By LOUISA DANIELSON

For the Northwest News

Fort Wayne Philharmonic Music Director Andrew Constantine and Italian music director Ennio Nicotra will lead the Conductors Guild International Workshop May 12-15 in Fort Wayne.

Eight students will spend four days learning about the musical style of Russian pedagogue Ilya Nusin. Nicotra, born in Palermo, Italy, has studied under Nusin.

Conductors will demonstrate their skills at a free-to-the-public concert at 7:30 p.m. May 17 in Auer Auditorium on the Purdue Fort Wayne campus. It will include works by Beethoven, Debussy, Verdi and Wagner. The concert is free. To learn more, click on https://fwphil.org/events/conductor-workshop-winner.

“We open (the workshop) up to aspiring conductors from around the world,” Constantine said. The goal is “to be helping conductors get to the next stage of their careers,” he said. “There are a lot of people who have to conduct.”

While the main emphasis is on helping conductors learn to expand their technical abilities, other training will include information on how to work with sponsors, the community, and other nonmusic necessities that, as Constantine put it, are never covered in music school.

The eight conducting students who attend the workshop will each get some intensive technique training. During their time at the podium, however, they will not be conducting the entire Fort Wayne Philharmonic — rather, they will conduct two pianists.

“The pianists we have are super sensitive and follow (the conductor) very closely,” Constantine noted. As the conductor slows or speeds the tempo, the pianists follow. This is why having live musicians present is helpful, even if it can become a little distracting to the person at the podium.

“Never cue the piano — always visualize the orchestra in front of you,” Constantine emphasized. Live musicians react in ways that a recording — or conducting in silence — never could replicate.

However, as Constantine pointed out, both orchestras and conductors must be resilient. Things happen during performances that are unanticipated. “The trick is to not get thrown,” he said.

This is why the conducting workshop will incorporate music that is standard concert repertoire. “The music is all great orchestral music that they will come across in their careers,” Constantine said.

Working with a full orchestra is the final project. When asked about the repertoire of the concert, Constantine chuckled. “It’s not to test your fancy conducting skills,” he said. Instead the goal is to help a conductor “make your music making as communicative as possible.”