Last year I stumbled upon the perfect opener to my chamber recital on a CD by the Sinfonietta of Riverdale, a premier chamber orchestra founded and led by Mark Mandarano. Initially I contacted Mandarano to get some advice for conducting the piece and for starting an ensemble, but what he shared was so insightful and helpful that I just had to have him on the podcast for a full interview. Little did I know that our discussion would go beyond starting an ensemble and conducting chamber music and so far into the realm of score study! So, put your headphones in and learn how to get Esa-Pekka Salonen in your audience, form a conducting class at Cornell taught by Karel Husa, and start truly getting the score in your head.