The 3rd annual Cascade Conducting Masterclass

Cascade Conducting 2020
February 2020

The 3rd annual Cascade Conducting Masterclass will take place June 14-21, 2020 at Pacific Lutheran University.  This year, a composition workshop, led by Symphony Tacoma composer-in-residence David Ludwig has been added.  The composers will work in collaboration with the conductors during the week and present their compositions, conducted by masterclass participants, on June 21st.  The repertoire for the conducting masterclass will include Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24, performed by Oksana Ezhokina, as well as Schumann “Rhenish” Symphony, De Falla, “Three-Cornered Hat,” Fanny Mendelssohn’s Overture in C, and Beethoven Contradances.  These works will be performed by the Cascade Conducting Orchestra, conducted by participants of the 2020 Cascade Conducting Masterclass on June 20th at 7pm.  This concert is free of charge.

Founded in 2017 by Sarah Ioannides, Teo Benson, and Paula Madrigal, Cascade Conducting presents an annual, week-long conducting masterclass directed by Ioannides at Pacific Lutheran University. This event includes seminars by top Northwest musical figures, quality podium time led by Ioannides with a 40 person orchestra comprised of 20 professional musicians, mostly from Symphony Tacoma, and multiple scholarships, including the “Orquesta Northwest Scholarship for an exceptional Latinx conductor.”  The program is designed to find balance between the demands of the business and the preservation of one’s individual musicianship as a necessity for achieving excellence.