Choral singers' perceptions of musical leadership

Abstract

This chapter is about musical leadership and specifically the role of the choral conductor. The conductor role is familiar to anyone who has been singing in a school choir or have been the audience of live or televised concerts. The role is prominent in concert programmes and associated with ensembles whenever they are profiled or critiqued. The presence of a conductor is largely taken for granted by the layman as well as the scholar, as self-evident as the presence of musicians and singers. The purpose of this chapter is to look through this veil of self-evidence by reflecting on what conducting is, why we need it it and what makes it work. Contrary to most writing on conducting and conductors, this chapter will take the choral singer’s viewpoint, describing how musical leadership is perceived and experienced by those whom conducting is intended to impact.