Barnaby Kerekes

On the podium

Years on and around the podium.

I come to this workshop as a student conductor and lifelong musician, not a beginner. The four seats below each taught me a different part of the craft: rehearsing inside a full orchestra; building a training ensemble from nothing; conducting and playing in a community group; and decades keeping a music school alive. Together they are the foundation I want to sharpen in three concentrated days with Mark Shapiro.

01

Assistant Conductor

Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra

Working inside a full symphony orchestra on the core symphonic repertoire — the rehearsal craft, the section-to-section listening, and the score study the classical and romantic works at the heart of this workshop demand.
02

Co-Founder & Music Director

Vancouver Orchestral Training Society

Initiated and collaborated to build a professional-simulation orchestra from nothing, with masterclasses led by Vancouver Symphony players — time on the podium developing players, and developing my own ear and gesture in front of them.
03

Performer, Substitute Conductor & Former Board Member

Toronto Concert Band

Played in the ensemble, stepped onto the podium as substitute, was invited to perform in concert, and served on the board — a community ensemble's full life seen from every seat in the room.
04

Owner & Operator

ABC Academy of Music

Twenty-three years owning and running an independent music academy — teaching, programming, hiring, and the daily work of keeping musicians making music. The studio discipline that keeps the baton honest.

Why I'll make the most of it

A short, intensive workshop rewards the participant who arrives prepared, listens hard, and turns feedback into change between one session and the next. That is how I have worked my whole career — as a player taking direction, as a conductor giving it, and as a teacher every working day. I will come with the scores in my hands and my ears open, ready to use the recordings and the critique long after the three days are over.

Why this workshop

Three days that will have immediate impact.

I am applying to audit. I have spent years in and in front of orchestras, and I learn a lot just by watching a good teacher work with other conductors and hearing him diagnose, coach, and correct. Three days of that with Mark Shapiro would be time well spent, and I would put what I pick up straight to use back on the podium.

Watch & listen

In rehearsal and in performance.

A short walk through the work, from the rehearsal room to the concert stage. Use the buttons to jump to any clip.

Orchestra

Wind Ensemble

Bonus: Family Music Classes

February 2026

Symphony No. 88

Joseph Haydn

With Members of the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Workshopping the first movement with the ensemble.

February 2026

Appalachian Spring

Aaron Copland

With Members of the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Excerpts of playing and coaching from rehearsal.

Finlandia, selections

Jean Sibelius

Vancouver Orchestral Training Society, concert

Concert performance conducting the training orchestra he founded.

Symphony in D minor, selections

César Franck

Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, concert

Concert performance with the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra.

2025

Medelpadia, opening

Jan van der Roost

Toronto Concert Band, rehearsal

The opening passage after workshopping with the band: the rehearsal result.

2025

Medelpadia, workshopping

Jan van der Roost

Toronto Concert Band, rehearsal

Workshopping excerpts: the developmental rehearsal process itself, up close.

December 2023

Symphonic Overture

Samuel Carter

Toronto Concert Band

A streaming recording of the Toronto Concert Band performance.

Babies & Toddlers Family Music Class

Community music education

A bonus: teaching range and warmth with the youngest learners.

Repertoire

Repertoire I've conducted.

A cross-section of orchestral works I have stood in front of an ensemble for — from student readings and training-orchestra rehearsals to concert performances. The classical and romantic core of the workshop sits squarely in this territory: Haydn, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and their company are music I have already lived with from the podium, and music I want to be pushed further on.

Classical Era
- Beethoven — Ruins of Athens Overture
- Haydn — Symphony No. 88
- Mozart — Requiem
- Weber — Euryanthe Overture
Romantic Era
- Berlioz — Beatrice and Benedict Overture
- Brahms — Variations on a Theme by Haydn
- Bruckner — Symphony No. 4, Scherzo
- Dvořák — Symphony No. 6
- Dvořák — Slavonic Dance No. 5 in B♭ minor
- Fauré — Masques et Bergamasques
- Franck — Symphony in D minor
- Johann Strauss Jr. — Die Fledermaus Overture
- Tchaikovsky — Symphony No. 5, mvt. 2
- Verdi — Luisa Miller Overture
- Verdi — La forza del destino Overture
20th Century
- Copland — Appalachian Spring
- Sibelius — Finlandia
- Shostakovich — Festive Overture
- van der Roost — Medelpadia
- Carter — Symphonic Overture
Canadian Commissions
- Nicholas Francis — Fantasy on "The Skye Boat Song" for Trombone & Piano
- Christopher Tyler Nickel — Poème for Bass Trombone
- Christopher Tyler Nickel — Horizons for Orchestra
- Elizabeth Raum — Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra

Reference letter

A conducting reference.

A conducting reference letter from the late Bramwell Tovey, written in support of my work on the podium.

Conducting reference letter — Bramwell Tovey Download · PDF

The next step

I'd be glad to be in the room.

Thank you for your time and kind consideration. I would welcome a place as an auditor in the workshop, and I am happy to answer any questions in the meantime.

Download this application (PDF) See this application online The CV on its own The CV on its own

Telephone: 416 525 6473
Email: barnaby.kerekes@gmail.com

Prepared for Conducting Workshops with Mark Shapiro · Toronto Concert Orchestra · Hamilton, August 6–8 2026

Assistant Conductor

Co-Founder & Music Director

Performer, Substitute Conductor & Former Board Member

Owner & Operator