FAQs
about MM and DMA programs
in
orchestral conducting at UCLA
Are you taking applications
for Fall 2009?
Yes. You can obtain detailed information about the application
process at http://www.music.ucla.edu/admission/graduate/overview.htm
What do you look for in
potential candidates for your program?
Successful
candidates for the MM and DMA programs in orchestral conducting will
demonstrate mastery of their chosen instrumental, vocal or compositional
fields, fluency in the literature and materials of music, a gift for
leadership, an intense interpretive passion, the foundations of a sound
conducting technique, excellent organizational skills and the potential to make
a major contribution to the profession.
What does your application
process consist of?
The application process consists of two stages.
The preliminary stage consists of the submission of an application
with all supporting materials, including a video. (Note: Please make sure to include both rehearsal and performance segments in your video.) The deadline for the application is December
1st.
(Please see www.music.ucla.edu/admission/graduate/supplemental.htm
for details.)
Applicants chosen from the preliminary stage of the process will
be invited to come to UCLA for a personal interview with Director of
Orchestral Studies Neal Stulberg in January or February 2009. At this interview, you will be asked to discuss interpretive and
performance issues related to Mozart Symphony No.
33, K. 319 or No.
34, K. 338. Please prepare the symphony as you would for
a rehearsal and performance opportunity.
You may be asked to conduct a portion of the work with piano. If you are an instrumentalist, you may be
asked to supplement your discussion by playing some excerpts from the piece; if
you are a singer, you may be asked to illustrate your discussion vocally. The interview may also include more general discussion of musical topics.
There will be no live audition with orchestra.
How
many students are currently in your studio and how many openings do you expect?
There is currently one Master's candidate and one doctoral candidate in the program. One or two
openings are expected for this coming
How much time in front of
the orchestra do students receive?
There is substantial podium time for conducting students, with
both UCLA Philharmonia and UCLA Symphony.
For further information about the UCLA orchestras, please go to
http://www.music.ucla.edu/Performance/Orchestra/index.html
What about performance
opportunities with the orchestra?
UCLA Symphony, the campus-wide orchestra, was created in part to
provide performances opportunities to student conductors, so it is a major
outlet for performance. Conductors may
also perform portions of concerts with UCLA Philharmonia, and are encouraged to
organize their own smaller ensembles for performance. In the final year of the Masters program, each conductor is
expected to lead at least half of a Philharmonia program, or its equivalent. In the final year of the DMA program, each
conductor is expected to lead an entire program with Philharmonia.
In 2006-07, doctoral candidates led performances of the following:
- Puccini Preludio Sinfonico
- Bernstein Candide Overture
- Tchaikowsky Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
- Britten A Midsummer Night’s Dream (two performances of staged production with UCLA Opera)
- Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 (first movement)
- Wagner Träume from Wesendonck Lieder
- Weber Concertino for Clarinet
- Hanson Serenade for Flute, Harp and Strings
- Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915
- Excerpts from Humperdinck Hãnsel und Gretel, Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro, Délibes Lakmé, Puccini Tosca, Bizet Carmen, Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Verdi La Traviata, Bernstein West Side Story
- Mozart Symphony No. 35 (Haffner)
- Ney Rosauro Concerto for Marimba
- Moussorgsky/Ravel Pictures from an Exhibition
In 2007-08, there was one first-year Master’s student in the program. He led performances of the following:
Weill The Threepenny Opera (staged production with Opera UCLA), Verdi Falstaff (staged production with Opera UCLA), Beethoven Sympony No. 6, Poulence Concert Champetre, Wagner Overture to TheFlying Dutchman, Mozart Overture to Don Giovanni, Rheinberger Concerto for Organ No. 2, David Concertino for Trombone, Mozart Flute Concerto No. 2.
He also co-founded and conducted the first performance of UCLA’s new contemporary ensemble Contempo Flux. Is there anything else
about UCLA's orchestral conducting program that you would highlight over
similar programs?
- The level of personal attention that the enterprising conductor
can
- The program provides an amount of podium time and a level of
- The faculty’s approach to teaching orchestral conducting
emphasizes a rigorous approach to textual analysis and interpretive choice,
close attention to gestural and rehearsal technique, a focus on string
techniques and the development of the student's wider musical and artistic
culture.
- UCLA offers the resources of one of the country's great
universities, located in an international music and arts capital. Every effort is made to connect the
interested student with the vast array of artists and resources that Southern
California has to offer.
What financial assistance
is available?
Students in the graduate orchestral conducting program generally
also serve as teaching assistants. Responsibilities may include conducting
rehearsals when the faculty conductor is away, leading sectionals, serving as
orchestra manager or librarian, accompanying for the opera studio, coordinating
recruitment, auditions and concert promotion. The compensation for teaching assistantships consists of fees and a stipend. For further
information about financial assistance, please contact the department's
graduate advisor, Sandra McKerroll, at sandram@arts.ucla.edu.