The event and the venue—Mendoza sits at the foot of the Andes Mountains—provide participants with a combination of rich musical and cultural experiences.

Students of the Conductors Institute receive a no-nonsense tutorial from the faculty who have vast experience in the commercial, academic, and professional worlds of music. The faculty are keenly aware of what it takes to succeed in a tough, competitive field, and they are willing to share their knowledge and expertise up close and personal. The Conductors Institute offers daily podium time to every individual in the program, and it focuses on the details of conducting and the nuances that give conductors an opportunity to enhance their skills and achieve a greater sense of command with their orchestral forces.

There are no mirrors or recorded music. Each day, as their peers observe, students will have the opportunity to conduct professional musicians who know the scores intimately. The faculty for these sessions will be Portnoy, professor of orchestral studies at USC, and David Handel, music director for Mendoza Symphony.

Here is a partial repertoire that the Conductors Institute-Argentina will tackle:

• Dvorak: Serenade, op 22, E major
  
• Tchaikovsky: Serenade, op. 48
  
• Mozart: Divertimento K. 138
  
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 A major, op.92
  
• Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 A major op. 90 (Italian)
  
• Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
  
• Mozart: Symphony No. 35 D major, K. 385
  
• Prokofiev: Classical Symphony, op. 25 (Symphony No. 1).
  

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