Today, Luke and I sit down with Benjamin Rous to talk about the least forgiving soloist: film!

Today we get into the weeds on assistant conductor auditions and more. Brett Mitchell is starting his second season as the Music Director of the Colorado Symphony, and he has had a whirlwind of activity since conducting CSO for the first time less than two years ago. We get into how he accidentally auditioned, the details of their recent assistant search, and the organic changes that come with a new leader.

This week we discuss:

First encounters conducting the Colorado Symphony

Details of the assistant conductor search

The biggest mistake you can make when applying for anything

Changes with a new Music Director

Connect with Brett Mitchell on Twitter and Facebook at @MaestroMitchell and Facebook.com/BrettMitchellConductor

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Brett Mitchell on accidentally auditioning for the Colorado Symphony, the details of their assistant conductor search, and the organic changes that come with a new leader.

We met Carolyn Watson three years ago, and now we've finally gotten the chance to sit down and speak with her! We discuss her new position at KU and how she got there, why you need to find your "best fit", and some great hidden gems.

This week we discuss:

Watson’s Path to the Podium

Opportunities and competition in the U.S. vs Australia

David Zinman’s 3 “takeaways”

Communicating standards to younger musicians

Teaching on the podium

Researching and winning a position

Finding your "best fit"

Hart Institute for Women Conductors

We are public figures

Hidden Gems

Tailoring the program to your students

Deciding in the moment

Just do it, and keep going!

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This is an interview that we’ve been looking forward to since before the podcast launched, and we were honored last week for the chance to finally talk shop with Diane Wittry, the author of two essential books for both young conductors and Music Directors: Beyond the Baton and Baton basics. This week we talk about how to build a vocabulary of gestures, why you need to consider every opportunity, and the importance of creative programming for your audiences.

We discuss:

A conductor’s two career paths

Baton Basics: Communicating Music through Gesture

Why you should consider every opportunity

Four points of advice for all students/young conductors

Programming a Purple Cow

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This week we talk about how to build a vocabulary of gestures, why you need to consider every opportunity, and the importance of creative programming for your audiences.

Just in time for Workshop season, today’s episode is a mini-masterclass on everything about workshops. Thomas Taylor Dickey has been to just about every one and shares how to pick the right ones, apply for them, prepare for them, and learn as much as possible while you’re there. We also discuss some of his favorite masterclasses and the important differences between workshops in Europe and America.

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Just in time for Workshop season, today’s episode is a mini-masterclass on everything about workshops.

Have you ever seen the Bernstein Mass? Well, this is the year to do it! Today we talk with Peter Bay, Music Director of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, about his upcoming performance of Bernstein’s Mass, fully staged for the first time in the entire state of Texas. Bay also shares some actionable advice for deepening your score study and preparing for the duties of an assistant conductor.

This week we discuss

• Experiences with Fred Prausnitz
• How interpretations change over time
• "Solo Symphony"
• Bernstein's Mass in Austin
• Music and Time in Wes Anderson's Music
• Schumann Symphony no. 2
• The "Brahms" exercise

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