Podium Time

Today we talk with conductor Damien Crutcher, Co-Founder and CEO of Crescendo Detroit, about how he adapted the best parts of El Sistema to make a difference in his community and how you can engage your students in a deeper way through collaborations between educators and performers.  Today we Discuss: 00:51 Damien’s work with the Detroit Symphony, and how he’s building a program to get an instrum...

Today we're talking about how to keep improving as a conductor long after you've left school. By running a regular checkup, you can identify what bad habits are getting in your way. Let us know what you think of these mini episodes. What do you want to hear more of? What should we cover? Reach out on social media or through the contact page on our website. Find this and all other episode...

In this first experimental episode of the podcast, we seek clarity by asking what we're trying to say at any point in our study, rehearsal, or performance. Let us know what you think of these mini episodes. What do you want to hear more of? What should we cover? Reach out on social media or through the contact page on our website. Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com . Subscr...

Today we're excited to speak with conductor Carl Topilow all about his new book, The Orchestral Conductor's Career Handbook. We cover his advice for young conductors and musicians wanting to start conducting, how to make sure you're ready to win an audition, and how to pick the best school for you. Get 30% off Carl's new book when you pre-order it with the code here. Today we d...

Today we talk with conductor Kenneth Woods about expanding our understanding of Gustav Mahler by delving into the context and reactions to his world at Colorado Mahlerfest, why we must be more intentional in programming significant works from composers, and how we can gain a deeper understanding of a composers’ relationship to their music by how they revised it. Kenneth is the Artistic Director of...

How do we become better conductors? How do we become better people? And how can we be sure that we’re ready to make the most of every lucky chance that we get? These are the questions we discuss and answer in this interview with conductor Kensho Watanabe. We talk about the most important lessons about music and life that Kensho learned from working under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and how to apply them...

 Today we're talking with Mei-Ann Chen, Music Director of Chicago Sinfonietta, about enhancing your rehearsals with Rehearsal Language, how she led the orchestra to win a MacArthur Award for their Theatrical and Diverse Programming, and how her Project Inclusion Conducting Fellows learn and prepare for a professional conducting career. This interview was originally recorded for the PT100 Live...

Welcome to the Podium Time Episode 100 Extravaganza! This episode was originally streamed through our Facebook page on February 20th to celebrate our 100th episode and to raise money for the Project Inclusion Freeman Conducting Fellowship through Chicago Sinfonietta.  This episode features live QnA with Jeremy, Luke, and of our most popular guests, some of our earliest conducting clips, the histor...

Today we're talking with Ankush Kumar Bahl, Music Director Designate of the Omaha Symphony and founding member of EverythingConducting.com. Ankush has been incredibly intentional with his career by being strategic in crafting a narrative and seeking out the teachers and opportunities to help him achieve a series of clear goals. Today we talk about his process for designing his career to be ex...

Today we’ve got a special episode with the conducting duo of Kevin Suetterlin and Mathias Elmer,  Co-Music Directors of Sinfonietta Memphis.   In this episode, we dive into how two conductors (and friends) can collaborate and learn together, plus how they founded the orchestra and create incredible engagement in their education programs.  This episode also features some fascinating new information...

Today we talk with Sarah Ioannides about how she founded Cascade Conducting to share her experiences and the lessons from her conducting teachers, how to create an effective collaboration, and how creating videos to accompany Symphony Tacoma's virtual concerts led her to a deeper appreciation of her orchestra and the music. Today we discuss:  Sarah’s early experiences as a musician and how th...

Tune in today for a special episode to recap 2020 on the podcast. Jeremy and Luke look at every episode we released this year and then share their top 3 of the season. Plus, fascinating stats about our download numbers and some sneak peeks into what 2021 will bring for the podcast. And don't forget to check out the video version of this episode on youtube:  https://youtu.be/D1I7Ys9aNP0 Today...

Today we discuss: Why it’s not unusual to start studying to be a conductor as an undergraduate, and the benefits of learning to conduct from the beginning instead of waiting until grad school (2:59) Fundamental skills for conductors, and a curriculum for Miguel’s students (9:01) How Miguel and the Conducting Institute have embraced technology to continue teaching valuable skills over distance duri...

Today we talk with Anna Edwards , Music Director of the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra , the Saratoga Orchestra , and the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute , about how and why to seek out music by underrepresented composers, why conductors (women especially) should embrace their own physicality and body type, and why being comfortable on the podium is critical to leadership. Today we discuss...

Today we talk with David Leibowitz , Music Director and Founder of the New York Repertory Orchestra , about how he’s programmed 20 seasons with NYRO without repeating any pieces, how he defines and builds balanced programs, and why young conductors flourish once they can let get out of their own inward focus. Today we Discuss: How David Founded the New York Repertory Orchestra, and how he used con...

Today we talk with John Devlin , Music Director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra , host of the Upbeat Podcast, and a founding contributor to EverythingConducting.com . Today we talk about how to be the least-generic version of yourself, how to design a commissioning project that’s supremely exciting and relevant to your orchestra and audiences, and how innovative concert design can elevate your...

Today we talk with Elizabeth de Brito, host of The Daffodil Perspective , the first gender-balanced, racially equitable, and inclusive classical radio show in the world, celebrating female composers every week. In its two years so far, Elizabeth has discovered and shared mountains of music that, unfortunately, you’ve never heard by women and composers of color that, unfortunately, you’ve probably...

Today we're very excited to feature a fellow conductor and podcaster, Tigran Arakelyan . Tigran is the host of Let's Talk Off The Podium , a podcast of interviews with professional musicians of all disciplines, including Classical and Jazz. Today we talk about the variety of guests and musicians that Tigran on his podcast and his new radio show , how we can do the best possible with the...

Most of you will know Gary Lewis from his Orchestral Conducting Symposium and as the Director of Orchestras at the University of Colorado Boulder. Or you may remember him from episode 2 of the podcast. But now we’ve got him here for a full episode all about learning to listen and enabling your orchestra to play like chamber musicians. This week we discuss: Gary’s transition from a band director to...

This course is incredible, and I couldn't wait to share everything that I learned with Luke and the rest of our patrons and listeners. Today, I'm walking Luke, and you, through everything that I got from Markand Thakar's " Make Beautiful Music " online course. Be sure to check it out, then sign up before the final spots for classes starting October have been filled!  We di...

Today we’re excited to share this episode with Phil Aguglia all about his fascinating curriculum for his students starting their instruments in high school and how he developed it to lead young musicians towards growth and success, whether they continue to study music or not. Phil sought to both learn how great teachers teach and to organize those lessons into his own curriculum, and the results a...

Today we talk with Janna Hymes , Music Director of the Carmel Symphony Orchestra . In this interview we discuss Janna’s new position in Carmel, how she sets goals in the artistic, marketing, development, and education areas to grow her orchestras, and how she communicates that vision to her board and administration. We also discuss the importance of programming for your orchestra’s community and t...

Today we talk with Kaleb Benda , Artistic Director & Conductor of the Oklahoma Chamber Symphony , Assistant Conductor of the Enid Symphony Orchestra , Music Director of the USAO Concert Band, and the #1 fan of Podium Time. We dig into how Kaleb handles lots of repertoire and how to study efficiently, the importance of creating your own opportunities, and how and why we conducts (almost) everyt...

Today we talk with Jeffery Meyer , Director of Orchestras at Arizona State University and Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic . We jump right in at the beginning of the interview by talking about the biggest issues that arise in young conductors and how we can have better ears for the orchestra’s sound. We also cover how you can develop your confidence and conviction, the...

Today we talk with composer  Rain Worthington  about how she started composing and without a background in theory, why a rigid analytical view of music can block creativity, and why we must not think of music as a competition. Today we discuss: How New York’s Minimalist composers and the artistic culture of the city allowed Rain to experiment as a novice (13:11) How Rain and Luke found freedom by...