Description

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In The Beat Stops Here: Lessons on and off the Podium for Today's Conductor, master conductor Mark Gibson addresses the technique of conducting as an extension of intimate knowledge of the score to the hands and arms. He employs a variety of everyday activities and motions (brushing the dog, Tinkerbelle, the "door knob") to describe the physical aspects of the role. He advocates a comprehensive, detailed approach to score study, addressing major works bar-by-bar in terms of both musical analysis and conducting method. Finally, Gibson explores the various roles a conductor plays, as a teacher, a scholar and a member of the musical community. His writing is highly focused, with an occasionally tongue-in-cheek, discussing everything from motivic development in Brahms to how to hold a knife and fork in public. In short, The Beat Stops Here is a compendium of style and substance in the real world of today's conductor.

About the Author

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Director of Orchestral Studies at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, Mark Gibson enjoys a teaching and conducting career that spans four decades and three continents. Among his former students are many of today's up and coming maestros, including Xian Zhang, Tung-Chieh Chuang, Annunziata Tomaro and Olivier Ochanine. Mr. Gibson is a native of New Jersey.