Kurt Masur Conducting Seminar

February 13–17, 2012

Manhattan School of Music hosted the seventh Kurt Masur Conducting Seminar in February 2012. This unique program offers direct instruction to a select group of conductors, hand-picked by Maestro Masur from an international pool of applicants. Each day, in a series of open rehearsals, the participants are given the opportunity to conduct an orchestra of Manhattan School of Music students, chosen especially for the seminar, in a master class format, followed by post-rehearsal discussion and critique with Maestro Masur. The seminar concludes with a concert led by Maestro Masur and the seminar participants he has selected to conduct.  

Kurt Masur has had a longstanding relationship with Manhattan School of Music, playing a significant role as a guest conductor in concerts, orchestral readings, and rehearsals since 1992. He has also been the key figure in symposia on Brahms and Mendelssohn. In 1993, Manhattan School of Music awarded Kurt Masur the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts, honoris causa.

The 2012 participating conductors

(listed in alpha order)

• Jacomo Rafael Bairos, from Lisbon, Portugal; Associate Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and Cover Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony
• Joshua Bavaro, from New York City; MSM Master’s degree candidate studying orchestral conducting with George Manahan
• Brandon Keith Brown, resides in Nebraska; Associate Conductor of the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras; guest conductor for the Omaha Symphony
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• Aram Demirjian, resides in Boston; Cover Conductor of the Boston Pops
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• Andrés Franco, born in Medellin, Colombia; Associate Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Caminos del Inka Ensemble, Conductor of the Fort Worth Youth Philharmonic
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• Jan-Erik Hybertsen, from Norway; Guest Conductor of orchestras throughout Scandinavia
• Farkhad Khudyev, from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; Artistic Director and Conductor of the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the National Orchestra of Ashgabat
• Kyunghun Kim, from Seoul, Korea; Resident Conductor of the Chelsea Symphony, the New York Humanitarian Orchestra and the Doctors Orchestral Society of New York
• Stilian Kirov, from Bulgaria; Associate Conductor  of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Memphis Youth Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the Seattle Symphony (begins 2012-2013 season)
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• Earl Lee, from Korea; MSM Master’s degree candidate studying orchestral conducting with George Manahan
• Richard McKay, resides in Dallas, Texas; Cover Conductor with Dallas Symphony Orchestra
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• Michael Rossi, resides in Bethesda, Maryland; Conducting protégé of Placido Domingo, has conducted the Washington National Opera Orchestra both in the US and in China
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• Christopher Rountree, resides in Los Angeles, Ca; Artistic Director and Conductor of “wild UP modern music collective”
• Francisco Valero-Terribas, from Spain; has conducted orchestras worldwide
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• Dean Whiteside, from New York City; currently resides in Vienna, Austria; pursuing a Mag. Art. in orchestral conducting with Uros Lajovic
• Kahn Chun Wong, a native of Singapore; Artistic Director of the Asian Contemporary Ensemble, holds an assistantship with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra