A conductor’s role

When an orchestra begins to play, is the conductor nervous?

It’s not his/her job to be nervous: it’s every musician’s job to be nervous about their own performance.

So what’s the conductor’s job?

• Lead: Negotiating a piece into a focused performance.
• Listen: Keeping pace for everyone so the performance stays tight.
• Conduit: Serving as a bridge between the audience’s eyes and ears.

That leaves the musicians with one job: to get the notes right.

After all, the conductor can’t un-play wrong notes or become a violinist mid-performance.

Are you a conductor on your team? Are you nervous? What will you do about it?