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ConductorSchool.com

conducting instruction for

orchestra, band and choir conductors 

 
Home Workshops Wayne Toews Saito method text Resources

Empower your gestures with precision and artistry

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2024 Workshops and Festivals


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2023 Workshops and Festivals

July 22 - 29 International Saito conducting workshop, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

2022 Workshops and Festivals
July 16-23 International Saito conducting workshop, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

2021 Workshops and Festivals
July 19-23 SOA International Saito online conducting course

2020 Workshops and Festivals
Online only

2019 Workshops and Festivals
July 20-27 International Saito conducting workshop, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Oct 28 Vancouver BC

2018 Workshops and Festivals
July 21-28 SOA International Saito conducting workshop, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
February 2-4  Conducting workshop, Edmonton AB
March 20-22 Kindersley Music Festival
March 28 Kerrobert Music Festival

2017 Workshops and Festivals
July 22-29 SOA International Saito conducting workshop, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
April 4 to 7 Battlefords Music Festival
March 9 & 10 Melfort Music Festival

2016 Workshops and Festivals
November 18  Sask Music Conference 9:30 am, Saskatoon Inn
July 16 to 23, SOA International Saito conducting workshop, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
May 14 & 15 at Nepean High School, Ottawa, ON, Canada
May 8 to 14 at Musicfest, Ottawa, ON, Canada
April 18-22, Festival, Lloydminster, SK, Canada
April 12-13, Festival, Unity, SK, Canada
January 21 to 24, Concerto competition, Grande Prairie & Edmonton, AB, Canada

2015 Workshops and Festivals
July 18 to 25, for Sask.Orchestral Assoc., Saskatoon, SK, Canada
May 11 to 15 at Musicfest, Toronto, ON, Canada
April 19, Quill Plains Festival, Kelvington, SK, Canada
March 19, Festival, Nipawin, SK, Canada
March 12 and 13, Festival, Swift Current, SK, Canada

2014 Workshops and Festivals
November 14 & 15 Sask. Music Conference, Saskatoon, SK
October 24 & 25, BCMEA Conference, Richmond, BC
July 19 to 26, for Sask.Orchestral Assoc., Saskatoon, SK, Canada
May 12 to 16 at Musicfest, Richmond, BC, Canada

2013 Workshops and Festivals
November 8 at the SMC, Regina, SK, Canada
July 20 to 27 for Sask. Orchestral Assoc., Saskatoon, SK, Canada
May 13 to 17 at Musicfest, Toronto, ON, Canada
April 30 to May 5, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, USA
April 27 & 28, Tisdale, SK, Canada

Scrapbooks of previous workshops
Click location for photos and information
Edmonton 2018
Saskatoon 2020 Saskatoon 2021 Saskatoon 2022

Click here to read comments from participants in previous workshops

Students of the Saito Conducting method develop extraordinary technique which allows them to express their musical ideas with clarity and artistry. As a student in Germany and principal cellist of the NHK orchestra, Hideo Saito analyzed the gestures used by the most outstanding European conductors. The resulting method has developed during the past sixty years at the Toho Gakuen School of Music whose alumni include Seiji Ozawa and Kazuyoshi Akiyama.
The method uses compositions which are rich with conducting challenges. From the first lesson, students learn how the motion of their arm elicits sounds. Training of the arm begins with a swinging motion to improve precision and to indicate internal rhythms and subdivision. Students are taught to make "Into-point" and "From-point" motions to expand their technical and expressive capabilities. Training of the arm is always accomplished in a musical context. Demonstrations and descriptions facilitate and accelerate technical development.
The method provides a comprehensive study of all major aspects of conducting as a foundation for further study. Students are challenged to express their own interpretations and empowered to apply gestural concepts to new music. Students learn how to choose and apply gestures which will best express their ideas.
Students receive group and individual instruction from Wayne Toews. The students follow a detailed course of study, based upon the Saito Conducting method textbook, and each is given a block of time to work with the teacher. Students also have the opportunity to observe during the lessons of other students. During the lessons, students conduct duo pianists who act as the "ensemble" and who respond accurately and sensitively to the conductor's gestures.


Saito conducting students learn by doing, by observing and by responding. The workshop is best suited to those musicians who have advanced musical training especially in theory, ear training and style. Video recordings will be made of the conducting sessions; each participant will receive a DVD of their work.

I'm pleased to offer this opportunity for conductors to develop gestural excellence. Forty-eight years of study, practice and teaching of the method means that I am both effective and efficient in instructing and helping students. More than 200 conductors have already benefited from my instruction. The workshop is designed for musicians who have excellent listening, music reading and interpretive abilities and who have a keen desire to develop or to improve their gestural skills. It is not necessary for the participants in the first level workshop to have studied conducting. 

International Conducting Workshops using the Saito method

instructed by Wayne Toews
click for course information

For further information contact:

Wayne Toews 1610 Morgan Avenue,Saskatoon, SK.,Canada, S7H 2S1

Telephone: (306) 373-6408

Click HERE to E-mail

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Page updated 7 September 2023