Winter Conducting Workshop
January 8-12, 2024
Deadline for Fellow applications: November 20, 2023(Associate applications will continue to be accepted)
Held on the beautiful suburban campus of Towson University, the 5-day Winter Conducting Workshop offers 10 Fellows the opportunity to conduct members of the internationally acclaimed Baltimore Chamber Orchestra in orchestral works by Mozart, Barber, and Beethoven.
In this intensive workshop, Fellows will have roughly 90 minutes total conducting time, including three sessions with the orchestra and four with a 1-per-part ensemble. Additional daily activities include two technique sessions, individual video reviews, and group conversations with Maestro Thakar covering topics musical and practical.
The Winter Conducting Workshop welcomes Associates, who participate fully in all activities outside of conducting the ensembles.
Repertoire
MOZART Divertimento in D Major, K. 136
BARBER Adagio for Strings
MOZART Symphony No. 29
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7
Schedule
Monday, January 8
afternoon check-in
opening meeting
two technique sessions
music-making: single lines
Tuesday, January 9
group conversation
two technique sessions
music-making: chorale harmonizations
small ensemble (Mozart Divertimento and Barber)
Wednesday, January 10 – Friday, January 12
group conversation
two technique sessions
video review
one session conducting the small ensemble
one session conducting the large ensemble
Wednesday, January 10
MOZART Divertimento in D Major, K. 136
BARBER Adagio for Strings
Thursday, January 11
MOZART Symphony No. 29
Friday, January 12
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7
Faculty
Markand Thakar
Markand Thakar is renowned world-wide as one of the major conducting pedagogues of the 21st century. For 20 years co-director of Graduate Conducting (with Gustav Meier) at the Peabody Conservatory, he is Director of Conducting Programs International and frequent Visiting Faculty at the Juan N. Corpas University School of Music in Bogota, Colombia.
As a conductor Maestro Thakar has appeared with some 40 orchestras across North America, in addition to orchestras in Asia and Europe. Currently Music Director emeritus of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, his career included stints as Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, Associate conductor of the Colorado Symphony, and Music Director of the Duluth Superior Symphony. Notable among his studies was his work with the legendary conductor Sergiu Celibidache. Thakar is the author of On the Principles and Practice of Conducting (University of Rochester Press, 2016) Looking for the "Harp” Quartet: An Investigation into Musical Beauty (University of Rochester Press, 2011), and Counterpoint: Fundamentals of Music Making (Yale University Press, 1990).
Students of Maestro Thakar have won significant conducting positions across North America and internationally, including music directorships of the Aachen & Bochum Symphony Orchestras and the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, in Germany, the Orchestre national d’Île de France, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Venezuela, the Changwon Philharmonic Orchestra of South Korea, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra of Spain, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Michoacán of Mexico, the Sofia New Symphony Orchestra of Bulgaria, and the symphony orchestras of Winnipeg, Hartford, Charleston, Oklahoma City, Eugene, Bozeman, El Paso, Lubbock, Muncie, Williamsport, Amarillo, Illinois, Berkeley, Yonkers, Mid-Atlantic, Sioux City, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Fresno, Lake Forest, Hamilton (Ontario), Washington-Idaho, Young Musician's Foundation, and Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestras. Students of his have held staff conducting positions with the Metropolitan and Indianapolis Opera Companies, and the orchestras of Philadelphia, New York, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Seattle, Portland (OR), Richmond, Winnipeg, Buffalo, Phoenix, Charlotte, Kansas City, Canton, Portland (ME), Winston-Salem, and El Paso, as well as numerous collegiate positions. Among his students are Grand Prize winners in the Malko, Eduardo Mata, Memphis International, Mario Gusella International, and Fifth International Prokofiev Conducting Competitions. markandthakar.com
Location + Lodging
The Winter Conducting Workshop will take place in the Center for the Arts on the campus of Towson University (building CA on the campus map). TU is situated on a beautiful 329-acre suburban campus, located eight miles north of Baltimore city. Just down the street, the suburban college town of Towson boasts a major mall and dozens of restaurants, pubs and shops.
Participants find lodging in area hotels (ask if they have a Towson University rate) and with airbnb (sharing is possible).
Application Procedure + Deadline
To apply for consideration, please submit :
- A completed application form.
download application form - Links to video of your conducting, preferably music of contrasting styles.
- Your Curriculum Vitae.
- A list of references, including email addresses.
- Non-refundable application fee of $20
Please email all application materials to
info [at] conductingprogramsinternational [dot] org
Please make all payments online from the Fees and Payment tab.
Deadline for applications: Monday, November 20, 2023.
(Associate applications will continue to be accepted.)
Acceptances will go out shortly after November 20, but openings may occur post-deadline; do not hesitate to inquire post-deadline.
Fees and Payment
Non-refundable application fee: $20
Fellows: $1,950
Associates: $975
(Full payment of the tuition fee will be required to hold the space)
Should you be accepted to the program, your place will be guaranteed ONLY upon receipt of the $1,950 tuition payment ($975 for Associates) by Monday, December 11, 2023.
Pay Online
Non-refundable application fee
Due by Monday, November 20, 2023
Pay application fee $20
Fellows Tuition
Due by Monday, December 11, 2023
Pay Fellows Tuition $1,950
Associates Tuition
Due by Monday, December 11, 2023
Pay Associates Tuition $975