Conductors' Brew: Recent Episodes
Dr. Lawrence Spell and Dr. Matthew Mainella
Orchestra conductors Larry Spell and Matt Mainella discus with their guests the joys and challenges of working in classical music.
To celebrate Flag Day, we take an extended nerd moment on flags, of course. Plus, we discuss patriotic concerts and wind band music.
The crew is back together to talk Brahms on the 125 anniversary of his death. Gab a bowl of Raisin Brahms and join us.
The College Orchestra Directors Association conference returned last month for the first time since the start of Covid. In this episode we discus the conference and how the organization stayed relevant during the pandemic with out-going CODA President Kimcherie Lloyd. Also, Larry interviews the students of the Washington and Lee University’s Instrumental Conducting Mentorship Program, an innovative initiative for undergraduate conductors directed by Dr. Chris Dobbins.
This episode we crank up the Conductors Brew time machine and whisk ourselves to the past to visit some of our favorite composers. Along the way we also get sucked into the Internet wormhole of technical difficulties. The time machine needs work.
This month we talk about keeping work, school, and the challenges of life as a musician in perspective.
We’re back for season 2 of the show! We discuss our new format and look ahead to another season with COVID-19.
We conclude our first season with a nerdy voyage through the music of Star Trek. Plus the crew discusses our favorite symphonies and looks back on our first year.
To deepen our understanding of music we go straight to the source and read the writings of prominent critics and composers. Plus Brandon brings the jokes.
User Experience (UX) professional Jess Vice joins the crew to continue our discussion on the concert experience.
This week we welcome crew members Kate Campbell, Brandon Horrocks, Audrey Lund, Em Lund, and Ashkan Tabatabaie to discuss how orchestras can better connect with audiences.
Matt returns for a conversation about conducting concertos, one of the trickier tasks a conductor undertakes.
The Salt Lake Symphony, one of Utah’s finest community orchestras, returns this month for a series of concerts featuring for the first time since the pandemic the full brass section. Join us for a sample of the concert and an interview with music director Dr. Robert Baldwin and assistant conductor Brandon Horrocks.
We’re back with the second part of our Mahler journey. This week Matt takes us through Symphony No. 9 and gives his opinion on what it’s all about.
Join the crew for the first of two episodes on one of music‘s greatest conductors and composers, Gustav Mahler. Plus, we engage in coffee siphon combat!
This week Ben Ward takes us inside the instrument, and explains the process and history of making orchestral strings.
Every conductor has pieces they dream about doing, or can’t wait to do again. This week the crew discusses which pieces are on our bucket list and which pieces we just can’t conduct enough.
Dr. Robert Baldwin joins us and crew mate Matthew Makeever to discus Saint-Saëns’s magnum opus, his Symphony No. 3 “Organ.” Plus, Dr. Baldwin gives us a review of his COVID school year.
Jazz bandleader and trumpet player John Olshinski join us to talk about the role of leading a jazz ensemble.
Brandon Horrocks joins Matt and Larry this week for a discussion of two of Gustav Holst's most beloved works, St. Paul's Suite and The Planets.
This week the crew discusses what makes a piece of music nationalistic and factors conductors might consider when programming these works.
Music isn’t composed in a vacuum. This week the crew looks at different periods in history and how it changed music.
We tell the stories of how we got into conducting. This week we’re joined by Matt Makeever and Ashley Sprangers, vocalist and theatrical music director.
CODA National Board Secretary and symposium tech maestro Chris Dobbins joins us to talk about how it all happened.
Matt and Larry go over Day 1 of the College Orchestra Director's Association 2021 Virtual Symposium.
For over 15 years, the College Orchestra Director’s Association has been the place for conductors in higher education to come together to share the joys and challenges of teaching. This week we’re joined by the president of CODA, Kimcherie Lloyd to discuss the mission of this vital institution.
Join us for a walk through America’s rich musical heritage. The Eighteenth Century Singing School Masters, Charles Ives, William Grant Still, Aaron Copland, Henry Cowell, and more are our traveling companions.
For our last episode on celebrating Beethoven's 250th birthday the crew tackles his most massive symphony, The Ninth.
Between the energetic Symphony 7 and the mighty Symphony 9 Beethoven composes his shorter and more traditional Symphony 8. Join the crew for a discussion of this often overlooked masterpiece.
Brandon joins us as we continue our journey through Beethoven's symphonies with a robust discussion of his epic Fifth.
Matt takes us into the orchestra pit and behind the scenes of what it's like to conduct for a theatrical performance.
The crew goes into nature with Beethoven's Symphony No. 6. We also discuss his Symphony No. 4 and why this piece should get played more.
Continuing our celebration of Beethoven, we dive into his pivotal work the Symphony No. 3. Plus, we have a special musical bonus from the Wasatch Symphony!
Ashkan Tabatabaie returns to discuss James Tenney's piece "Critical Band" and the intersection of science and music.
This week the crew discusses all the stuff to consider when auditioning for a graduate conducting program.
Makeever joins us to discuss Beethoven's Symphonies 1 and 2 in our first episode celebrating the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven. Also, Matt gets super nerdy with his coffee siphon.
Working with a community orchestra can be an important part of a conductor's career. This week we're joined again by Matthew Makeever to dive into many of the aspects of being a music director of a volunteer ensemble.
Ashkan Tabatabaie, Brandon Horrocks, and Matthew Makeever return to the front yard for a nerdtastic discussion of famous fifth symphonies, from Beethoven to Prokofiev.
Dr. Charles Gambetta joins us to lay out his Embodied Conducting method and the Laban Movement System it's based on.
This week we traveled to the Salt Lake Symphony's outdoor rehearsal and talked with director Dr. Robert Baldwin to discuss how his Covid plan is going.
From the Zoom classroom to rehearsing under the big top, Matthew Makeever returns to walk us through the first week of school at the University of Utah. We also discuss what to consider when choosing a conducting workshop.
Conductors Brandon Horrocks and Matthew Makeever join us in the front yard as we journey through some of our favorite orchestral rep.
This week our guest Dr. Emily Nelson, co-founder of Utopia Early Music, brings her expertise in historically informed performance to our show. We discuss Dr. Nelson's approach to period performance, plus her music experiences abroad and how they help inform her teaching world music.
Our guest Brandon Horrocks gives us a graduate student perspective on studying to be a conductor in the time of COVID. We explore the world of non-profit organizations with Brandon, who is former Vice President of Operations for the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Diego. We also discuss the challenges in putting socially distanced performers on stage both in the orchestral and choral worlds.
In our premier show we discuss the COVID-19 crisis and it’s effect on our orchestras. We talk about the shutdown’s impact on performances, as well as on the music classes we teach. We explore the challenges of performing in the socially-distanced era, and how we plan to bring arts performances to audiences despite the new limitations.
We feature Iranian born composer Ashkan Tabatabaie, who shares his insight on collaborating with conductors and orchestras. We dive into the challenges and opportunities that arise when premiering a new piece, including the tremendous benefits of working with a living composer.
We bring on the University of Utah’s Director of Orchestras Dr. Robert Baldwin to discuss how universities have had to cope with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in order to prepare for the fall 2020 semester.
We are two Salt Lake City based conductors working everyday to navigate the path of a career in classical music. With the help of our guests, we explore the challenges and joys of a variety of musical endeavors. Please join us every week and welcome to the front yard!