Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute brings the orchestra world to Whidbey

Conductors will be in residence at the 7th Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute in Langley.

Orchestra conductors from around the globe will be in residence at the seventh annual Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute held Aug. 5-10 in Langley.

Diane Wittry, internationally acclaimed conductor, lecturer, author and composer, will be leading the conducting sessions along with Dr. Anna Edwards, music director of Whidbey’s Saratoga Orchestra.

The culmination of the six-day workshop will be the finale concert at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts in Langley. Conducting fellows and associates will lead Whidbey’s professional Saratoga Orchestra in a program to include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Felix Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, Richard Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and others. A pre-concert chat with the participating conductors begins at 1:15 p.m.

Founded in 2017, Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute has become a highly regarded workshop for orchestral conductors. Participants hail from leading schools and conservatories and are selected through an audition process.

Over the past seven years, the institute has welcomed well over 100 participants from Finland, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Australia, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and across the United States, Alumni are working and teaching across a diverse spectrum of musical ensembles around the world.

The finale concert tickets are $40 and available at wicaonline.org or 360-221-8262. Workshop information may be found at sowhidbey.com.