Six conductors came to join us, and Jonny Lo, on Sunday 17th March at LRGS, for “Art of Conducting”. It was an inspiring, and very interesting, afternoon. The six conductors (all local) were:
Alistair Burton (17 yrs. old). “In January 2016 I briefly had a go at conducting the Haffner orchestra at a Come and Play Day. This inspired me to begin conducting as an academic study at the Junior RNCM. I intend to study music at university next year and would love to continue to develop my skills in conducting. I have conducted individual pieces with my school’s choir, and also my local youth orchestra (Westmorland Youth Orchestra)… including performances of my own compositions.”
Robert Eves. “I am the conductor of the Lancaster University Orchestra and play trombone and piano…. As an Engineering student, I have never had formal conducting tuition. I hope this opportunity will help me to refine and develop my skills, enabling me to further develop the University Orchestra.”
Richard Adamson. Richard is quite an experienced conductor already, and has conducted Wrexham Symphony Orchestra, Oswestry Sinfonia, Glyndwr University Community Choir, Crosby Symphony Orchestra, Chester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Vale Royal String Orchestra – among others. He says “I want to keep improving my conducting skills so that I can achieve the results I want more efficiently. I would also love to conduct more orchestras, and improving my skills will stand me in a better position to achieve this.”
Emma Ward (18 yrs. old). “I am currently studying A level Music at the Queen Elizabeth School Sixth Form and have applied to study Music as a degree, successfully receiving offers from all of my university choices. I have been a member of the Westmorland Youth Orchestra for two years, playing 1st clarinet. …. I am currently conducting in rehearsals some of the music for our next concert. Although I have managed small groups in the past, I have quite limited experience in conducting, especially with larger ensembles”
Charlotte Burrows (15 yrs. old). Charlotte played trombone in the Haffner orchestra in our concert on 3rd Feb. – very unusual for a 15-year old. She says ”I have been taking part in weekly conducting lessons since September 2017 at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music where I also study trombone and piano and play in the Brass Band and the Jazz Ensemble…. I hope eventually to run a choir or a band and be able to conduct it. ….Although I have had many lessons on the theory of conducting, different techniques and certain organisational aspects within the role of a conductor, I have never had the opportunity to try conducting a real orchestra.”
Marco Giudici. Marco is a professional freelance clarinettist. He started conducting training last year at the Sherborne Summer School of Music, and then at the London Conducting Academy. He conducts the school orchestra at Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale, and his aim is to work with school orchestras, and eventually at a higher, professional, level.
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