The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the International Conductors Guild

Women Conductor's Workshop

September 15 - 18, 2024

JoAnn Falletta and Keith Lockhart, Conductors

The International Conductors Guild is pleased to collaborate with the outstanding musicians of the award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and two longtime International Conductors Guild members, JoAnn Falletta and Keith Lockhart, for this life-changing workshop. Multiple Grammy Award Winning conductor JoAnn Falletta, and Emmy Award Winning conductor, Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated conductor, Lockhart are excited to bring their skills, knowledge and instruction to 8 women conductors for this once in a lifetime women conductor workshop. Women conductors aged 25 years and over are encouraged to apply.

American Public Media recently called JoAnn Falletta, "a mighty figure on the global music scene".  JoAnn Falletta serves as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center, and Conductor Laureate of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. She was recently named one of the “Fifty Great Conductors”, past and present, by Gramophone Magazine, and has been hailed by the Washington Post for having “Toscanini’s tight control over ensemble, Walter’s affectionate balancing of inner voices, Stokowski’s gutsy showmanship, and a controlled frenzy worthy of Bernstein.” As Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Falletta became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra. Her 1999 appointment as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic making her the first woman music director of a major American orchestra is one of the high points in a career of many firsts. In 1989, she was the first woman to become music director of an American regional orchestra when she took the position with the Long Beach Symphony in California. From 2011-14, she served as Principal Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra—the first woman and the first American to fill this post. In 2018, she was the first American woman conductor to lead an orchestra at the Beethoven Easter Festival in Poland, and in 1992, she became the first woman to conduct Germany's ancient and famous Mannheim Orchestra. Celebrating her 25th anniversary as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic this season, she is the first woman to join the esteemed ranks of internationally recognized current conductors, including such luminaries as Zubin Mehta at the Israel Philharmonic, Ivan Fischer at the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Michael Tilson-Thomas at the New World Symphony and Gerard Schwarz at the Seattle Symphony who have served with a major orchestra for more than 25 years.  Read more about JoAnn Falletta HERE.

Keith Lockhart is known to audiences and musicians world-wide for his outstanding performances as the Julian and Eunice Cohen Boston Pops Conductor. Keith is also Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina (U.S.) and has served as music director and conductor of BBC Concert Orchestra, Utah Symphony and Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra in addition to conducting nearly every major US orchestra, as well as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Vienna Radio Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the NHK Symphony in Tokyo, the New Japan Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In October 2012, he made his London Philharmonic debut in Royal Albert Hall. In the opera pit, Keith has conducted productions with the Atlanta Opera, Washington Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Utah Opera.  His varied conducting experience encompasses both the symphonic and pops repertoire, as well as performances in concert halls and on recordings; he had most recently served as Associate Conductor of both the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops, and made his Boston Pops debut as a guest conductor in 1993, just two years before he was appointed Conductor. Read more about Keith Lockhart HERE.

As a very special addition to the concert performance on Wednesday morning, International Conductors Guild Board President, Dr. Claire Fox Hillard, will present JoAnn with the 2023 Max Rudolf Award on behalf of the entire ICG membership.

SCHEDULE
Sunday, September 15, 2024
                Arrivals and hotel check-in
6:00PM - Informal Group Dinner ICG Staff

Monday, September 16, 2024
8:30am - 9:30am - Session I - Breakfast with JoAnn Falletta and Keith Lockhart
10:00am - 12:30pm - Session II - Conductors with two pianos - (KH)
12:30pm - 1:45pm  - Lunch on your own
2:00pm - 5:00pm - Session III - Conductors with two pianos - (KH)
6:00pm - Group Dinner - discussions on leadership, career development, marketing

Tuesday, September 17, 2024
10:00am - 12:30pm - Session IV - Conductor rehearse with Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra - Rehearsal (KH)
12:30pm - 1:30pm - Lunch on your own
1:45pm - 3:45pm - Session V - Conductors rehearse with Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra - Rehearsal (KH)
4:00pm - 5:15pm - Session VI - leadership training, skill-building, entrepreneurship - (KH)
5:30pm - Dinner  - discussions and training session

Wednesday, September 18, 2024
10:00am - 12:30pm - Session VII - Conductors performance with Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra - Concert (KH)

All sessions will take place in Kleinhan's Music Hall, 3 Symphony Circle, Buffalo, NY  14201

REPERTOIRE:
Beethoven -  Egmont:  Overture (1809 - 1810)   (The BPO uses a reprint of Breitkopf with measure numbers).
Verdi - La forza del destino: Overture  (1861)
Mozart - Don Giovanni, K.527: Overture  (1787)
Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 4, Op. 90 - A major   (1821)   (The BPO uses a reprint of Breitkopf with measure numbers).
Dvořák - Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, No. 8 - G-minor  (1878)   (Sourek critical editions)
Dvořák - Slavonic Dances, Op. 72, No. 1 - G-major  (1886-1887)   (Sourek critical editions)
Dvořák - Slavonic Dances, Op. 72, No. 2 - E-minor   (1886 - 1887) (Sourek critical editions)

*Each conductor should prepare all pieces. Concert selections will be determined prior to the first Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra rehearsal.  We will provide a dropbox link to the selected workshop conductors which you may use, or choose to use your own, however it is highly encouraged that you have the same bar numbers as the BPO.

APPLICATIONS: 
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is a $13M orchestra and requires women conductors who have conducting experience to the level of the BPO.  We encourage women conductors 25 years of age and older to apply for the 8 open positions for this conducting workshop.

Apply here - applications are now closed.

ACCOMMODATIONS:
All selected conductors will be responsible for their own travel, hotel and local transportation arrangements at their own expense. The BPO has a discounted rate available to participants at two nearby hotels. Selected participating conductors will make their hotel arrangement with Jan Wilson, Executive Director of the ICG.

TUITION:
Selected Participating Conductors:  $1800
Selected Auditor Conductors:  $500

PLEASE USE THIS LINK TO COMPLETE YOUR WORKSHOP PAYMENT.

*All sessions will be recorded by the ICG and each conductor will receive an SD card recording of their work after the final performance on Wednesday.

This unique workshop will include both informal discussions on the challenges faced by many women conductors and how they were overcome by JoAnn Falletta with valuable insight from Keith Lockhart.  Both have years of outstanding experience with various budget sizes of orchestras. We will also provide BPO staff who will speak to careers, marketing, and the tasks required beyond the podium for today's conductors.  

For additional information, contact the ICG office at: (202) 643-4791 or [email protected].

APPLY HERE