CURRICULUM
Study in the instrumental conducting studio is divided into three components: private lessons, group seminar, and conducting lab. Students have weekly lessons with Dr. Geraldi. All wind conducting graduate students also meet for a two-hour weekly seminar and one-hour conducting lab.
Private lessons with Dr. Geraldi are individually tailored to the needs of each student. During each lesson, time is spent developing musicianship skills, establishing principles of expressive movement, discussing rehearsal and performance video, and addressing other topics pertinent to each student. We devote considerable attention to developing the aural image through a sequence of interval tracking, transposition, tonal and atonal singing, score reading, and score analysis. Texts used in private lessons include:
Haithcock, Doyle, Geraldi, Schwiebert – The Elements of Expressive Conducting
Bach/Riemenschneider – Chorales 1–91
Dandelot – Manuel pratique pour l’études des clés
Edlund – Modus Novus
Morris and Ferguson – Practical Exercises in Score Reading
Schwiebert – Physical Expression and the Performing Artist
Seminars are organized in a rotation of topics and projects designed to provide deep contextual understanding as well as practical knowledge that prepares students for careers as performers and scholars. Students give two academic presentations each semester related to these topics, which are enriched by faculty and guest lectures.
Conducting lab meets most weeks during each semester for one hour. Students conduct in this setting for masterclass-style feedback with an ensemble on repertoire that is specifically selected to provide a wide variety of experiences over time. A semester-long study of opera conducting (arias and recitatives) is a key component of the sequence.
Sample 3-year DMA curricular sequence:
Conducting at Illinois
develops each student’s musicianship, communication, and leadership skills.