The Conductor's Podcast

Conductor Lina Gonzalez Granados joined me and shared her experiences in organizing her time, studying scores, and taking care of her health when she was always on the go conducting around the globe. Some of Lina's Career Highlights: Third Prize and ECHO Special Award at the Inaugural La Maestra Competition Named conducting fellow of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Seattle Symphony Winner of t...

Conducting is never about swinging your arms - left and right as you command the flow of music to your delight. Conducting is embracing your personal strengths, expressing it through music and letting it create a rippled effect to its viewers and listeners.  This is one of the reasons why Anna Edwards is beyond passionate in breaking the barriers of the conducting industry. She wants aspiring cond...

Film scores play a crucial role in cinema. It’s intertwined with visual imagery and is a secret ingredient for a blockbuster hit. It heightens the emotional impact of a movie, creating an aural mood for each scene. If you’re curious to know how they’re made, then this episode is right up your alley! Meet composer, orchestrator, and conductor for TV, film, and theatre, JoAnne Harris. In this episod...

In today's episode of the Conductor’s Podcast, my guests Michelle Di Russo and Michelle Rofrano provide an elaborate rundown of what it’s like working as an assistant conductor, how to land jobs, their experiences collaborating with agents, how they turn down opportunities and their definition of a great assistant conductor.  They also answer questions from our audiences! You wouldn’t want to...

Despite her many, many years on the podium, our guest for today is never shy in admitting that there are days when she doesn’t feel confident – and no, she never tries to fake it. If you’re wondering how this seasoned conductor navigates through a roller coaster of emotions or uncontrollable factors, this episode is perfect for you! Tianyi Lu gives us tips on embracing the leadership role by being...

Noreen Green (Conductor, Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, episode 27) Lily Ling (Music Director, Hamilton, episode 21) Julia Baumanis (Assistant Director of Bands, Rutgers University, episode 31) Tiffany Chang (opera and orchestra conductor, episode 4) Jennifer Kane (Founder, NOVA Women’s Choral Project – episode 16) Margaret Flood (Founder, Frost Young Women Conductor Symposium) Susie Seiter (film co...

Whether it’s building a career or establishing successful working relationships, the importance of networking as a music professional cannot be undermined. In today's episode, stage director Stephanie Havey provides aspiring music professionals with the knowledge and first-hand experience. She discusses the inner workings of a stage director, her love for the art, the importance of artist col...

Women, all around the world, are paving the way toward a society that fosters inclusivity, diversity and equality. In this episode, we’ll get a chance to listen to Julia Baumanis. She’s going to share with us how her initial passion for music became the guiding light to her career as a band director. Aside from discussing her rise to the musical world, she’s going to elaborate on her aspirations,...

Today’s episode is a bit different as I will be answering all the questions that I received about conducting videos. Before we get started, I wanted to remind you all that the very first episode of this podcast is about Five Mistakes to Avoid with Your Conducting Videos . Here are the questions that I will answer in the episode: I have a video that has much better sound quality and the performance...

Conductor Susie Bechasil Seiter, who specializes in orchestra pops and film score conducting, discuss systematic gender bias, barriers, and her experiences touring with bands around the world! Susie Benchasil Seiter is a prolific conductor, orchestrator and composer for film, television, video games, and live concerts. Susie currently stays busy conducting Live to Picture shows with venerable symp...

Hi there! Happy March and welcome to the third edition of the Conductor’s Podcast Wisdom series, a new series full of shared life experiences and, of course, wisdom! This month’s question that I am asking my people is, “𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀?” For me, physically it was to stand up straight. Mentally it was not to be afraid of doing the job when work...

Have you ever wondered, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤 𝙄 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙚? Dr. Noreen Green, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony founded this organization in 1994 as her niche, and has focused on presenting music with Jewish themes since. In today's episode, she shares with us how she creates cultural bridges to connect people with music. Dr. Green also discusses her networking practices,...

In today's episode, Conductor Alice Farnham will share her journey to the podium with us. Farnham started her career as a church musician playing organ and trumpet. She was an Organ Scholar at St. Hugh's College, Oxford University and trained for three years with the legendary pedagogue Ilya Musin in St. Petersburg. Alice is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Women Conductors with the R...

Happy March!  I hope you are getting more settled into the year of 2022 as I know it hasn’t been easy for a lot of people. If you are feeling overwhelmed, I am totally on the same page with you and that’s why I am super excited about today’s episode as our guest will share with us how she maneuvers through barriers in the field.  Dr. Brittney Boykin, or B.E. Boykin, as she is known, is a pianist,...

In today’s episode of our podcast, we are going to discuss what 501(c)3 is -- something that you might have heard of many times now, and why it matters. I know that today’s content might be a bit dry, but if you are ever inspired to start an organization or an ensemble like Jennifer Kane, Founder and Artistic Director of NOVA Women’s Choral Project and our guest in episode 16, or to start a publis...

Welcome to the episode no.2 of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, a new monthly series full of shared life experiences and, of course, wisdom!  In each episode, I am going to pose a question to 10 musicians, conductors, or business gurus. So including myself, you will hear all the goodies from a wide array of people, thus called the wisdom series.  Today's question that I am asking my peo...

My guest today Dr. Kira Omelchenko will be sharing with us her tips of working with strings. When you work with an orchestral ensemble, no matter a chamber orchestra, a full symphonic orchestra, or even just a few musicians at your church’s Christmas service, you are very likely working with string players, and perhaps quite some of them.  After all, string makes up the largest body in an orchestr...

In today’s episode, I am interviewing a dear friend, Lily Ling, who is music director and conductor of the Hamilton Broadway show. I was connected with Lily through the mentorship program offered by the Maestra Music, an organization supporting women and non-binary musicians working in musical theater. They offered a lot of great webinars during the pandemic, and I was fortunate to be accepted int...

Happy February! I am so grateful for you to be here with me, at the 20th episode of the show. It’s hard to imagine that we’ve been here together for almost 5 months, and I hope you are still loving this show as much as I do. Today’s topic is something that I personally really look forward to, 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌. In the musical world, commission means that you pay someone to write a piece of music for y...

Today we are going to talk about something that I personally love speaking about -- running effective and efficient rehearsals! There are many aspects about planning for rehearsals -- from strategizing the overarching rehearsal goals throughout the concert cycle, to pacing each individual rehearsal session; from choosing the right program to being mindful and reading the room well. However, in tod...

Hi there! Welcome to the very first episode of the Conductor’s Podcast Wisdom series, a new series full of shared life experiences and, of course, wisdom!  In each of the monthly episodes of the Conductor’s Podcast Wisdom series, I am going to pose a question to 10 musicians, conductors, or business gurus. So including myself, you will hear all the goodies from a wide array of people, thus called...

In today’s episode, we will be discussing “decolonization.” One of the trends that the world of classical music is slowly embracing in recent years. In politics, the process of decolonization can be very broad, from colonies becoming independent countries recognized by the international society to recognizing how the colonial powers have taken advantage of the colonies, to changing the language us...

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁? After almost 2 years, the pandemic is not yet completely behind us. It has impacted musicians in different fields differently, as many string players and percussionists are still able to perform with their masks on, while many wind players and vocalists are still battling various regulations in different states and countries how they can return...

Today’s episode is one that I’m personally excited about, as my guest today Elizabeth Askren was on my guest list way before I started this podcast. Elizabeth and I met when we were both fellows for the Dallas Opera Hart Institute for Women Conductors, and she has since continued to mentor other conductors and artists through the Dallas Opera program and also the Transylvanian Opera Academy that s...

Happy New Year, and I am super excited about today's episode, as I'll be speaking with one of my role models, conductor Kalena Bovell.  For the very first show of 2022, Kalena will be talking to us about time management skills, also sharing with us her experience of preparing and studying for her BBC Proms debut. I hope you're as excited as I am recording this episode.  Panamanian A...