Maestro, Conductor or Metro-Gnome: Reflections from the Rostrum

Fredman, M. Maestro, Conductor or Metro-Gnome: Reflections from the Rostrum. (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2006) [Book]. 130p. ISBN 1-84519-124-2. Research background: There is growing research into the aesthetics and sociology of conducting, but little substantial literature from the professionals themselves above and beyond memoire. As a result the profession is still clouded by much mystique, in both academic and wider public domains. Research contribution: This study considers what is involved in being a conductor and in doing so attempts to unravels some of the mystique that surrounds this intensely public profession. It sets out the musicianship requirements and physical gestures that have to be mastered in training, and thus provides a guide to establishing or critiquing conductor training pedagogies. Research Significance: Published by UK-based academic press Sussex Academic in 2006.