Music Leadership Quotes

What appeals to me about an American music directorship is the involvement of the conductor with the orchestra and the community. I think that's a fantastic thing. In Europe, being principal conductor means merely that you're the person who does most of the concerts. For me, that simply isn't enough.

We need improvement in the style of performance. There is no more advantage in a musician who plays and conducts than in one who is only a beater of rhythm.

Music is the most important thing. I'm thinking of my future. There has to be something new, and I want to be part of it. I want to lead an orchestra with excellent musicians. I want to play music which draws pictures of the world and its space

I do believe that the Chinese are becoming international leaders in showing the way forward for concert music.

I'm not trying to pull the rug out from under anybody, but the music really does tell you where to go.

Any conductor who tells you that if he is approached for the directorship of the Chicago Symphony that he's not interested in it, you know perfectly well he's lying.

Good conductors know when to push and when to lay back. I've known so many great conductors that I'm still doing what I can to learn the craft of this role.

Conducting is about communication. You don't play any notes, but you communicate with the musicians.

The pastor of a parish will typically have no education in the chant or in music, and he will hire the first music director who walks through the door.

I just want to spearhead and lead a new style of New Orleans music.

I have a big problem with conductors who gesture a lot.

The singing tells everybody what to do musically.

Conductors are performers.

I'm a band dictator.

I really want to get better at conducting.

I love conducting. What I'm tired of is music administration. I don't want that. I just want to make music.

I think if I wasn't a musician, I would be a high-school band director or orchestra director. I like working with large groups of musicians and bringing out the dynamics and accomplishing something as a team.

The most difficult problem in conducting is intonation. You must know what is wrong and how to correct it.

We were the first group where the drummer was the front man.

You could almost write an opera about the selection of music directors for orchestras. The intrigues are really interesting, and then, at the end, the results are completely unexpected.

I still feel the impulse to give young writers a hearing, and I believe I have played more unpublished compositions than any other band leader in the country.