In 1965, John Giordano auditioned for Ezra Rachlin, the music director for the Fort Worth and Austin Symphony Orchestras, by playing a concerto with each. As a result of the audition, Rachlin engaged Giordano to perform with both orchestras and offered him the assistant conductor position with the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra. The results of that serendipitous audition proved to be the impetus for Giordano’s grand career in symphonic orchestral conducting and led to his long-term relationship with both the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.Speak Loudly and Carry a Little Stick: A Conductor’s Chronicles tells the story of the development of the FWSO and the Cliburn competition as the internationally renowned conductor John Giordano knew them. These enlightening and often humorous chronicles give readers insight into the expansion of the FWSO and the Cliburn during Giordano’s tenure. Giordano’s musical career and adventures carried him all over the world, from China and Russia to Amsterdam and Mexico, and gave him an opportunity to play with musical greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Itzhak Perlman, and Tony Bennett. Through friendships with these talented artists and international figures and through his relationship with music, Giordano proves how critically important music is to our society and how music can positively impact a community.