London Conducting Workshop Details

The London Conducting Workshop is now firmly established as one of the most exciting and rewarding conducting master class workshops in Europe. This master class in orchestral conducting gives each conductor valuable time on the podium before our supportive professional orchestra, the London Serenata, and the opportunity to discuss and refine points of technique and interpretation in a warm and friendly environment. Every full participant conducts the chosen piece each day, and conductors are required to attend every session.

Our workshops are for a maximum of 16 full participants, but we do operate a waiting list. Any conductor who is placed on the waiting list is strongly advised to attend as an observer, and as such will have first refusal on any place that becomes available. First-time applicants are particularly encouraged to attend Champs Hill, and to attend at the Royal Academy as observers, so as to gain an insight into the Workshop experience. Please see our application guide for further details.

Our London Workshop is held at the Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, London NW1 5HT which is situated close to beautiful Regents Park (for details of the local area, click here). It takes place over five days (Monday to Friday), and each day you will have the opportunity to conduct our orchestra in a different work. For those who are experienced conductors but who are unable to attend a full week, or are not lucky enough to be selected as a full participant, you may be offered a place on our one-day Master Class on the Saturday immediately after our LCW course. This day is dedicated to you, and in addition to being able to observe all sessions during the week for no additional charge, you will be guaranteed at least one opportunity to conduct our wonderful orchestra on the Saturday.

Our residential Champs Hill course takes place from Wednesday to Saturday inclusive. Conductors are required to attend all sessions and the accommodation and food and drink is provided on site. All meals, refreshments and accommodation are included in the fee. Participants are required to make their own travel arrangements to get to Champs Hill. The course is intensive, and very focussed on technique, but the surroundings are beautiful and there is time for everyone to wander round the stunning gardens and enjoy the peace of the English countryside.

A new addition to our courses for 2012 is our Paris class . This Workshop is directed at previous attendees, and is considered as a refresher course between our annual courses in London and Champs Hill.

For more information on all our courses please navigate to the individual pages using the menu on the left.

In order to ensure each participant has sufficient time on the podium all our courses are limited to 16 full places. We study one work per two-session day, and each participant has one 20-minute time slot per work. Each session can be recorded on DVD for your further study. In London and Paris our orchestra consists of professional players, and as such their performance is highly responsive. Of equal importance to you the conductor, their attitude is helpful and supportive, and we are proud to have them as our Workshop orchestras. A further important aspect of our courses is the facility to network with other conductors, as well as with the members of the orchestra. All our courses are characteristically intensive, but participants gain greatly from the experience and many past participants have formed lasting friendships with other conductors from around the world. We delight in welcoming back conductors year after year, either to one of our Workshops or in private study with John and Neil.

All full applicants are required to have conducting experience (though not necessarily orchestral; our courses are equally valid for choral and wind band conductors for example). We do, however, welcome applications from inexperienced conductors as observers for our courses. As an observer you may attend all our sessions and thus benefit from the teaching experience, though with no guaranteed conducting slot. All observers are automatically on the waiting list for a full place.

There are various opportunities during all our courses for socialising with other participants and, in London and Paris, with orchestra members, and to facilitate this no late evening sessions are held in London, although there will be some late afternoon sessions during the week.

Should you be accepted on to any Workshop it is vital that you study and prepare the scheduled pieces in advance of the course; this will enable you to gain the most out of the sessions, and will also ensure that no time is wasted during the week. If you have difficulty in obtaining the scores we recommend Chappell of Bond Street in the UK (www.chappellofbondstreet.co.uk) or Edwin Kalmus in the USA (www.kalmus-music.com).