4th All the Black Dots Workshop
September 16-19, 2020
Discover avenues towards optimal preparation to increase confidence on the podium. Strengthen the fundaments in Berlin, taught by international competition winner and experienced teacher Brandon Keith Brown. Develop technique, score study skills and an informed imagination in preparation for competitions and auditions in a supportive, non-competitive environment. Languages are English and German.
- Daily Score study/Orchestration class, developing an informed interpretation
- Daily Technique course, individually tying gesture to sound
- Lessons with string quintet
- Career advisement, mentoring after the course, competition preparation, and educational advisement
General concepts:
Baton technics, score study, the plane, visual registration of the gesture, the preparatory beat, geographic vs. centrifugal beating patterns, connecting with the sound, conveying weight, physical manifestations of the ictus and gesture for strings/choir, wind/brass/percussion, basic rhythmic units, rehearsal deportment and planning, psychology, and programming.
Application Requirements
Click here for the application form.
Participants will be limited.
Audition Video: up to 15 minutes with any ensemble/choir or piano.
Experienced and inexperience conductors may apply.
No age requirements.
Students are accepted on a rolling bases. Enrollment is limited.
Tuition
Enroll before August 1, 2025: €1000
Active participant tuition: €1250
Tuition: €1250 due by September 1, 2025
Tuition: €1000 if paid before August 1, 2025
Auditor: €750, limited ensemble conducting
Deposit: €750 Due upon acceptance. Balance of €500 due first day of course. Non-refundable
No refunds will be given after September 1, 2025, unless the workshop is cancelled.
If the workshop is cancelled, all funds except €100 will be returned.
Location: TBD
PAYPAL and Bank Deposit Information is below.
Selection: Please include a video in your application. The video should face the conductor from the orchestra's perspective. No longer than 15 minutes.
For questions:
berlinworkshopforconductors@gmail.com
Repertoire:
If you can not prepare all pieces, select movements. Assignments will in part be made prior to arrival by the instructor. Students may suggest repertoire.
Subject to change
Beethoven: Egmont Overture
Beethoven: Symphony no. 5, 1st mvt., 3rd-4th mvt.
Elgar: Serenade for Strings, mvt. 2 OR Webern: Langsamer Satz
Mozart: Divertimento K. 136, D major, 1st mvt., (Bärenreiter)
Mozart: Overture to Die Zauberflötte, (Bärenreiter)
Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte, No. 11 Recit and Aria: Ascostati…Smanie Implaccabile AND
No. 14 Recit and Aria: Temerari…Come Scoliglo
These scores may be discussed upon student interest:
Copland: Appalachian Spring, (Chamber Version)
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Sibelius: Violin Concerto, 1st mvt.
Schedule subject to change
Day 1 Schedule
11am-12:30 pm Conducting Technique
12:30-1:30 pm Lunch
1:30-2:45 pm Orchestration/Score Study Techniques
3:00 – 4:30 pm Piano Session
4:30-5:30pm Gaining Access to the podium: Music Education in the US and abroad, career avenues, career development, fellowship
Day 2 Schedule
11am-12:30 pm Conducting Technique
12:30-1:30 pm Lunch
1:30-2:45 pm Orchestration/Score Study Techniques
3:00 – 6:00 pm Quintet Session
7:00-8:00pm Gaining Access to the podium: Career development, competitions, video review, fellowship
5:30 Private Consultations with Instructor
Day 3 Schedule
11am-12:30 pm Technique
12:30-1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 – 2:45 pm Orchestration/Score Study Techniques
3:00-6:00 pm Quintet Session
6:45-7:45 pm Gaining Access to the podium: Building a press kit. Material review including resumes, cover letter, photos etc.
5:30 Private Consultations with Instructor
Day 4 Schedule
11am-12:30 pm Technique
12:30-1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 – 2:45 pm Orchestration/Score Study Techniques
3:00-6:00 pm Quintet Session
For questions:
berlinworkshopforconductors@gmail.com
Brandon Keith Brown
Featured in Der Tagesspiegel
Following in the tradition of his teachers David Zinman, Lorin Maazel, and Kurt Masur, Brandon Keith Brown combines the German-Austrian tradition with American spirit. Conducting the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra as the third prize winner of the 2012 Sir Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition, he was "... the stand-out audience favorite." (Norman Lebrecht, Slipped Disc).
In April 2013, Brown led a celebrated European debut with the Badische Staatskapelle, executing an "extremely demanding program, which was mastered by the young conductor with flying colors."(Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Symphony No. 4) This led to the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSB), where he was promptly re-invited. Other engagements include the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Neue Philharmonie-Wesfaln and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. In 2018, he debuts with the Nürnberger Symphoniker.
Brown has directed, among others, performances of The Merry Wives of Windsor, Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte and Puccini's Suor Angelica. He has also assisted on Britten's Albert Herring and studied Puccini's Il Trittico with Lorin Maazel.
A passionate educator, Brown is an experienced university professor and youth orchestra leader. In 2011 and 2012, he conducted members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the opera camps for children of the Salzburg Festival. Brown has advanced in the Matacic, Malko, and Tokyo International Competition. Brown attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and holds a master’s from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University with Gustav Meier. Initially trained as a violinist, he was a student of Roland and Almita Vamos. He lives in Berlin and is an advocate for social justice.
Complete Workshop Tuition
Not including any transaction fees.
Early Enrollment Tuition
Enroll before August 1, 2025
Not including any transaction fees.
Workshop Deposit/Auditor Fee
Due immediately upon acceptance, not including any transaction fees. The deposit is non-refundable.
Remaining Balance
Remaining balance, not including any transaction fees.