductor)
2. Member-contributed content sites
3. A shortlist of quality publishers (not the usual suspects!)
- Brolga Music Publishing (Australia)
- Maecenas Music (UK)
- Piles Music (Spain)
- Manhattan Beach Music (USA)
- Bandquest - American Composer's Forum (USA)
- Windependence - Boosey & Hwakes
- FJH Music (US)
- Grand Mesa Music (US)
- C Alan Publications (US)
- G&M Brand (UK)
- Barnhouse (US)
- DeHaske/Amstel (Europe)
- Bravo Music (Japan)
4. Self-published composers
Template for your own repertoire list
4 do's and don'ts of researching repertoire
- Don't just research pieces and composers you already know
- Don't just listen to one recording
- Do listen all the way through
- Do look at the score
Action Steps
- Start your own repertoire list. Download the template and start entering pieces you've done and pieces you're considering for your ensemble.
- Visit a publisher you haven't heard of before and go through the detective process. Select a piece you don't know that's at your ensemble's level and listen through with the score. Add it to your repertoire list.
Share your action steps with us on Instagram! Take a photo or screen shot, tag us @conductingartistry and use hashtag #conductingartistryinaction
Keep on learning!
Check out our blog, resources and courses at ConductingArtistry.com
Follow us on Instagram
Join the community Facebook
Check out our videos YouTube
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
S1E4: The Concert: Creating An Emotional Journey
Conducting Artistry
12/07/19 • 31 min
The shape, arc and drama of our performance determines the audience's experience.
How to structure a concert
- What is the emotional arc of the performance?
- How do you want the audience to feel?
- Engaging the audience from (before) the first note
Transfigured Night - Norwegian Chamber Orchestra (YouTube video)
Completing The Circle - Considerations for Change in the Performance of Music, Bud Beyer (book)
Methods for planning the shape of a concert
- Using playlists to plan transitions
- Common pitfalls in concert sequencing
Download the Concert Shapes Inspiration PDF
Action Step
- Take music you have already selected for a performance. Write the titles on small pieces of paper. Play with the different orders of pieces. Draw a shape of the emotional journey of the concert for each different program order.
Share your action step with us on Instagram! Take a photo or screen shot, tag us @conductingartistry and use hashtag #conductingartistryinaction
Keep on learning!
Check out our blog, resources and courses at ConductingArtistry.com
Follow us on Instagram
Join the community Facebook
Check out our videos YouTube
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
Sign up to the mailing list for quality info like this, delivered straight to your inbox (about once a month)
Email us with your questions & feedback
S1E3: Creating Balanced, Contrasting Programs
Conducting Artistry
12/07/19 • 29 min
A great program, like a memorable meal, has variety and balance.
Elements to consider when creating balance and contrast
- Style
- Duration
- Tempo
- Key
- Historical Period
- Form
- Volume/Dynamic
- Technical Variety
- Emotional Content
- Narrative Content
Chef's Table (Netflix)
Download the Balanced Program Checklist
Strategies for selecting a balanced program
- Starting with a key piece
- Filling slots by genre
Action Steps
- Select one key piece you'd like to program. Select two more pieces that balance and contrast with it, using the criteria discussed.
- Find and listen to two pieces for your ensemble by composers you've never heard before
Share your action steps with us on Instagram! Take a photo or screen shot, tag us @conductingartistry and use hashtag #conductingartistryinaction
Keep on learning!
Check out our blog, resources and courses at ConductingArtistry.com
Follow us on Instagram
Join the community Facebook
Check out our videos YouTube
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
Sign up to the mailing list for quality info like this, delivered straight to your inbox (about once a month)
Email us with your questions & feedback
S1E2: Make real music faster with appropriate repertoire
Conducting Artistry
12/07/19 • 24 min
When you select appropriate repertoire, you can make real music in every rehearsal.
8 common ensemble problems caused by repertoire choice and how to avoid them
- Low student engagement
- Low teacher engagement
- Slow rehearsal pace/progress
- Urgent rehearsal pace
- Student's can't play the music
- It just sounds bad!
- Persistent areas of weakness/lack of development
- Poor student retention in ensembles or music program
The 80/20 rule for choosing repertoire at the right level for your group
Selecting achievable repertoire so you can make real music faster.
Action Steps
- Look at your list of repertoire you have planned to program (or a past concert program). Put a '?' next to all the pieces that are in the '20' category (or are just too hard). Is it 80/20?
- Find one new piece that fits the '80' category for your ensemble
Share your action steps with us on Instagram! Take a photo or screen shot, tag us @conductingartistry and use hashtag #conductingartistryinaction
Keep on learning!
Check out our blog, resources and courses at ConductingArtistry.com
Follow us on Instagram
Join the community Facebook
Check out our videos YouTube
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
Sign up to the mailing list for quality info like this, delivered straight to your inbox (about once a month)
Email us with your questions & feedback
S1E1: Setting Goals for Guaranteed Growth and Learning
Conducting Artistry
12/07/19 • 24 min
Why repertoire selection is important
We discuss:
- How repertoire forms the basis of the teaching and learning that goes on in our rehearsals
- How repertoire communicates what we value as educators
- How this may be our musicians' only exposure to this genre of music
Setting Musical Goals
- The importance of planning a year ahead
- The impact of setting long, medium and short term goals
- Where is your ensemble now? What skills do they currently have?
- Where do you want them to be in 12 months?
- What skills do they currently have?
- What skills & knowledge do they need to build to progress to the next ensemble or their next destination (college, community, music advocate/appreciator)
Where are they at now? Making A Skills Inventory
Download the Yearly Skill Development Planner Template and and fill it out for your ensemble!
How to inventory the incoming skills and abilities of the ensemble across 6 areas:
- Musical - technical skills (keys, dynamics, rhythms etc), theoretical knowledge
- Ensemble - internal pulse, intonation, balance, blend
- Listening - balance, blend, knowing how and where to listen
- Human - communication within ensemble, constructive feedback
- Behavioural - attentional control, not playing/speaking over others, concert etiquette, presentation skills
- Life Skills & Knowledge - attitude, perseverance, confidence, performance under pressure
Where do you want to go? Setting Long to Short Term Goals
- Set long term goals for your ensembles for the end of the year
- Plot backwards from one year in the future to now
- Scaffold skill development from Point A to Point B
Creating Your Performance Calendar
Download the Performance Calendar Template
- Add Performance details - date, venue, context, audience, music needed
- Add in rehearsal schedule - how many rehearsals for each performance, beware overlap between performances, public holidays, time between performances, special events
- Progress Accelerators - rehearsal camps, extended rehearsals, tours, contests, honor bands, workshops, guest clinicians
- Progress Decelerators - academic exams/testing/assessment, public holidays, snow days, emergencies, illness periods eg. winter, holiday periods, breaks between rehearsals
- Add in musical goals - allow buffer room, be ready to perform at least one rehearsal earlier than you think you should, have non-performance elements ready at least 2 rehearsals before the performance
Benefits of this process:
- No surprises!
- Always being prepared for each performance (both you and the ensemble!)
- Build in contingencies for common issues
- Monitor progress throughout the year - keep track of where you are
- Know at a glance where you are at any point in the year
ACTION STEPS
- Download the Yearly Skill Development Planner Template and fill it out for your ensemble/s
- Download the Performance Calendar Template and fill it out for your ensemble/s
Share your action steps with us on Instagram! Take a photo or screen shot, tag us @conductingartistry and use hashtag #conductingartistryinaction
Keep on learning!
Check out our blog, resources and courses at ConductingArtistry.com
Follow us on Instagram
Join the community on Facebook
Check out our videos YouTube
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
S2E6: Final Rehearsals - Cultivating Confidence and Security
Conducting Artistry
01/03/24 • 32 min
The Importance of Final Rehearsals
This chapter focuses on the critical role of final rehearsals in preparing for a concert, where we highlight the importance of building confidence and security within the ensemble. We emphasize the need for a macro approach at this stage, ensuring that players have the opportunity to run through the entire program to feel prepared and minimize uncertainties. We discuss the balance conductors must strike between addressing remaining issues and allowing enough time for full run-throughs, acknowledging that the latter can be essential for a successful performance. Additionally, we touch on how different factors, such as the experience level of the musicians and the timeframe of rehearsals, can impact whether longer works, like full symphonies, are played through during the final rehearsal. Overall, we underscore that thoughtful planning and prioritization from conductors can greatly enhance the ensemble's readiness and confidence for the upcoming performance.
Preparing for Performances With School, College & Community Groups
This chapter examines the unique challenges faced by school and community musical groups with infrequent performance schedules, emphasizing the importance of meticulous preparation for conductors. We discuss strategies for bridging the long gaps between concerts, which can lead to a lack of performance memory. Detailed run sheets and annotations on musicians' sheet music are suggested as effective tools to guide performers through the logistical aspects of a performance, such as standing cues and tuning reminders. Additionally, I share my personal technique of using post-it notes for soloist acknowledgments to avoid overlooking any performers during the concert. The conversation concludes with the recommendation of conducting full practice performances, including walking on stage and adjusting to the environment, to ensure a polished and professional real performance.
Preparing for Performances in Professional Context
This chapter explores the growth and confidence that comes from repetition in performances, drawing on experiences from a Melbourne tour. We share how even just three performances can significantly improve comfort and execution for musicians. We discuss the role of conductors in ensuring repertoire is well-chosen and rehearsals are effective, leading to a polished final show, particularly when there's only one performance opportunity. In the professional realm, we highlight the importance of the general rehearsal, making the unfamiliar familiar, and focusing on the music rather than excessive verbal direction. The conversation touches on the balance of rehearsal needs between well-known pieces and new ones, as well as the conductor's responsibility to facilitate a smooth performance, especially in education concerts. I emphasize the effectiveness of non-verbal communication in rehearsals, which can lead to more time spent making music and less time talking.
Building Confidence and Security in Rehearsals
This chapter focuses on the crucial role that confidence and security play in the final rehearsals before a performance. We discuss the importance of rehearsing with the intention of building these two elements within the musicians, emphasizing that every aspect of preparation, including practicing stage bows, contributes to the overall feeling of assurance on stage. The takeaway is clear: fostering a confident and secure atmosphere is paramount for successful performances.
Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
Sign up to the mailing list for quality info like this, delivered straight to your inbox (about once a month)
Email us with your questions & feedback
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FAQ
How many episodes does Conducting Artistry have?
Conducting Artistry currently has 15 episodes available.
What topics does Conducting Artistry cover?
The podcast is about Music Commentary, Education, Podcasts, Courses, Music and Band.
What is the most popular episode on Conducting Artistry?
The episode title 'S2E7: Memorable Performances - Balancing Stability vs. Risk Taking' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Conducting Artistry?
The average episode length on Conducting Artistry is 29 minutes.
How often are episodes of Conducting Artistry released?
Episodes of Conducting Artistry are typically released every 6 days, 21 hours.
When was the first episode of Conducting Artistry?
The first episode of Conducting Artistry was released on Dec 7, 2019.
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