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May 21, 2023

Spokane Symphony hosts intensive conductor workshop for students across North America

KHQ Local News Producer Conductors from across the United States and Canada

KHQ Local News Producer

Conductors from across the United States and Canada gathered in Spokane this past week for an intensive conductor workshop hosted by the Spokane Symphony. Conductor James Lowe and renowned conducting teacher James Ross taught the students about the technical aspects of conducting, as well as…

SPOKANE, Wash. — For the past week, conductor students from across the United States and Canada honed their craft working with Spokane Symphony conductor James Lowe and renowned conducting teacher James Ross.

The opportunity to lead such a good, professional orchestra is rare for conducting students, according to Lowe. Such an experience allowed students to transcend beyond the technical aspects of conducting and learn how to evoke a meaningful sound from the orchestra.

"It's a very, very competitive field, and opportunities are rare, which is why this week is so important," Lowe said. "We have a really good professional orchestra in front of 14 conductors and they have about 19 minutes a day of time flying the aircraft, and that is really rare."

Multiple students are performers themselves, and two play in the Spokane Symphony (violinist Allion Salvador and bass player Stephen Swanson), but conducting is different than playing an instrument, Lowe said, because conductors don't make music in the moment, they bring it out from the players.

"You've got to find all the emotion and character in the music and the subtlety, and then know how to bring that out to the orchestra," Lowe said. "It's a very complicated job, although it does look from the outside like you're just waving your arms around."

How can aspiring conductors bring out the emotion of the music? According to Lowe, they need to avoid getting bogged down by the mechanics and remember the story the music seeks to tell.

"So often as young conductors we can get stuck thinking 'I've got to beat this out, I gotta roll with the sound, I can't be too early, I can't be too late,'" Lowe said. "There are so many thoughts going that it's... important to remember the fundamental job of why we're there, which is to tell the story through music."

Lowe hopes to do these types of workshops regularly moving forward, once a year perhaps. While the benefits for the students are clear, Lowe said it's important for the Spokane Symphony as well.

"These students will go away and will scatter across the country, and then will take our reputation back, for us it's hugely important," Lowe said. "I really want this orchestra to be known on a national and even an international level, not just in the Inland Northwest."

KHQ Local News Producer

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