Five parameters for studying leadership styles in orchestra conductors

Abstract

This study aims to investigate leadership in orchestra conducting and interrogate educational principles to improve conducting pedagogy. Effective leadership implies a set of interpersonal, communicational, and emotional skills combined with a high level of expertise, which may enable the leader to not only achieve excellent outcomes but also create a positive and collaborative working climate and vision for the performance. This work demonstrates that there are strong implications between effective leadership and orchestra conducting. We examine how orchestra conductors are perceived to be effective leaders and deduce from general leadership theories the following five parameters: charisma, stage presence, nonverbal communication, relationships with musicians, and leadership style. Interviews with orchestra conductors and performers support these five parameters for effective orchestra conducting. We perform a detailed analysis of the profiles of two renowned orchestra leaders— namely, Herbert von Karajan and Gustavo Dudamel— to test the five parameters and distill educational implications for both scholars and practitioners. The results are presented and discussed, along with implications for the education of orchestra conductors.