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I'm looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks as we begin the 27th summer of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak. Every summer, the experience of the Retreat is created and shaped by the unique qualities of the individual participants and the “personality” of the entire group. Every Retreat is new and different, so I’m writing to you with great anticipation and excitement about what lies ahead.
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Below, you’ll find a great deal of important information, which you will need. I hope it will answer questions you may have, and that it will be helpful as you prepare for your trip to Maine and your time with us in Maine.
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Arrival at Medomak
Please allow more than enough travel time to ensure your on-time arrival. Because it is very important to begin the Retreat with everyone present, I would like to reiterate that it is a requirement to be on time for registration on Sunday, June 25, between 3:00 and 4:00pm. It is important to be registered, begin your “move-in,” and be on time for our first meeting, which begins at 4:30. If you are traveling by car, it would help streamline the process if you were to arrive between 3:00 and 3:30 if possible, before the airport bus arrives around 3:30.
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If you haven't already, please complete the Dietary & Travel form as soon as possible to inform us of your arrival and departure plans. More travel & transportation information can be found on this page.
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Note: On our first day, if for any reason you are having difficulty making it to the Retreat on time, please call the Retreat Manager, Emily Krasinski, at 630-815-1195. It would be a good idea to save this number to your phone.
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COVID Health and Safety Measures
The Medomak Retreat Center recommends being “up to date” on COVID vaccinations, as defined by the CDC, and additionally recommends that all participants test for COVID-19 24 hours prior to arrival. Should you test positive, you must notify Conductors Retreat at Medomak immediately, and we will work with you to determine a safe arrival plan in compliance with CDC quarantine guidelines. Should a participant become symptomatic for COVID-19 during the Retreat, Medomak Retreat Center will require testing of the participant.
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We are committed to doing our very best to create the safest and healthiest environment for everyone who comes to Medomak. The management of the Medomak Retreat Center (our landlords and hosts) are equally committed to protecting our health and wellbeing.
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Obtaining Scores
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It is essential to obtain a score for every piece on the repertoire list:
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If you don’t already own the Brahms, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Saint-Saëns pieces, I highly recommend purchasing them from Rob Bethel at Yesterday Service Sheet Music. Rob offers wonderful customer service, and he provides a discount for us. I work with Rob to select the best editions, weighing their quality and price. Whether you purchase your scores from him or not, please be sure you have the editions that we have listed on the repertoire page. If we’ve listed more than one publisher, feel free to choose any one of them.
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A Note about the Walker
The George Walker Lyric for Strings is normally available only by renting the entire set of parts, which comes with a score. The publisher has kindly given us a digital file of the perusal score. The word “perusal” is printed on every page, but the music is clearly visible. Please click here to access the PDF file and either print your own copy or use it on your digital device.
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We have agreed to these terms and conditions in order to provide the score:
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- The Conductors Retreat at Medomak pays a rental fee for the parts.
- Our participants agree to print only the one score they are using.
- The file will not be shared or sent to anyone who is not a 2023 Conductors Retreat at Medomak participant.
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George Walker made revisions and edits when he assigned the copyright to the "new" publisher. If you have, as I do, any other edition of this score, it will not have these corrections. According to the composer’s directions, only this final version is to be performed.
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Score Study
We will do score study together during the first few days, and there will definitely be some time to study on your own. Nevertheless, it is important to have studied the repertoire in advance. One of our goals is to practice delving deeply into a score. Depending on your learning characteristics and your level of experience, you may choose to focus on smaller sections or movements rather than whole works.
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Even if you decide to focus on shorter sections or movements, you should be reasonably familiar with all of the works on our repertoire list in their entirety. Please understand that we schedule only one or two works each day, so if you are not familiar with at least one section of each work, you may miss an opportunity to conduct on a particular day. I would like to gently, but highly, recommend that you take advantage of the opportunity conduct in every one of the sessions, so you will need to be ready to conduct at least a section of every piece.
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What to Bring
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Please see the attached list of items we suggest that you bring to the Retreat. If you would like to send some of them in advance, so you don’t have to carry them with you, it would be a good idea for them to arrive at Medomak on or after June 20.
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Books
You’ll see that the list of items includes these two books, which are required:
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- Bach Chorales 1-91 in open score (ed. Boyd-Riemenschneider), which is available through Yesterday Music Service (see Rob Bethel's contact information above)
- Music for Score Reading by Melcher and Warch, which is out of print, so we will make it available to you through a special arrangement with the publisher. You may order the printed book alone, or a combination of the printed book and the digital version. We will send you the ordering information as soon as we receive it. Please know that The Conductors Retreat at Medomak receives no funds from their sales, and we have no control over the prices.
Weather
The list of What to Bring includes a warning that nights in Maine often bring very cold temperatures, and that the cabins have no heat. Every summer, there are people who don’t take this warning seriously, thinking that it is summer so it will be warm. Please, please be prepared for frigid overnight temperatures. For the first day or two of some Retreats, we’ve even had a bit of frost on the ground in the mornings. (I sometimes wear socks on my hands, like gloves.)
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Faculty
My faculty colleagues, Bill Marvin, Elinore Morin, Adrian Slywotzky, Stephen Whiting, and I are looking forward to working with you. As usual, we have a fantastic consort of resident professional musicians who are eagerly looking forward to making music with you.
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I’m delighted that you will be with us at Medomak this summer, and I wish you all the best in your score study and preparation. I’m looking forward to our work and to everything that we can learn, create, and achieve together this summer.
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Conductors Retreat at Medomak
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