
January 2021
Session 2: The Next Steps: Developing A Career
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Maestro Carl Topilow
Carl shares his personal experiences as an emerging conductor through hard work, belief in his abilities, determination, and capitalizing on opportunities. From assembling concerts, finding openings for conductor positions, propelling his career through success in the Baltimore Symphony’s Conducting Competition, to the founding of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra.
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Session 2: Innovation & Improvisation
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Chorale Director Michael Shirtz
Explore Brubeck’s musical genius with Shirtz and MSQ drummer Reggie Jackson as they discuss the famous Dave Brubeck Quartet and the songs and sounds that made them so popular in the 50s, 60s, and into the 70s.
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February 2021
Session 3: Winning A Job and Keeping It!
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Maestro Carl Topilow
How do you sell yourself once you have been selected to audition for the position? How do you make a positive impression on the committee, the musicians, the board, the staff, and the audience? How do you survive and thrive past the honeymoon period? Carl answers these questions interspersed with his personal experiences demonstrating the special ways he learned how to stand out.
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Session 3: The Classic Quartet
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Chorale Director Michael Shirtz
Continued discussion about the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Shirtz and MSQ saxophonist George Michael. Examine the breakthrough album “Time Out” and the partnerships between Brubeck and his musicians.
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Session 4: The Art of Programming – It Comes in All Shapes and Sizes
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Maestro Carl Topilow
By illustrating his experience with an amateur community orchestra, Carl offers advice and warnings for creating programs which are appropriate for the audience and have positive emotional impact for the musicians to perform music within their technical capabilities.
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Session 4: From Jazz To Classical Composer
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Chorale Director Michael Shirtz
Shirtz provides an overview into Brubeck’s work as a composer of jazz, to his creations in American pop and classical music that spans all genres, including orchestral and choral works.
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March 2021
Session 5: Pops Concert: Artistically Rewarding Or A Necessary Evil?
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Maestro Carl Topilow
As he describes the role of the pops conductor as an entertainer, Carl demonstrates his ability to play a variety of styles as clarinetist which is a highlight of his pops concerts along with the audience’s anticipation to see which color clarinet he is going to use.
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Session 5: Mike’s Favorite Recordings
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Chorale Director Michael Shirtz
Shirtz shares his favorite recordings, videos, and performances of Brubeck and where to find them. Includes an invitation for participants to discuss their favorites with the group.
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Session 6: On The Podium: Ways To Musical Integrity
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Maestro Carl Topilow
Experience the gestures which Carl has initiated and developed to use in his conducting and teaching to remove the awkwardness in a conductor’s approach, while proving to be an efficient manner of connecting with an orchestra, and enabling him to avoid the injuries which plague many conductors.
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Session 6: The Journey
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Interactive ZOOM Sessions with Chorale Director Michael Shirtz
Finale on Brubeck’s 100 years in becoming a leading jazz icon and an American legend, including the impact his music encouraged Shirtz and his career.
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