Musicianship for Conductors

Saturday 9th March 2024

9am - 1pm, Zoom

Led by Rebecca Berkley

This online course will be recorded, so you can attend the session live or catch up with the recording later at a time to suit you!

This course will help you develop the musicianship skills you need as a conductor and it compliments abcd's Intermediate Level training days (Choral Conducting: An Intermediate Guide).This session can be booked as a stand alone training event, or as part of the Intermediate training days (as it will be useful for score preparation and rehearsal planning, and features some of the Intermediate repertoire).

We will start by practising how to read, model and sing all parts of the scores that you are conducting - focusing on how to read rhythms, melodies and chords in vocal scores, starting at different points in the scores. This will give you an understanding of your own areas of strength, and areas where you would benefit from further personal practise.

We will then focus on how to analyse the learning challenge the music represents for your singers and discuss how to plan a sequence of learning in your rehearsals that supports singers towards a successful performance.

Finally, we will investigate ways to integrate musicianship training into your rehearsals so that you can teach key musical concepts quickly and efficiently in rehearsals.

The session will use extracts from Fauré Requiem and Errolyn Wallen's The OK Song. Please bring copies of this music and a tuning fork to this session.

Rebecca is a choral director and Associate Professor in the Institute of Education, Reading University, where her work focuses on the importance of musical literacy in creative classroom practice and the development of musical knowledge in music teachers and students. She teaches musicianship from Foundation to Advanced levels.

Timetable

9 - 10.30 Session 1

10.30 - 10.45 Break

10.45 - 11.45 Session 2

11.45 - 12 Break

12 - 1 Session 3, including time for questions

Fees

£30 for abcd members / £45 for non-members

abcd members - log into your account first, then the member rate will show automatically.

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