The Craft of Conducting (with Michelle Merrill) | Ep34

Every musician should know a little about conducting.  But what does a conductor really do, especially when working with professional musicians?  How do they prepare for rehearsal and for a performance?  Our guest this episode is Michelle Merrill, a conductor who previously served as Associate/Assistant Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the supervision of esteemed maestro Leonard Slatkin.  She is the music director of the Coastal Symphony of Georgia, and just recently was appointed as the new music director of the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra.  She talks about the importance of networking, the craft of score and rehearsal preparation, the importance of making sure your physical style suits you individually, as well as her short and long term plans with the Winston-Salem Symphony. For single tickets to the WSSO 2023-24: https://wssymphony.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/ For more on Michelle Merrill, visit: https://www.michelle-merrill.com/ Let me know your thoughts on this episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact  You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.