Eugene Rogers
The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) will be home to the third annual Chorus America Conducting Academy, taking place July 15-19, 2019 on the U-M campus in Ann Arbor. The Academy’s culminating performance will be staged in historic Hill Auditorium.
This unique week-long program will focus on developing conductors’ choral-orchestral skills and will provide a positive learning environment that allows each participant to advance at their own pace. The program includes both formal and informal opportunities to connect with dedicated and accessible faculty members, led by Eugene Rogers, the Conducting Academy dean and SMTD’s director of choral activities.
Participating conductors will have the opportunity to conduct choral-orchestral repertoire including Mendelssohn’s Elijah under the tutelage of a world-class faculty. Participants will also receive podium coaching, video review sessions, individual instruction, and forums on topics such as performance practice, score preparation, and orchestral rehearsal procedures.
The Conducting Academy offers three tracks of study: The Fellows Program ($1,300), designed for conductors who have a primary interest in working with choral music and would like to improve their skills working with orchestras; the Scholars Program ($950), designed for any conductor or conducting student who wishes to learn and become more comfortable with choral-orchestral conducting; and a new addition, the Symposium Track ($450) open to all interested conductors regardless of experience or background, which will focus on enhancing beautiful and communicative conducting gestures through private lessons as well as increasing participants’ knowledge about working with an orchestra and chorus through observation and as a singer. Reading sessions of new music as well as group sessions about choral pedagogy and technique will be held specifically for Symposium Track participants.
Applications for the Conducting Academy are now being accepted at chorusamerica.org; the deadline is January 19.