Joyce Fisher Professional Development Award

Thanks to generous sponsorship by the Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust, the KBB Music Festival is able to grant four awards each year valued at up to $500. These can be used in any way to target specific areas of growth in your musical leadership.

Suggestions include:

  • Guest conductor for rehearsals or workshops

  • Assistance with conducting-technique / score preparation

  • Rehearsal observation (observing the conductor and giving feedback on what works and doesn’t work)

  • Tuning workshops

  • Specific instrumental workshop – e.g. strings, flutes, trombones, percussion…

  • Support with selecting suitable repertoire for an ensemble

  • Establishing a ‘culture’ within a musical ensemble

  • Other areas in which mentoring is requested

Joyce Fisher Professional Development Awards will be announced each year as part of the Gala Concert celebrations.

In 2024 Matt Klohs (adjudicator) is offering a unique PD opportunity under the umbrella of the Joyce Fisher Professional Development scheme.

Participants will take a video of themselves conducting either a concert or a rehearsal - between 10 to 25 minutes in duration. This video should be taken from within or behind the ensemble, facing back towards the conductor so that their face and gestures are visible. The video should be in a format which can be uploaded to Google Drive. Once uploaded, Matt will go through each video and record specific feedback on positives, areas for development, technique suggestions and useful exercises. A download link will be made available to the participant.

The advantages of the above are:

  • It is relevant; dealing specifically with the participants conducting and their interaction with their own ensemble.

  • It is private; feedback is not made in a public setting nor made available to anyone other than the participant.

  • It is flexible; you present the material which you have been working on with your ensemble, there is no 'test piece' or particular set of concepts which will be discussed with every participant.

If you are interested in participating in this type of PD, apply at the link above.