Conductors Brandon Horrocks and Matthew Makeever join us in the front yard as we journey through some of our favorite orchestral rep.

This week our guest Dr. Emily Nelson, co-founder of Utopia Early Music, brings her expertise in historically informed performance to our show. We discuss Dr. Nelson's approach to period performance, plus her music experiences abroad and how they help inform her teaching world music.

We feature Iranian born composer Ashkan Tabatabaie, who shares his insight on collaborating with conductors and orchestras. We dive into the challenges and opportunities that arise when premiering a new piece, including the tremendous benefits of working with a living composer.

Our guest Brandon Horrocks gives us a graduate student perspective on studying to be a conductor in the time of COVID. We explore the world of non-profit organizations with Brandon, who is former Vice President of Operations for the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Diego. We also discuss the challenges in putting socially distanced performers on stage both in the orchestral and choral worlds.

We bring on the University of Utah’s Director of Orchestras Dr. Robert Baldwin to discuss how universities have had to cope with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in order to prepare for the fall 2020 semester.

In our premier show we discuss the COVID-19 crisis and it’s effect on our orchestras. We talk about the shutdown’s impact on performances, as well as on the music classes we teach. We explore the challenges of performing in the socially-distanced era, and how we plan to bring arts performances to audiences despite the new limitations.

We are two Salt Lake City based conductors working everyday to navigate the path of a career in classical music. With the help of our guests, we explore the challenges and joys of a variety of musical endeavors. Please join us every week and welcome to the front yard!