ICWF 2025 Dallas

What we do

Whether you are highly trained conductor, a promising student, or an avid amateur, our workshops offer many opportunities to improve as a conductor.

We believe the best learning comes from studying standard repertoire with experienced, world class faculty in an intensive and immersive, yet non-competitive, professional, and supportive atmosphere. For practical experience in this workshop, all participants conduct only piano sextet. Subjects studied include conducting technique, interpretation, score study, analysis, rehearsal technique, presence on stage, and musician interaction. All participants receive equal opportunity in a completely transparent organization.

Details

Date: June 16 through June 22, 2025
Location: Plano, TX
Host: Plano West High School Orchestra and Boosters; Ryan Ross, Orchestra Director

Basic details:

• Eleven Sextet (String Quintet and Piano) sessions (3 hours each) in 6 1/2 days.
• Limited to 24 conducting participants
• Each conductor will get a minimum 66 minutes with the ensemble
• Post-session discussions focusing on repertoire, career, score study, and more
• Presence on Stage sessions led by Susan Dunn
• Lunch is included in the tuition.
• Participants will have an option of a conveniently located, affordable hotel or to find your own accommodations.
• Convenient and inexpensive US destination (two convenient airports - DAL and DFW)
• Air-conditioned concert and rehearsal hall setting for all sessions
• All sessions will be Digitally Recorded in High Definition and concert quality audio, and ample opportunity will be provided to view session recordings. At the end of each conducting session or day, each conductor will receive a digital file of that session. Participants must provide his or her own storage media (1Tb USB 3.0 hard drive is most recommended).
  
  

Levels of Participation

• Full Conducting Participants (limited to 24)
• Auditing - In Person or Online. Auditing does not include any active podium time. The auditor level is designed for those either who have little experience and training but show promise, or those with ample opportunity to conduct throughout the year, but want to use this workshop as a chance to observe master teaching. Auditing is available either for the full course or for individual sessions.
• Each Conducting Participant will get at least 66 minutes with the ensemble
• Sessions will be equally divided among all

Concerts

We will present one or two one-hour Chamber Concerts during the workshop featuring faculty and guest artists in a program designed to illuminate the workshop repertoire. Participants will not perform on these concerts.

Faculty

• Donald Schleicher (Northwestern University Bienen School of Music; University of Illinois, emeritus)
• Farkhad Khudyev (University of Texas Austin  Butler School of Music)
• Susan Dunn (Rice University)
• Benjamin Loeb (Artistic Director, ICWF)

Repertoire

• Mahler Symphonies #1 and 5
• Mozart Symphonies 38 ("Prague") and 41("Jupiter")
• Mozart Overture to "The Magic Flute"
  
  

Sextet Sessions

• The sextet is made of a string quintet of professional Dallas area musicians and pianist Michael Sheppard who will cover the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and string divisi.
• During the Sextet sessions, we will cover all of the repertoire.
• For the first sessions, we will work straight through all of the repertoire. Once we have covered everything, Conductors will be able to request specific sections to conduct.
• Sextets are specifically designed to allow us to explore the challenges of the repertoire in great detail. There will be more stopping for feedback from the faculty.
• Sextet time will be equally divided among the conductors.
• All sessions will take place in the air-conditioned Plano West High School

Discussion Sessions

• Generally at the end of each day, the faculty will hold a half hour discussion session to recap the issues discovered in that day's sessions.
• Conductors will have the opportunity to get one-on-one feedback from all the faculty during breaks and after each session.
• Some discussion sessions will be scheduled around topics such as rehearsal technique, score study, career paths, and more.
• Faculty are quite available for ad hoc individual and group discussions.
  
  

Stage Presence

• All participants will work with Susan Dunn Rachleff to learn techniques to improve and strengthen their stage presence.
• Conductors will work in large and small groups and even get opportunities for one-on-one sessions.
• Some topics include interviewing, speaking from the stage, and general conducting presence for the orchestra, the audience, and others.
• Susan will also give advice based on session conducting.
  
  

Colleagues/network

One of the great benefits of the workshop is the opportunity to grow and develop a supportive network of conductor colleagues. These relationships can very often lead to professional and academic opportunities as well as lifelong friendships. While we can't claim credit for every success of our ICWF alumni, we are proud of their accomplishments and know that their experience at the workshops provided some positive learning that they used to further their career and love for music. 

Here is what some of our past participants have said about their ICWF experience.

Some of our past participants now hold or have held positions such as Fresno Symphony Music Director,  El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony, Utah Symphony Associate Conductor, Norwalk Symphony Music Director, San Diego Symphony, Amarillo Symphony Music Director, National Symphony Assistant Conductor,  Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestra Music Director, Memphis Symphony Assistant Conductor, Buffalo Philharmonic Associate Conductor, Kansas Symphony Assistant Conductor,  Symphony Orchestra Northwest Arkansas Assistant Conductor, and many more.  Our past participants have also been accepted into the most prestigious conducting programs in the world including at The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Peabody Institute, Rice University Sheppard School, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory, Northwesten, University of Texas Austin, and many more.

Accommodations

We are in the process of reserving convenient and affordable hotel rooms in the vicinity. Hotel accommodations are not included in the participation fee, and you may choose to stay whever you like. ICF makes reservations as a convenience for the participants.  

Detailed schedule

Fees and deadlines

• Application fee $50
• ICWF 2025: Dallas Participant Tuition $2150
• ICWF 2025: Dallas in person Full Course Auditor Fee $850
• ICWF 2025: Dallas Individual session auditing $85/session or $155/day
• Hotel fee for six nights (optional) $TBA
• Daily and per session auditing will be available at a later date
• Lunch is included in all fees
• Monday, January 13, 2025 First Application Deadline
• Wednesday, January 27, 2024 Notifications for acceptance
• Wednesday, February 10, 2025 (or two weeks after official acceptance) Accepted applicants must confirm participation with a $500 non-refundable tuition deposit
• After February 10, 2025 Applications will be reviewed and processed on a space-available basis.
• Six weeks after notification Full tuition due
• Late payment of tuition deposit or tuition payment may result in loss of spot.
• In the case of participant cancellation no less than 90 days prior to the first day of the workshop, ICWF will return all tuition minus the tuition deposit. In the case of participant cancellation between 90 and 30 days prior to the workshop, no fees will be refunded for cancellation unless ICWF is able to find a suitable substitute, which ICWF will make good faith effort to find. There are no refunds for participant cancellation within 30 days of the start of the workshop.

Fees must be paid according to schedule in $US.

All tuition fees paid by credit card will have a 3.5% service fee added.

Online payments preferred, but US checks (free) and bank transfer ($45 fee) will be accepted. The application is not complete and will not be processed until the payment is received. 

Application fees and tuition deposits are non-refundable.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

Arts Education and Performance Management Service

The International Conducting Workshop and Festival is a project of Arts Education and Performance Management Service (www.AEPMS.org). This means that the ICWF can accept grants, accept tax-deductible donations, and carry on other activities under the tax-exempt status of their sponsor. To help you raise money for yourself, AEPMS will create a "Project" which is your participation at ICWF. As a Project of AEPMS, we may accept donations that support the project which would help you cover your cost. This will allow you to offer your patrons (including parents or other family members) the opportunity to get a tax deduction for their support. In the last twenty years the ICWF granted over $150,000 in tuition scholarships through the generous help of the Joel Fan Foundation ArtMatch and now we will be doing essentiallt the same thing with Arts Education and Performance Management Service.

Technically, you can act as a fundraising agent for AEPMS and raise money from your own network of support for your tuition scholarship. Anyone you know who would like to help you would then send their support to Arts Education and Performance Management Service and direct it to the project we create for your participation. You would be responsilbe for covering whatever costs were not raised through donations (which might be everything or nothing depending on how much you raise.) 

AEPMS Process:

• Make all checks to "Arts Education and Performance Management Services" or "AEPMS" and in the memo line, write in the project name or the conductor's name.
• To enable the correct accounting of the donation, the sponsor should say exactly the following in a cover letter:
  To Arts Education and Performance Management Services:
  I am making this donation to the Arts Education and Performance Management Services in support of the International Conducting Workshop and Festival Project [CONDUCTOR NAME].
  Sincerely,
  [Name of Sponsor]
  [Address of Sponsor]
  [Email Address of Sponsor]
• Mail checks and letters to:
  Arts Education and Performance Management Services
  3513 Cabriolet Ct
  Plano TX 75023
  USA
• The receipt of the donation will be acknowledged by AEPMS and the amount of the donation will be applied toward the project of your participation.

The Arts Education and Performance Management Services is a registered 501(3)(c) non-profit corporation and qualifies for tax-deductible contributions.

Application

PARTICIPANT AND FULL COURSE AUDITOR APPLICATION

INDIVIDUAL SESSION AUDITING APPLICATION (Coming in the spring)