We propose an innovative model for professional development and certification in music ensemble conducting, where students can earn a 9-credit hour certificate in conducting with very low residency, credits of which could count toward a future master’s degree. The post-bac Conducting Certificate will competitively admit a cohort of students every summer to take a three-course sequence that students could complete in a 12-month period: summer, fall, spring.
The low-residency hybrid summer Conducting Seminar (3 credit hours), a pre-requisite for enrollment in Applied Conducting, will focus on conducting skills relevant to working with instrumentalists, while embracing movement theory relevant to all conductors. Following the conducting seminar will be a 100% online music literature seminar in the fall (3 credit hours), starting with wind band literature and alternating with choral literature in subsequent years. This literature seminar, designed for students to apply their knowledge to the educational or professional ensembles they are currently leading, will allow students to extend the summer experience into real-time tangible academic year professional interactions. After success in the summer conducting seminar with the grade of a B or higher, students will also be approved to take 100% online applied lessons in conducting (3 credit hours), which they will register for with a member of the expert UWG conducting faculty either in the fall or spring. For the student who enters “with” their respective (instrumental or choral) summer cohort, completing all three courses in sequence offers integrated and iterative learning within a 12-month period. Students also have the opportunity to start “off” cohort and finish within 18 months.
Through the conducting certificate, we hope to broaden and enhance the leadership opportunities available to our students, both our graduates and those who join us anew for this certificate. The relevance of this training surfaces in leadership and expertise of teachers who guide learners of music. We believe that given our faculty expertise and the affordable credit hour of our regional comprehensive university, we are well equipped to offer a competitive, accessible, and flexible opportunity to students to continue their professional development in conducting. As most of the program will be fully online, students from elsewhere would only need to be in residency for two 8-hour days.