S1E6: Discernment: How to Pick Quality Music
How do we determine artistic excellence? How do we select music that is appropriate for our ensembles, audiences and performances?
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Show Notes
Discerning quality and appropriateness when selecting music.
What does artistic excellence look and sound like?
- Expectations
- Form, shape & design
- Orchestration & density
- Style
- Development
- Idiom
- Musical validity
- Appeal & interest to players, audience and us
- Being the adult in the room - training musical palates rather than pandering
Download the Determining Excellence Checklist
Blog post: Why can't the kids pick their own music? {LINK to blog}
Stephen Budiansky's Washington Post article: The kids play great, but that music...
How to develop your own discernment and taste
- Getting out of the rehearsal room
- Listening beyond your ensemble/genre
- Listening to great (and bad!) performances
- Listen outside classical music
Musical Inspiration for Conductors (Youtube playlist)
Appropriateness
- How to listen
- Where to listen
How to select music that is appropriate for your:
- Ensemble
- Occasion
- Audience
Download the Determining Appropriateness Checklist
Action Steps
- Select a work that is new to you and assess its artistic excellence using the checklist.
- Select an upcoming performance in your calendar. Assess the work from Step 1 for its appropriateness to that event using the checklist.
Share your action steps with us on Instagram! Take a photo or screen shot, tag us @conductingartistry and use hashtag #conductingartistryinaction
Keep on learning!
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Ready for more? Keep your learning going with:
Online Courses, including Conducting Bootcamp
Books, including Planning Effective Rehearsals
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