Guest Conductor Residencies

‘Inner Journeys’ will form the basis for my guest residencies with orchestras, festivals, concert series and conservatoires:

1. Orchestras benefit enormously from working with guest conductors who introduce fresh perspectives and a ‘new story to tell’ during their busy season, helping orchestra members stay motivated by offering them the opportunity to experiment with new approaches that stimulate and expand their creativity. 

2. I will provide orchestras and their audiences with valuable opportunities to create innovative/engaging rehearsal and concert experiences, positively influencing the orchestra’s long-term musical ethos and strategies.

3. Guest residencies with a focused range of repertoire allow me the time to internalise scores deeply, conduct from memory and fully harness the potential of individual musicians.

Concerts Reborn 

Reducing the amount of repertoire also creates real advantages and opportunities for orchestras and their audiences:

1. Optimising audience and orchestra concentration and involvement.

2. Presenting well rehearsed, thoroughly conceived and intensely energised events.

3. Opening up space to transform the concert into an exciting arena for interactive shared experiences, with the music and debates facilitating an inspired and shared Inner Journey for everyone.

Rehearsals transformed: The Method Called Love

Rehearsals are elevated into enriching encounters, awakening transformational emotions, attitudes and methods to achieve the following:

1. Learning how to embrace the magic within each evolving moment through listening, improvising, discussion…and loving. 

2. Revealing the empowering emotional undercurrents of the music as a catalyst for releasing creativity and accessing a heightened state of awareness and communication, as well as healing inhibition and anxiety within the orchestra.

3. In-depth rehearsal of focused repertoire, making time for discussions on pivotal challenges such as optimising performance, enhancing creativity, developing leadership and empathy, refining body language, healing anxiety and building trust.   

Focused repertoire over the next two seasons

Dimitri Shostakovich - Symphony No 5

Dimitri Shostakovich’s music reflects his perilous walk on the tightrope between his deepest inner revelations and the brutal political/social realities of the Stalin-led Soviet era, as well as the barbarous Nazi invasion and siege of Leningrad during World War II. His music remains deeply relevant to today’s world, serving as a contemporary allegory for the personal and societal struggles of our bitterly divided and militarised world, which continue to threaten our existence and the planet. Arguably his most well-known work, his Symphony No 5 opens the door to reflections and debates about the music and our lives. A discussion will be worked into the fabric of the concert, giving a voice to the orchestra members and audience. 

Gustav Mahler - Symphony No 1

Gustav Mahler’s vivid musical poems awaken a sense of the overwhelming power and miraculous beauty of Nature, whilst charting his inner spiritual journey and sense of mortality as a human being. The emotionally charged sensual landscapes of he music, reveal a sense of luminous wonder at the inner pulse of life. Orchestra members and audiences will be invited to meditate and debate, elevating the concert experience to a new level of shared experience.

Bela Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra

Apart from being a wonderful showcase for the individual players and instruments of an orchestra, the Concerto for Orchestra is much more that…it colourfully chronicles Hungarian/Rumanian folkloric melodies, rhythms and idioms, transforming earthy rustic improvisatory dances and melodies into the towering realms of Symphonic/universal structures. This music is fertile ground for exploring the origins of many compositions, the musical forms and cultures they originate from from, as well as their influence on our complex and rich identities as human beings.  

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No 7

The Symphony No 7 represents the full force of Beethoven’s irrepressible appetite and joy for life, set against the backdrop of his tragic fast-approaching deafness. One of his most concise Symphonies, it embarks on a long trajectory from the first stirrings and yearnings of unfulfilled hopes, evolving through transitional highs and lows, culminating in triumphal and unstoppable passion. I will facilitate a debate surrounding the powerful message behind Beethoven’s music and the challenges involved in bringing it to life, with insight given by members of the orchestra and audience.

Example of rehearsal structure (variable)

Rehearsal 1

1:15 hours Symphony (run-through + minimal rehearsal)

0:20 hours break

1:00 hours Concerto (run-through + minimal rehearsal)

0:25 hours discussions/debates/improvisations: A METHOD CALLED LOVE

1.5 hours optional additional meetings with individual orchestra members

Rehearsal 2

1:00 hours Concerto

0:15 hours presentation/discussion led by soloist: LEADERSHIP 1

0:20 hours break

1:10 hours Symphony (movements 1 & 2)

0:15 hours discussions/debates/improvisations: LEADERSHIP 2

1.5 hours optional additional meetings with individual orchestra members

Rehearsal 3

1:00 hours Concerto (run-through + minimal rehearsal) 

0:20 hours break

1:10 hours Symphony  (movements 3 & 4)

0:30 hours discussions/debates/improvisations:

DISCUSSION LED BY ORCHESTRA

1.5 hours optional additional meetings with individual orchestra members

Dress Rehearsal / Concert

0:45 hours Concerto (run-through + minimal rehearsal) 

1:15 hours Symphony  (run-through + minimal rehearsal)

2:00 hours break

2:00 hours Concert 45 min: Concerto + debate

60 min: Symphony + debate