The Art of Conducting by Guillermo Scarabino
How awareness of orchestra parts and conducting will improve your performing
Guillermo Scarbino, a well-respected conductor, lecturer and author, has developed masterclasses and workshops for any musician to understand better her/his musical abilities and how to apply it to performance. On iClassical Academy his eBooks can be found exclusively in Spanish and English. According to Scarabino, a solo performance requires the abilities to:
- Know how to read orchestral scores.
- Lead and direct the orchestra through Personal interpretation
- Perform solo with a chamber orchestra without a conductor
- Communication with the conductor and lead: Tempo, style, articulation, dynamics etc
He also strongly encourages young soloists should be trained and develop their:
- Abilities to read orchestral scores
- Basic understanding of conducting techniques
- Ability to know the basics of conducting an orchestra playing the most known concertos for their instrument
- Deep knowledge of the conductor role
"Transforming the graphic signs of the score into a sensory, intellectual and emotional communication experience that mysteriously involves the composer, the performer and the listener in a unique and unrepeatable experience, without temporal or language barriers, is almost a miracle. To that, it is added in the case of orchestral conducting the unavoidable presence of the performers that are part of the execution, who also become part of the phenomenon of such coexistence. In the time span of an orchestral piece being executed, a transcendent circle of co-lived existence –living with the other one- that goes beyond the mere coincidence of multiple persons –composer, conductor, performers and listeners- being together in a certain time and place. Such transcendence is the one that places over the conductor or anyone studying to become one hard ethic responsibility of which the preceding lines try to arouse full awareness."
From THEORY OF CONDUCTING - EBOOK by Guillermo Scarabino. Many more interesting topics are thoroughly described and researched.
Topics discussed are;
- Practising strategic entrances of sections of the orchestra,
- The Ethics of Orchestral Conducting,
- What is Orchestral Conducting
- Communication,
- The score,
- Interpretation,
- Body and posture,
- Body training,
- The impulse,
- The rehearsal,
- Study and repertoire.
Find both Spanish and English eBooks here.
Guillermo Scarabino is a well-respected conductor and was Juror member at several editions of the International Alberto Ginastera Composition Competitions. Furthermore, he taught at the Mendoza Summer Conducting Courses, at the International Summer Academy of Concepción (Chile) and at Venezuela’s Inter-American Conducting Courses. He was the Director of Artistic Production of the Teatro Colon Buenos Aires for many years. He is also a lecturer and author. Scarabino graduated from the University of Rosario (Argentina), obtaining a Master of Arts Degree in Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY).
