The Academy's teaching is rooted in the traditional German School of Conducting as inherited since the time of Carl Maria von Weber. Even participants without prior conducting lessons are strongly encouraged to prepare independently using the texts below.
Note: several of the Japanese editions listed are currently out of print. Secondhand copies can often be found via AbeBooks, Amazon used, or eBay.
Recommended Books — Conducting
Music Theory
Solid foundational training in music theory is considered essential for all participants.
Recommended Video Resources
The following documentary films provide an invaluable window into the performance traditions that form the foundation of the Academy's approach.
Score Preparation and Advance Study
This seminar places extreme importance on the ability to construct a work entirely in your mind from the score alone as the foundation of conducting technique.
- Score Purchase From this year, photocopied or unbound scores will not be permitted. Please purchase a professionally bound score. The Academy holds a selection of large-format scores for works on the programme — please enquire if you wish to borrow one.
- Study Method Before listening to any recording, read the score and build the work in your head first. Learning a piece primarily through recordings or YouTube is strongly discouraged.
- Interpretation Approach the score independently and develop a clearly reasoned interpretation of your own. Deviating from standard performances is not in itself the goal — you must be able to explain your choices fully.
- Aural Practice Playing through passages on your instrument or piano after initial score reading is acceptable, but please avoid relying on the piano from the outset to learn the notes.
Language Used During Lessons
Due to the large number of international participants, lessons will be conducted primarily in Japanese and English.
For reasons of efficiency, the instructor will not always be able to translate every remark immediately. Important instructions will be translated, but for rapid exchanges and specialised discussions, participants are encouraged to coordinate amongst themselves in advance or to sit near a participant who understands English. Should any part of a lesson be conducted in German, it will be translated into English or Japanese.
Piano Lessons and Ensemble Work
During the first two days, all works will be covered in lessons using the piano. Piano lessons will be conducted in a Small Ensemble Format. Piano sessions may be extended beyond the scheduled time.
- Bring Your Instrument Participants who play an orchestral instrument (strings, winds, etc.) are strongly encouraged to bring their instruments. This allows lessons to incorporate real orchestral timbre and part interaction — something not achievable with piano alone.
- Piano Roles Piano-playing participants will in principle be asked to play from the full score. Klavierauszüge (piano reductions) will be used only supplementarily.
Rehearsal and Preparation
Rehearsals with the orchestra are not an opportunity to demonstrate conducting technique. They are a crucial opportunity to learn Rehearsal Technique.
- Preparation Rehearsals that merely run through the music have no value. Prepare in advance: decide specifically what you need to communicate to the orchestra and which sections require attention, and plan the structure of the rehearsal accordingly.
- Score & Parts Upon arriving at the venue, immediately check the consistency between your score and the orchestral parts — bar numbers, rehearsal marks, edition differences. Neglecting this wastes irreplaceable rehearsal time.