The Role of the Conductor: A Choral Member's Perspective

Another little something I wrote for Concentus' blog (the women's group in which I sing):

My non-musician husband once asked me what purpose the conductor serves in a concert.  He understands that an ensemble needs someone to prepare the group, but he can't understand what function the person with her back to the audience at a performance serves. Because he’s a guy, I tried a sports analogy. A good conductor is like a good sports coach:  auditioning musicians (recruiting/trading players), selecting the music and assigning parts (creating a playbook and assigning positions), and rehearsing (training) the ensemble in preparation for the performance (game). Just as the coach's role doesn't end at the start of play – he's on the sidelines encouraging, directing, reacting to the game as it unfolds – neither does the conductor's role end when the house lights go down.

Gwen conducting Concentus in our December 2013 concert

One of the conductor’s primary functions is to keep the tempo, but it’s more than beating out the beat.  For example, Gwen (our conductor) also helps different voice parts with particularly sticky entrances, and with cutoffs, particularly if the words end in an ‘s’ (so we don’t sound like a bunch of hissing snakes!).  She also helps elicit a particular mood from the group (from happy to somber), and reminds us to smile when appropriate (there’s nothing like a scowling group of singers to let the audience know the piece is either really difficult or unpopular…).  And if things go off the rails, if we speed up frantically, slow down ponderously, or somehow get out of synch, all of the singers look to her to get us back on track.  So it’s critical that the musicians glance up from the music frequently (sort of like keeping your eyes on both the road and the rear view mirror while driving).  Without the conductor, the group could probably muddle through by feeling the music together, and watching each other, but there would be the occasional train wreck that would require starting the piece over entirely – something neither the singers not the audience would enjoy!

I once sang in a large chorus with a director whose conducting style was inconsistent – it changed dramatically between rehearsal and performance.  Because we were not used to some of the conductor’s movements, we sometimes got confused, and either missed entrances or jumped the gun!  Then there’s a collective but uncommunicable concern, especially if accompaniment is involved, about how to fix things.  I recall one time it was so bad that we had to just start all over. Luckily, most conductors are skilled at their jobs, and that means you don’t usually notice what they add to the performance.  Which means you just might wonder what purpose the conductor serves….