Preface
The purpose of this paper, prepared by the League’s Conducting Continuum Committee, is to clarify the roles of conductor and music director in American orchestras. It seeks to answer: what does a music director do? and what type of person would make an effective music director? What follows can serve as a guide for the aspiring conductor or serve as a set of criteria for identifying, selecting, and training conductors. The Committee hopes that discussions emanating from what is written here will lead to a better understanding of what is required to become a music director and provide a common vocabulary with which the orchestra field can discuss issues of artistic leadership.
Introduction
In America, music directors are called upon to play three overlapping roles:
- Principal Conductor: a performing musician
- Artistic Director: the artistic head of the institution
- Community Arts Leader: an advocate, ambassador, and teacher working on behalf of the orchestra in its community
The effective music director will have the ability to perform each of these three roles well; maintaining the proper balance of roles will be critical to his or her success. Being a conductor, and the primacy of musical skills it requires, is the base upon which the other two roles are developedÑthus, this paper begins there before going on to describe the traits and personal qualities that are essential to the artistic director and community arts leader. The focus on conducting skills gives emphasis to the requirement that every music d
