PT46: “We are the Interpreters, not the Creators,” with William LaRue Jones

What’s the greatest problem with how we’re educating our educators? This week, Luke and I sit down with Conductor William LaRue Jones to dig into reasons you shouldn’t go to graduate school, what Juilliard students conducted every year, and why you need to practice conducting.

This week we Discuss:

  • The history of William LaRue Jones
  • Ottumwa Symphony Orchestra
  • The steep learning curve of teaching
  • Website interview w/ Joseph Dobrian
  • What comes after technique? 3 steps of education
  • Conducting is the only thing that includes every area of your musical education
  • The need for thorough analysis: Know what you want before rehearsing it
  • Undergrad programs don’t teach conducting; they teach patterns.
  • The great problems when we train music teachers
  • Reading scores like a magazine
  • Don’t recycle your old interpretation
  • Grad School is not for professional conductors
  • Studying with Otto Werner Mueller
  • “We are the interpreters, not the creators”
  • “We conduct to our inadequacies rather than to the excellence of the composer.”
  • Hidden Gems and programming underrepresented groups
  • Practice conducting in the mirror

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