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 Electricty, Jacksonville Symphony

Summer’s over, time for the new season!

Posted on Courtney Lewis

In 1922, the English poet AE Housman wrote: When summer’s end is nighing And skies at evening cloud, I muse on change and fortune And all the feats I vowed When I was young and proud. I always find the end of summer a deeply nostalgic time. Perhaps it’s the memories of going back to school as a child: that sense of something magical ending accompanied by the excitement of a new year, or maybe it’s just the oddness of putting on trousers after months in T shirts and shorts! As we prepare for the opening of the new Jacksonville Symphony season on September 30, the same nostalgic haunts me. Having sweated profusely for the last week while moving into a colonial-style house in Avondale,

Continue readingSummer’s over, time for the new season!

Cat Links Conducting Electricty, Jacksonville Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Around the world in thirty days

Posted on Courtney Lewis

Conductors lead busy lives, travelling between different cities and orchestras. I’ve enjoyed writing about the inner workings of the Jacksonville Symphony, but of course, that accounts for only half of what I do each season. The rest of the time is taken up with guest conducting, and my other job as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. April was an especially exciting and busy month, and as I sit in the airport lounge at JFK waiting for a flight, I’m genuinely relieved it went as smoothly as it did. My schedule is usually set about 18 months in advance, and the last few weeks been at the back of my mind for a long time. So, here’s how they turned out. April 1-3. Concerts

Continue readingAround the world in thirty days