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Virginia Tech Conductor Workshop June 23-28, 2024

Pictured: Michael Haithcock (left) and Derek Shapiro (right).

Join Derek Shapiro and Michael Haithcock on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, VA for a five-day conducting intensive. This class-based experience is designed for conductors and teachers currently in the classroom interested in rebuilding their gestural vocabulary from the ground up. The week-long objective is to guide the participants toward more compelling musical leadership and improving gestural sophistication. This is a class-based format, and participants will experiment with sound and movement all day, every day.

This workshop will cost $400 per participant; we can accept thirty participants.

Step 1: Fill out the registration form
Step 2: Pay for registration

Note: we are not directly affiliated with any of these hotels.

All participants should purchase a copy of Michael Haithcock’s book The Expressive Elements of Conducting and should bring a baton.

The workshop will cover five units over the course of the week:

  • Expressive Movement: Developing Understanding and Awareness
  • Shaping Sound: Communicating with Specific Gestural Intent
  • Basic Beat Patterns and Beyond: Expectations for Expressive Results
  • Creating Emphasis in Advanced Meters: Shifting Space Within an Even Flow of Motion
  • Maintaining  Specificity of Intent

 

Airport
We recommend flying into the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport. It is about 45 minutes from campus by car. The Charlotte Douglas International Airport is a larger airport, but it is three hours from campus.

For individuals arriving by air to Roanoke Regional Airport we recommend using Uber or Lyft for convenient and reliable transportation from the airport to your hotel. With fares typically ranging between $50 and $70, you can avoid the heftier cost of renting a car.

If you are not staying at one of the hotels within walking distance of campus, Uber or Lyft can also be a great choice to avoid paying for parking while at Virginia Tech.  

Parking
Like any college campus, parking at Virginia Tech can be challenging without a plan. Unfortunately, we are unable to reimburse or forgive any parking tickets

The easiest way to park on campus is through the Parkmobile app. Parkmoblie provides a convenient, contactless electronic payment option for parking on the Blacksburg campus. ParkMobile can be used in any parking meter, campus parking space, or lot that has standard F/S, C/G, or R parking.

We recommend that once you have a parking pass, either through Parkmoblie or by purchasing a daily pass from VT Parking Services, that you park in the Squires Student Center Parking Lot.

Parking for personal vehicles is available through the ParkMobile app, or through the purchase of a $8 daily permit.