On Christmas Eve I got a phone call saying that I had been accepted as a fellow for the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. This is part of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and is close to conducting heaven.
So far I have been coached by, worked with and met: David Zinman, Murray Sidlin, Nicholas Mcgegan, Christopher Seaman, Larry Foster, Andrey Boryeko as well as working with three fantastic concertmasters; David Halen, Andrew Wan and Gary Levinson. I have conducted works by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Dvorak and Berlioz. Not only do we get to work with an amazing orchestra who are some of the very best musicians at the festival but we get free tickets to all the concerts, bar one or two special events. Yesterday, having had a day off, I had a video review session with Murray Sidlin and on my way back popped into a rehearsal for a concert of Brandenburgs with Nicholas Mcgegan. There are great support staff as well who ensure the program functions like complete clock work.
It is slightly surreal to say the least, but the amount I have learnt over the past month is staggering. I am not quite sure how long it will take for me to digest it all. Now I am off to conduct Berlioz's Corsaire Overture in concert and then learning a new piece by the young American composer Tim Sullivan for the Earshot readings before a very early start tomorrow! Then I am back for another month of heaven, before heading back to the real world and the rainy UK.
I'll say more from Denver,
F
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment