WELCOME!

Welcome to Conducting Electricity. Since September 2014 I’ve been writing for the Florida Times-Union, keeping everyone up to date with what’s happening at the Jacksonville Symphony. These posts are reproduced with permission.

I also write about what’s going on in my life as a performing musician and the music I love, while trying to demystify my strange profession of conducting. I love to hear from you, so please leave comments. If there’s a question you’re dying to ask, or a topic you’d like to know more about, please send me a note and I’ll address it in a future post. Enjoy!

Latest Posts

Cat Links Conducting Electricity, Jacksonville Symphony

A Letter from London (and Nielsen 4)

Posted on Courtney Lewis

December 17, 2017 Yesterday I arrived in damp and blustery London, which, despite the gloom and ghastly weather is full of the irrepressible cheer of Christmastime. There is something about dusk descending at 4 p.m. – or even of being soaked by the spray of a passing double-decker bus whilst walking to a carol service – that makes the Yuletide spirit all the more real. I write just before the commencement of a rather brutal schedule of mulled-wine-soaked lunches and dinners with friends. It’s the one time of year when nearly everyone from this continent of my life is in the same place, which is something to treasure. It is, of course, a natural time to reflect on the year that is drawing to a

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Cat Links Conducting Electricty, Jacksonville Symphony

Concert weeks are jam-packed!

Posted on Courtney Lewis

When newcomers attend the Symphony they often ask me, “How many weeks ago did you start rehearsing for the concert?” The answer usually elicits a look of astonishment, especially if the performance is on a Thursday: “We started on Tuesday morning!” A Masterworks concert is preceded by four or five rehearsals, all within a single week. The musicians’ schedules are organized this way, as are those of guest conductors and soloists, who often stay in a city for a week before moving on to the next. This allows artist managers to schedule their clients’ engagements 18 months to two years in advance. The condensed timeframe assumes everyone arrives at the first rehearsal absolutely prepared, since there isn’t time to learn the notes in the way

Continue readingConcert weeks are jam-packed!