4/23 Lectures on Conductors and Aliens

http://www.etsy.com/people/needlelite

Vanderbilt University in Nashville has an incredible Youtube channel where you can literally spend days - maybe weeks, watching their educational videos, lectures and concerts.  It's pretty incredible that this kind of programming is free on the internet.  Several universities do this nowadays and you can find filmed classroom lectures on everything from electronic music synthesis to copyright law to brain surgery (I think).

Here's "What Does a Conductor Actually Do?" (1 hr. 20 min.)
Giancarlo Guerrero leads a penetrating and intimate exploration of the role and responsibilities of the symphonic conductor. Through the use of personal stories, DVDs, recordings and demonstration, class participants learn firsthand the actual components of the conductor's leadership and job requirements. The world's great conductors will be compared and contrasted, illuminating the central and sometimes surprising role the conductor plays in the musical interpretation, production, sound, personnel and importantly the enjoyment of the audience.
Beethoven  - Symphony 7 (excerpts)
Sir Georg Solti, Vienna Phil
Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony
Carlos Kleiber, Concertgebouw Amsterdam
Tchaikovsky (excerpts)
Leonard Bernstein, NY Phil

How to Listen to Classical Music: What Does A Conductor Actually Do?

Here's an 1 hr 15 min. lecture/demonstration called "Symphony 101"
Giancarlo Guerrero, music director and conductor of the Nashville Symphony, leads an engaging and invigorating discussion about the elements and structure of the music of the symphony orchestra. What is a symphony? Maestro Guerrero will dissect the symphonic form exploring scherzo, minuet, theme and variation, and more. The great composers of symphonies and their works are also explored through their different approaches to the form and their unique and recognizable voices.

How to Listen to Classical Music: Symphony 101

Check out Vanderbilt's channel for more lectures and concerts including:
OCTUBAFEST at the Blair School of Music (lots of tubas on stage)
and
"Life in the Universe" (Jodie Foster character in the movie Contact is largely based on this real-life researcher)...