The Choral Conducting course will be held exclusively in-person, in Siena. 

Lessons will be held in space that allows for social distancing protocols to be maintained according to government recommendations, between the choir members and the conducting students, and between the individual choir participants themselves.

Choir directors, intermediate level (or above) composition students, musicians with a diploma in the vocal disciplines, those pursuing a voice-related diploma, and pianists with experience related to voice and/or choir may participate in the Course.

The Great Motets, Between Liturgy and Spirituality

From Josquin to Palestrina, from Monteverdi to Bach, and on to the great Romantic and Modern motets.  An extensive journey through polyphonic masterpieces from various periods, this Course offers students the opportunity to address a selection of works invaluable to the training of choir conductors.

Thanks to the constant in-residence presence of the “Guido Chigi Saracini” Choir of the Siena Cathedral, active students may study, probe, and perform the selected pieces on a daily basis.

The Course will be organized as follows:

• morning: practical lessons, theory, and exercises with the choir;
• afternoon: practical lessons with the choir.

The entrance examination will be exclusively by video audition. Candidates must send a video of a rehearsal or a concert, that is about 10 minutes long (repertoire may be selected by the candidate).

The lessons will cover the following repertoire:

• Claudio Monteverdi  Nisi Dominus / Cantate Domino / Adoramus Christe
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina  Tu es Petrus / Sicut cervus / Super flumina Babylonis
• Johann Sebastian Bach  Jesu, meine Freude
• Johannes Brahms  Warum ist das Licht gegeben?
• Giuseppe Verdi Ave Maria su scala enigmatica / Laudi alla Vergine
• Maurice Duruflé  Quatre motets 
• Francis Poulenc  Salve Regina / Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël
• Benjamin Britten  Hymn to the Virgin
• Arvo Pärt  Magnificat
• John Tavener Mother of God, Here I Stand / The Lamb