The Role of A Musical Director - An introduction

What is a musical director? It is a question that often gets asked and one that provides a plethora of different responses. 

A musical director's role is not just about conducting and includes all aspects of people management, planning rehearsals, leading sectional rehearsals, giving one to one musical support, supporting individual progression, creating engaging programmes of music, creating performance opportunities for the band, promoting the band in wider circles, recruitment of potential players, supporting the promotion of safeguarding, supporting the promotion of good mental health for each player within the band. This list could go on and would probably be endless if I was to list everything that was incorporated in the role of a musical director!

A musical director is first and foremost a leader and must have a clear plan of action which must be effectively communicated and agreed by each member of the band. A clear direction is the key to building a positive and productive environment. 

A plan of action is made up of long terms goals which is further split down into smaller term stepped goals which outline the stages of progression that will support the achievement of an overall goal. An overall plan of action may cover a five year period but the smaller stepped goals may cover smaller goals over a year period. For example if a band has recently been demoted to a lower section an overall goal may be to regain promotion to a higher section but smaller stepped goals may be to fill certain seat vacancies or to explore strategies for coping with performance anxiety on stage which may lead to a band attending more contests as a result. 

Another example may include trying to build a bigger engagements in the local community which may start with the band compiling a list of potential venues, local arts organisations, local brass bands or local choirs and making contact with those organisations to explore potential opportunities.

In every brass band, people are at the heart of the organisation and so every decision should be made which will benefit the members of that brass band. In every brass band you have a number of different personalities and motivations which a musical director will have to manage and part of that job is identifying what each individual wants and finding where the common ground for the vast majority of the band lie. 

For some individuals within a band, they will want to experience success on the contest stage or play at a certain level, other individuals may want to improve their own playing or develop as a soloist within the band, other individuals may want to develop a firmer base of local support or build closer community relationships for the band or create innovative and engaging concert programmes. 

As mentioned above, a clear plan of action is the key to developing a positive and productive environment but it should be mentioned that although a musical director is often the professional of a brass band that any planning must be collectively agreed by the committee and wider band for any successful results to start to shape. 

When working with brass bands, I often talk about going on a journey in which there will be lots of experiences both positive and negative but it is one that we will go on together. When a band collectively goes on a journey together and can see how rehearsals are linked and how those rehearsals lead to tangible results such as really exciting concerts or a positive contest result then this supports the development of a positive supported team driven environment. 

An often overlooked role of a musical director is that of people management skills. A band is made up of people with their own individual beliefs, desires, needs and experiences and when a group of people are brought together there can be natural rubbing points which may cause friction or conflict within the band environment. These friction points can be avoided by the musical director communicating with each individual member in the band and finding where the common ground lies. 

In a brass band environment there are naturally a lot of character traits and it is important to take into account those wider views for example if a discussion has been held and some individuals have not spoken much it may be useful to take some time to speak with an individual on a one on one basis to take into account their views. 

There are points where a musical director will have to have difficult conversations and it must be remembered that this is a natural part of working with people. What makes a conversation difficult can often come down to how you as an individual views a particular situation. As an individual I know that I care deeply about every individual within the bands that I work with and I get pleasure from seeing people achieve their own goals and this is something that I always have at the forefront of my mind when having any difficult conversation that I am presented with. 

It must be mentioned that shying away from difficult conversations will naturally result in more tension and friction in the band environment and there will come a natural point where this cannot be contained and so dealing with any situation at the earliest possible convinence will often result in bigger issues becoming present in the future. 

The atmosphere in a band room is something that I never see discussed by most professional conductors but one that every musical director will be dealing with on a weekly basis. I often ask myself the question, how do I feel when I walk into a band room?, does it feel like a friendly environment?, how do people interact with each other?, what do rehearsals feel like?, Do I feel like I have enjoyed myself at the end of the rehearsal?. These are all really valid questions and link to the overall culture and atmosphere of a band. 

We live in an increasingly busy world with free time often being quite limited and so for anyone to commit to a hobby then that hobby has to value their time and also leave them in a positive place. In rehearsals, you will often find yourself with up to thirty individuals who have all had different experiences that day, some individuals may have had a difficult day at work, other individuals may be feeling really positive due to some exciting news, other individuals will be facing difficult situations which me may not know anything about and how we interact with those individuals may leave them in a better place or a worse place and it should be the aim of every musical director and any level to encourage, support and be a positive influence towards each and every individual that we encounter. 

In conclusion, the above post does not even scratch the surface of what a musical director does on a daily basis but I hope it provokes some points for thoughts for discussion.