James Morley Potter

Category: Leadership

  • Never be witty: Schönberg on conducting

    Never be witty: Schönberg on conducting

    Schreker has a lot to do. During his absence, I am supposed to lead two rehearsals of the mixed choir, and more often the male choirs. I am still very much in doubt whether I can do this! A word from you, dear Herr Schönberg, would be extremely precious to me. In a letter of […]

  • Book Notes: The Beat Stops Here

    Book Notes: The Beat Stops Here

    It is a truism that conducting can’t be learned from a book. I don’t actually think there are any books out there that purport to be able to teach conducting in complete isolation from actual experience in front of a group of musicians. But I’ve often found books on conducting helpful in clarifying ideas, or […]

  • Musical leadership without music

    Musical leadership without music

    The role of conductor changed abruptly in mid-March of this year. For me, it’s thrown the nature of musical leadership into the spotlight: how can those of us with responsibility for musical direction maintain this responsibility when a direct musical relationship isn’t possible? The business world tells us that the companies that do well are […]