In August 1964, I made my first public appearance as a conductor. I had done bits of stick-waving in high school and had led the Marriage of Figaro Overture with the California Youth Symphony, but this was the true beginning of my musical life on the podium.

The place was Aspen, Colorado. I went there as a conducting student under the watchful eye of the Aspen Music Festival’s music director, Walter Susskind. Sixty years ago, this mountain town did not have traffic lights. Boutiques were unheard of, except for those selling skiing equipment. There were only two fine-dining establishments, the Copper Kettle and the Chart House (for steaks). The student orchestra rehearsed in the high school gymnasium.

Three very different weeks ensued during June, representing the traditional, the unconventional, and the educational. All were satisfying and made for a fine start to a not-too-busy summer conducting schedule.

After a month away from the podium, it was time to pick up the baton and strike up the bands, first in Bilbao, Spain. I was not exactly looking forward to this trip, as a scheduling error resulted in only a single conducting engagement in Europe as opposed to the usual two, three, or sometimes eight weeks overseas.

May was a time for catching up and working on projects without conducting anything. With the score-study volumes in full swing, I need to stay ahead of the game with the research and writing. Volume Two is already at the publisher with an anticipated release date in October. My job now is to focus on the next book in the series, although its path to publication is not yet clear.

In addition, I have written two new compositions that will be premiered next season. The first is a set of Scarlatti keyboard sonatas that I have transcribed for orchestral wind ensemble. The first performance will be in St. Louis in October on a program that also features a piece by Cindy as well as a new one by my son, Daniel.

Let’s see: terrific orchestra, great weather, beautiful ocean views, fantastic food and wine, lovely people, and scenic mountains. As the refrain goes, “Who could ask for anything more?”

Such was the first part of April, with two weeks spent in my new role as Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria. If you had asked me as recently as twenty years ago if I would be spending much time conducting orchestras in Spain, the answer would have been no, but the post-Franco years have seen an explosion of culture in this part of the world.

Adventures new and old marked a busy March calendar. Overall, it was a most pleasant time on the road.

I had never visited, much less conducted in, Vancouver for reasons unclear. Perhaps it was not on my agent’s radar until recently, but the VSO is certainly a prominent orchestra on the Canadian landscape. Fortunately, the stars finally aligned for my debut in British Columbia.

February was education month for me, in a couple different ways. In recent years, I have devoted some time to teaching at university music schools and conservatories. More than likely, most people think this is a one-way street, with the professor passing down knowledge accumulated over many years.

In fact, I probably learn more from the experience than the students do. Assessing the health of music education in our society by finding out what it is really like in the artistic/academic world has become something of a pet project for me. I am gleaning that there is considerable talent out there, perhaps too much for the marketplace.