Guidelines for Choosing Festival Conductors By Sam Moore-Young, MMEA Past-President


Many of us have "volunteered" to manage festival groups and have grappled with many challenging de‐ cisions. The most immediate challenge faced after accepting the position of manager is that of inding and choosing an outstanding festival conductor. Recognizing the importance of this challenge, the MMEA Executive Board spent part of a meeting discussing how different Districts address this issue to determine if any guidelines existed or if written guidelines might be of use to present and future festival managers. A subcommittee was formed and discovered that most MMEA districts do not have speci‐ ic guidelines in place. The absence of guidelines gives managers a certain degree of freedom in their quest, but can also lead to a less than positive experience for students should a conductor turn out to be a poor match for a particular festival/ensemble.


Emerging from the subcommittee’s work was a list of several suggestions that seem to be criteria used across multiple Districts and festivals. They include the ideas that the conductor should:


• have several years experience teaching • have experienced recognized success in his/her teaching position • have experience working with the age group to be conducted • have a personality and working style that will work well with young musicians • be new to students (This means that the conductor is usually not from host district.) • select an age and skill level appropriate program in collaboration with the manager • be able to adhere to timelines and maintain communication with the manager • Additionally, there was some debate as to whether or not the conductor should hold a music de‐


gree. Competency in the above criteria, however, was considered paramount whether or not the conductor had ‘degree in hand’.


Some additional thoughts on conductor selection included: • Never hire a conductor based solely on friendship. It can backire and cost you your credibility as a ensemble manager.


• Pick two or three candidates who you believe would be appropriate for the festival. • Seek input. Check out your potential hires with trusted colleagues. Previous managers, teaching


• Don’t ask a person to conduct until s/he has been approved through whatever processes are used in your district. For example, in District III all conductors are selected by managers and approved by the District chair. This insures that at least two people review a potential conductor before s/ he is invited to conduct.


colleagues and other conductors may provide additional insight into a particular festival conduc‐ tor’s work.


Always remember that the festival experience is all about the kids. Insuring that their experience is a positive one means that more kids will want to participate in the future.


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