TAOS, NM: The Taos Opera Guild presents conductor Oliver Prezant, a popular lecturer for the Santa Fe Opera, in an interactive talk entitled The ABCs of Conducting on Saturday, February 10, at New Beginnings Church, 551 Cruz Alta Road, in Taos. Coffee and pastries at 9:30, talk from 10:00 - 11:30.

From the most basic gestures to the most challenging questions of style and interpretation, we’ll look at the many ways that one person with a little wooden stick can inspire a hundred people to make music together with precision, expression, and intensity. What does it feel like to conduct, and to follow a conductor? How do conductors learn their craft and prepare performances when they don’t have an orchestra to practice with? What are the pleasures and the pitfalls of conducting, and what’s it like to approach a work of genius as a young conductor? How has the role of the conductor changed over the years, and how did some of the great conductors of the past approach, and define, the art of conducting?

Oliver Prezant studied conducting at the Pierre Monteux School with maestro Charles Bruck, an associate of Pierre Monteux. As the music director and conductor of the Santa Fe Community Orchestra for twenty years he conducted many of the familiar classics, as well as rarely performed and contemporary works, including new works by New Mexico composers. He taught conducting at the College of Sana Fe, and currently gives workshops in conducting in Santa Fe for working conductors and public and private school ensemble directors.

FREE for Taos Opera Guild members and students. $10 FOR NON-MEMBERS

For more information and to register, click the link below:

Conductors - scroll down for info. on the upcoming conducting workshop!

This event is a production of the Taos Opera Guild.