Conducting is a highly competitive career field that promises both reward and satisfaction to those exceptional students with ample amounts of both talent and perseverance.
Shenandoah Conservatory’s conducting program is designed to develop conducting, analysis and interpretive skills and offers degrees in choral, musical theatre, orchestral, and wind/band conducting.
Concentrations available in:
- Band/Wind Ensemble
- Choral
- Musical Theatre
- Orchestra
Career Possibilities
Dong-Keun Paul Kim, Conducting ’87, ’89 is a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea where he is an ordained minister and directs the chapel choir. “Shenandoah is the main power of my success. Shenandoah provided me with excellent faculty members and inspirations,” states Kim.
Classes
Shenandoah’s Master of Music in Conducting targets, develops, and hones your podium skills in Band and Wind Ensemble, Orchestra, Choral and Musical Theatre conducting.
You Will Learn:
- Advanced musicianship in either solo performance or conducting settings
- How to perform or conduct an extensive, high-level repertoire
- To perform or conduct in a wide-ranging variety of settings
- A deep knowledge and appreciation of music theory and music history
What Makes Our Program Unique?
Our low teacher-to-student ratios mean you will receive individual attention from our faculty, which is nationally and internationally recognized for their professional experience. Your rigorous, hands-on training under the mentorship of a master conductor in your chosen genre will help you refine your score analysis, interpretive skills, and conducting and rehearsal techniques.
Performance Opportunities and Ensembles
Shenandoah Conservatory produces more than 400 performances each year. Enroll in a dynamic curriculum and start preparing for a meaningful career in the arts. You will practice your craft in front of audiences and develop a plan for your professional launch into the industry that focuses on your personal desires and aspirations.
Embrace extensive performance opportunities with top-tier facilities from theatres, concert halls and dance studios. Unite with fellow artists and join an alumni family that takes center stage from Broadway to the concert halls of Europe.
Shenandoah Conservatory Performances
Ensembles
Shenandoah Conservatory is home to more than 20 instrumental, vocal, and dance ensembles that present numerous performances every year. These performances take place throughout Shenandoah University’s vibrant campus on its various stages, including a concert hall, recital hall, proscenium stage, black box studio, outdoor amphitheater and more, to venues and performance spaces in the Northern Shenandoah Valley and around the world. Ensembles constantly engage with Shenandoah’s dynamic faculty and an array of distinguished guest artists through residencies, workshops and unique performance opportunities.
Faculty
Shenandoah Conservatory’s prestigious faculty is dynamic, creative, and passionately committed to the highest levels of artistic excellence. A deeply caring community, they mentor students with a wealth of professional expertise, balancing rigorous expectations with compassion and wisdom. At Shenandoah, you will study with, and perform for, award-winning composers, Metropolitan Opera singers, Grammy Award winning conductors and international competition winners. You will learn from leading scholars in music and premiere works created by accomplished dance artists and cutting-edge directors. Shenandoah Conservatory’s faculty embodies the highest levels of professional accomplishment and the deepest commitment to furthering the artistic growth and creative aspirations of students in every discipline.
Jan Wagner
Director of Orchestral Studies; Conductor; Chair of Instrumental Division; Professor, Conducting
Full BiographyApplication and Audition Information
Admission to Shenandoah Conservatory graduate programs is highly competitive and the audition schedule fills rapidly. Early application and audition registration is recommended.