Felix Torres Felix Torres

The Conducting Institute Presents Summer 2022 Session June 1 - 24

Fort Worth, TX -- The Conducting Institute will present its fifth annual Summer Session June 1 - 24, 2022 at the I.M. Terrell Performing Arts Center in Fort Worth.  Conducting students from around the globe will participate in an intensive three-week training program directed by internationally renowned conductor, Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

The Conducting Institute is a comprehensive educational initiative developed and led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya to teach, guide, and encourage the next generation of symphony orchestra conductors. Its core mission is to provide a gateway for all who wish to learn to conduct at any age, level of experience or financial circumstance.  The Conducting Institute’s courses focus on fundamental skills including score study, conducting mechanics, overall musicianship and leadership.  

The Conducting Institute is an initiative of Caminos del Inka, a non-profit educational organization based in Fort Worth, Texas, dedicated to preserving the rich musical heritage of the Americas.  Harth-Bedoya is the Founder and Artistic Director of Caminos del Inka.

Students accepted into the Conducting Institute range in age and background.  They include high-school students, musicians in undergraduate and advanced degree programs, music educators, and youth and community orchestra directors.  

Coursework for the Conducting Institute covers score reading and analysis, ear training and instrumentation, and other topics. Harth-Bedoya and other professionals provide insights on working in the music field. Conducting Institute students receive up to two and a half hours of conducting time in front of the Institute’s Lab Orchestra.  

The Conducting Institute’s Lab Orchestra is composed of Lab Orchestra Fellows. Lab Orchestra Fellows apply for the program.  Many travel to Fort Worth from prestigious conservatories and universities such as The Juilliard School, Peabody Institute, Northwestern University, Rice University, Southern Methodist University, the University of North Texas and Texas Christian University.

The Conducting Institute recently concluded its Winter 2022 Session this past January 2-7.  Fourteen Conducting Institute students participated from Texas, six other U.S. states, Ecuador and Germany. 

With a deep commitment to passing his experience on to the next generation of conductors, Miguel Harth-Bedoya is passionate about sharing his knowledge and teaching the fundamentals of conducting to a rising group of artists.  

“Spending intensive time with students and guiding their growth and development is extremely rewarding,” says Harth-Bedoya. “I enjoy working with music educators and with youth and community orchestra conductors, to stimulate their personal artistic growth and enable them to better inspire, prepare and lead their own students and members.” 

“The prospect of a fifth Summer Session of our Conducting Institute is both challenging and gratifying,” said Felix Torres, the Institute’s Associate Artistic Director.  “We are tasked with providing a select number of aspiring conductors with the highest possible level of educational experience.  The response to past Institutes has been worldwide, which is pleasing.”

The Summer 2022 Session at the I.M. Terrell Performing Arts Center in Fort Worth will operate in conjunction with the newly formed Texas Institute for Orchestral Studies.

Interested persons may obtain more information, including applications, at the website www.conductinginstitute.org.  Prospective students may apply for financial support from The Conducting Institute’s two scholarship funds, The TCI Scholarship Fund and the Laura Bruton Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Program and operational support come from the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, The City of Fort Worth, Texas, and Arts Fort Worth. 

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About Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Founder and Artistic Director

Celebrating more than 30 years of professional conducting, Miguel Harth-Bedoya has served as Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (seven seasons) and as Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (20 seasons), where he earned the title of Music Director Laureate.  He is the Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Nebraska, Omahaworking to establish a groundbreaking Bachelor of Music Degree program in orchestral conducting.

Harth-Bedoya conducts orchestras worldwide including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, BBC Orchestra, Birmingham Orchestra, National Orchestra of Spain, New Zealand Symphony, Sydney Symphony, NHK Symphony, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

Equally at home in opera, Harth-Bedoya has led productions with The English National Opera, Canadian Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Bremen Opera.  He conducted the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain at Santa Fe Opera, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar with the Cincinnati Opera and the New Zealand Festival.

Harth-Bedoya’s discography boasts more than 25 recordings, including critically acclaimed albums on Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, FWSOLive, LAWO, Naxos, and MSR Classics.  

A native of Peru, he earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School, both under the guidance of Otto-Werner Mueller.

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