Performances + Events
Orchestral Conducting
NEC’s highly selective Orchestral Conducting program is designed to develop the artistic and leadership skills needed for a professional orchestra career.
The Orchestral Conducting curriculum addresses the vital skills required of a successful, resourceful conductor, including exploration of gesture, rehearsal style and strategies, working knowledge of multiple languages, aural and theoretical musical skills, and knowledge of orchestral literature.
Stefan Asbury
From the Head of the Orchestral Conducting Department
A crucial feature of my orchestral conducting studio is its small size. I limit the number of students to a maximum of three in any year, with up to two new, incoming musicians selected following a competitive audition process. This ensures that every student gets substantial podium time and the personal attention they deserve.
Each student can look forward to a one-hour private lesson, a two-hour seminar on advanced conducting topics, and between 35 and 60 minutes of podium time with the Lab Orchestra, a student orchestra of about 40 musicians, every week. Students share the podium for one concert each semester with this orchestra and can benefit from myriad other opportunities at the conservatory. This rigor and depth set NEC apart from other schools.
About the Program
The two-year, graduate-level Orchestral Conducting curriculum features coursework in score reading, instrumentation, orchestration, and performance practice, in addition to a private studio in which students’ understanding of the conductor’s art and craft is reinforced.
Each master’s degree or graduate diploma candidate leads a weekly session with the Lab Orchestra, reading core repertoire, participates in a master class with Stefan Asbury and other distinguished colleagues, and develops rehearsal techniques in preparation for a conductor’s showcase concert that takes place each semester.
Student conductors can be called on to lead sectionals for the main NEC symphony orchestras during the school year and serve as assistant conductors for a program’s primary conductor. Conducting students also attend rehearsals and classes in the Choral Conducting Department and gain knowledge and experience through involvement with NEC opera productions. There are numerous conducting opportunities at NEC, including those in the vibrant new-music community. In their second year, students conduct one of NEC’s orchestras in half a concert in Jordan Hall.
NEC has relationships with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Ballet, and Lyric Opera, all of whose performances inspire and inform the work our student conductors do at NEC.
