See the conducting stars of tomorrow in these engaging concerts where student conductors rotate between conducting a movement of a work, or playing in the orchestra. Program Director and AMFS Music Director Robert Spano observes the work of his students at this weekly event.

Discover a new woodwind talent and revel in the colorful soundscapes of Stravinsky, Debussy and Ravel!

In 1946, Stravinsky had just become a United States citizen was adjusting to life in Los Angeles and constant exposure to an array of popular musical styles. He composed this elegant concerto for strings in Hollywood at the same time he was dabbling in film music, a ballet score for a Broadway revue, and a jazz concerto for Woody Herman. Paul Sacher, conductor of the Basel Chamber Orchestra, was a promoter of Stravinsky, and commissioned the work.

La Mer is Debussy’s compelling and shimmering portrayal of the sea, inspired by childhood memories at Cannes, summers on the Normandy coast, a terrifying storm he experienced in a small fishing boat, Turner’s paintings of the ocean, and Japanese seascape prints.

In La Valse, Ravel paints a darkly surrealistic deconstruction of the waltz in a sometimes ferocious pre-WWI take on the elegant Viennese dance form.