Avery Davidson
December 2, 2021
Faculty Advisor: Mr. Lineberger
Content Advisor: Mr. Meyer
The Art of Conducting
Driving Questions:
- What makes a good conductor?
- How does a conductor rehearse in different settings?
- What are different styles of conducting?
Resources/Activities:
- Continue reading and finish The Grammar of Conducting by Max Rudolf. Share thoughts/observations/summations on the WordPress site.
- Observe Mr. Meyer rehearsing DA instrumental and vocal ensembles, with follow-up discussions. There have been and will continue to be opportunities to rehearse and conduct the DA ensembles as well.
- Sit in through the process of rehearsing and performing the DA musical with Mr. Meyer. The musical has just started, so there will be more opportunities to get more involved soon.
- Observe the Duke Symphony Orchestra’s rehearsals and performances led by Harry Davidson, with follow-up discussions. I have not been able to do more of this because of not having a license, but since I will be procuring one in a couple weeks, I will have more access to driving to Duke and watching more rehearsals.
- Study choral conducting with Jeremy Nabors of Vox Virorum Men’s Chorus. This has also been another one of those issues caused by driving limitations and the uncertainty of Vox Virorum not opening. However, they have started up again, which means I will be heading over to their rehearsals on Tuesday nights once set up.
Plan:
- January:
- Continue working with The Grammar of Conducting.
- Continue observing Mr. Meyer rehearsing different ensembles at DA.
- Begin actually attending rehearsals and studying choral conducting with Mr. Nabors.
- Continue and do more of observing rehearsals of the Duke Symphony Orchestra.
- Continue working on the musical with Mr. Meyer.
- February:
- Watch the CIM Opera Program’s performance with Maestro Harry Davidson.
- Continue working on and perform the DA winter musical.
- March:
- Watch the Duke Symphony Orchestra’s spring performance.
- April:
- Finish reading The Grammar of Conducting.
- Watch the Duke Symphony Orchestra’s senior performance.
- Start working on and perform the Jordan High School spring musical.
- May:
- Put up a final product for the independent study.
The blog on WordPress will be where I show progress in this study:
- Reactions/observations/investigations inspired by the text.
- Videos of my performances/rehearsals.
- Summarizations of conversations with my various mentors and my own thoughts regarding those conversations.
Note: I have always planned this to be a year long study from the beginning, since so many new opportunities came out of this first semester to make this study complete by year’s end.
Final Product: A presentation that will describe rehearsal techniques and different styles of conducting with visual examples of me, my mentors, or other conductors.
Major Commitments:
- Hero vs. Antihero
- AP Psychology
- AP Calculus AB
- In the Pocket Ensemble
- Senioritis
This has so far been a great opportunity to run my own course, to continue studying and learning about my passion, and to also gain experience with my future pursuit. There are many challenges with setting up a course because one does not know how later circumstances can impact the plans for the course curriculum. That is what I have learned also throughout this study, and I have also learned how to work and plan around those circumstances to still make this course an enriching experience.