PT90: “Learning to Listen and Trusting the Orchestra,” with Gary Lewis

Podium Time

Most of you will know Gary Lewis from his Orchestral Conducting Symposium and as the Director of Orchestras at the University of Colorado Boulder. Or you may remember him from episode 2 of the podcast. But now we’ve got him here for a full episode all about learning to listen and enabling your orchestra to play like chamber musicians.
This week we discuss:

1. Gary’s transition from a band director to professional conductor (4:51)
2. Gustav Meier’s philosophy of conducting, and how everything we do either allows or blocks the orchestra from playing their best (8:10)
3. How we can teach a young orchestra to play together (12:20)
4. A new approach to silence in music, and how learning to direct our own listening can help enable the ensemble play together (21:49)
5. How conducting lessons work over zoom, how we can use our time during COVID-19 shutdowns to practice the skills we usually don’t have the space for, and how we can learn to be our own best teachers once we’re done with school (30:30)
6. Advice for all developing conductors, and the complexity of everything that we must think about while on the podium (41:24)
7. Some amusing anecdotes about failure (52:46)
8. Hidden Gems and the Billboard Advice (58.27)

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order.

Support the show