International Conductors Guild Conference to feature Jamie Bernstein

International Conductors Guild
Contact:  Jan Wilson, Executive Director
Contact Email:  guild@internationalconductorsguild.org
Contact Phone:  (202) 643-4791 or (646) 335-2032

For Immediate Release

International Conductors Guild Conference to feature Jamie Bernstein

The International Conductors Guild (ICG), the international network for conductors, is pleased to feature Jamie Bernstein, daughter of the renowned "Leonard Bernstein: Citizen Artist" as their keynote speaker in New York City on Friday, January 5, 2024.  Ms. Bernstein will be a featured guest speaker at the International Conductors Guild's annual members' conference at David Geffen Hall's new Sidewalk Studio at Lincoln Center.

Jamie Bernstein's career as an author, narrator, and filmmaker has taken her around the world to share her father's life and legacy as a music artist, educator, and activist-humanitarian. Her memoir, "Famous Father Girl," is a rare, intimate look at her father and what life was like for her, growing up in the Bernstein home.  It was published by HarperCollins in 2018 to mark the centennial of her father's birth.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary year in 2025, the ICG organization, whose mission is dedicated to encouraging and promoting the highest standards in the art and profession of conducting, has held an annual conference nearly every year of its fifty years of operation.  Dr. Claire Fox Hillard, President of the ICG and Music Director and Conductor of the Albany (GA) Symphony Orchestra commented, "This year's conference follows our incredibly successful 2023 conference in Valencia, Spain, and our collaboration with the Berklee Valencia School of Music. We are overjoyed to have Jamie Bernstein as our keynote speaker this year as we celebrate her father's work and music."

The ICG's volunteer conference committee led by Dr. Carlos Brown, Director of Choral Activites at the College of Charleston, met virtually since early September to plan this year's event and included a call for presentation proposals from the ICG membership.  Selected from a committee of conductor peers, 24 of the 56 presentation proposals submitted will form the agenda and topic areas for this year's event. Dr. Brown commented, "We were very pleased with the very high quality of the proposed presentations and thank everyone who submitted for this year's conference. The unselected presentations we hope to share with our members and others via our popular online Podium Talks throughout the coming year.

In addition to presentations, the conference will include a very special behind-the-scenes tour of the newly renovated David Geffen Hall with Mr. Christopher Blair, Vice President of the ICT and Principal, Chief Scientist, and Tuning Conductor with AKUSTIKS, the firm responsible for the acoustic renovations of the hall, an optional tour of The MET Opera House, Election of Officers and Directors, and the Annual Membership Meeting of the International Conductors Guild. A conductors workshop is also in the works and will be announced soon. The conference will kick-off with a rooftop get-together at the Empire Hotel on Wednesday evening, January 3.

Conductors are encouraged to register before Tuesday, November 20th to receive the early-bird $385 discount rate for the three-day event.  New and first-time attendees receive a reduced registration rate of $325, while students attending 4-year undergrad, master's, or doctoral programs may attend for only $100.  Group discounted tickets to the Saturday, January 6, New York Philharmonic performance are available, as well as discounted group rates at the Empire Hotel before Deceber 4th, and discounted airfare through Delta Air Lines.

The full conference agenda may be view via the ICG website:  ICG Conference Agenda  as well as the registration information:  ICG Conference Registration

For more information or assistance, please contact the ICG office at (202) 643-4791 or guild@internationalconductorsguild.org