Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors.
The principal conductor of an orchestra or opera company is sometimes referred to as a music director or chief conductor, or by the German words Kapellmeister or Dirigent. Conductors of choirs or choruses are sometimes referred to as choral director, chorus master, or choirmaster, particularly for choirs associated with an orchestra. Conductors of military bands and other bands may hold the title of bandmaster, or drum major. Respected senior conductors are sometimes referred to by the Italian word, maestro ("master" as in "one who has mastered the art").
An early form of conducting is cheironomy, the use of hand gestures to indicate melodic shape. This has been practiced at least as far back as the Middle Ages. In the Christian church, the person giving these symbols held a staff to signify his role, and it seems that as music became more rhythmically involved, the staff was moved up and down to indicate the beat, acting as an early form of baton.
Gerard Schwarz (born August 19, 1947) is an American conductor. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2011.
In 2007 Schwarz was named music director of the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, having served as principal conductor since 2005. There he has expanded the festival's audiences to the largest in its history, enhanced education and programming (to include a composer in residence and three new concert series), and increased collaboration with An Appalachian Summer Festival, where he is artistic partner for symphonic music programming.
From 2001 to 2006, Schwarz was music director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO). Earlier he served as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and of a chamber orchestra in New York.
Schwarz was born in Weehawken, New Jersey, to Austrian parents. He graduated from New York City's High School of Performing Arts and Juilliard School of Music and began his musical career as a trumpeter, performing until 1973 as principal of the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez, but also began conducting in 1966. In 1971 he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He has been Music Director of several other organizations, most notably of New York's Mostly Mozart Festival, which he led from 1982 to 2001. He was a a Music director of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in the 1970s.[citation needed]
Princess Donatella Flick (born Princess Donatella Missikoff) is a philanthropist, former wife of Gert Rudolph Flick of the wealthy German industrialist Flick family.
She is the daughter of Prince George Missikoff of Ossetia and an Italian mother, and the sister of Prince Oleg Missikoff. She is a philosophy graduate from the University of Rome[disambiguation needed ] and a former Olympic gymnast.
She married Gert Rudolph Flick (known as "Muck Flick"), the grandson of the industrialist Friedrich Flick, from whom she separated with a controversial and widely publicized divorce case in 1997.
In 1990 she founded the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition to help young orchestral conductors to establish an international career. She is also known for her other philanthropic work, especially for her support of medical charities.[citation needed]
In 2006 she was appointed "Commendatore" of the Italian Republic, and in 2007 was the recipient of a Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award, given to "outstanding art patrons whose personal commitment and achievements deserve wider recognition."
Michelle Willis is a composer of religious and secular music. Much of her work has been in arranging the works of previous composers. Among her more widely cited arrangements is one of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. She has also written original compositions such as The Tender Mercies of the Lord, Three Songs and The American Scout. Willis is also the composer of over 20 children's operas and two full length musicals. Her most recent production is the musical comedy, Once Upon a Thyme, where she wrote the script and composed and orchestrated the musical score.
Willis is a graduate of Brigham Young University - Idaho and Boise State University in choral education.
Willis also works as a private teacher of children in the arts of composition.
Willis currently lives in Herriman, Utah where she has served on the Herriman Arts Council since 2005.
Leonard Bernstein ( /ˈbɜrnstaɪn/ US dict: bûrn′·stīn; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim. According to The New York Times, he was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history."
His fame derived from his long tenure as the music director of the New York Philharmonic, from his conducting of concerts with most of the world's leading orchestras, and from his music for West Side Story, as well as Candide, Wonderful Town, On the Town and his own Mass.
Bernstein was also the first conductor to give numerous television lectures on classical music, starting in 1954 and continuing until his death. In addition, he was a skilled pianist, often conducting piano concertos from the keyboard.
As a composer he wrote in many styles encompassing symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music and pieces for the piano. Many of his works are regularly performed around the world, although none has matched the tremendous popular and commercial success of West Side Story.
Go away broken heart there's no more space for your anger, no longer
go away endless tears i've no patience for your sadness, i could careless
go away far from here take all your belongings
run as fast as you can, you won't see me crying
go away loneliness please stop yelling my name out loud, you're not allowed
go away wasted dreams you're never welcomed in my head, my mind's set
go away far from here can't stand you beside me
run as fast as you can and don't look back at me
After all those times, breathing for him
After all those lies, coming from him
After all those nights, unbelieving
After all those why's, why didn't i see
he's not meant for me
go away desperation now's the time to leave me alone, on my own
go away all regrets i never want to see you again, it's your end
go away far from here and back to where you come from
run as fast as you can away from my home
After all those times, breathing for him
After all those lies, coming from him
After all those nights, unbelieving
After all those why's, why did i fall
why couldn't i know ?
why didn't i see ?
why o why did i love him ?
after all those times, now i feel better
after all those lies, i've no more anger
after all those nights, i've stopped to wonder
after all those why's, i've learnt to let you go