Becoming a Conductor

I am taking a conducting class this semester with Kathy FitzGibbon.  While I already knew many beat patterns, I have never needed the other aspects of conducting like left hand involvement, facial expressions, any other communication to make your ensemble express you deepest thoughts through the music.

I have this nodding problem...I really seem to have no control over it.  Kathy films all of our conducting in class, and it's painful to watch my head bobbing up and down ALL of the TIME!!  Then we get to write a review/reflection of how we did and the comments that we got from Kathy and our peers.

Today, I think I may have actually beat the bobbing - I haven't watched the video yet, but I put a LOT of concentration into not bobbing.  It probably helped that the piece was in one and that I was staring down the door-knob in the back of the room.

I love conducting, and when I'm by myself practising, everything seems great.  When I get up in front of our makeshift ensemble, I get really nervous and have a hard time implementing everything I practised.

Some things comes very naturally, others are incredibly difficult.  Hopefully, I will overcome the challenges currently and any more that develop throughout the semester, and someday I will be an amazing conductor!

A New Conductor

Jeff - we haven't seen him this fancy yet

Much to our surprise, this year brought the advent of a new age for the Lewis & Clark College orchestra with the addition of Dr. Jeff Specht to the Music Department Faculty.

Jeff is from Minnesota - like me, YAY!!! - and has studied many disciplines in music.  When he conducts, you can tell he plays tuba, which is kind of funny.

I think Jeff is leading the LC orchestra to a new era of greatness!!!  In two rehearsals I feel we've accomplished more than we did in months with the last conductor.


I'm excited to work with him this year as a player and aspiring conductor (because the more people you play under, the better at reading cues you become and the more examples you have to work with for your own conducting!!)!