Louis Arques

Orchestral Conducting with Mark Shapiro at Juilliard – Evening Division, Spring Semester 2024

Thanks to the support of The Clifford-Levy Creativity Grant, I was able to register for this class in Fall 2023. After only six weeks of lessons, I can already sense how beneficial it has been musically and personally. Mark Shapiro has challenged me to conduct from memory, thus triggering me to study the music in depth and allowing me to hear more and more voices simultaneously. As a result, I am discovering how to listen to symphonies and practice in my head anywhere I go. Developing this focus and musical enjoyment has acted as a meditation and inspired me. Additionally, our group class is highly stimulating, and Mark Shapiro’s kind and sharp mentoring approach is a fantastic source of artistic and overall energy. I have also noticed how his teaching is affecting mine and how developing my listening, group management, and attention is benefiting my classes. For all these reasons, I am grateful to be a recipient of a grant to help cover the tuition expense for the spring semester.