A
music director is a
profession in different fields.
Orchestra
The title of music director or
musical director is
used by many
symphony orchestras
to designate the primary
conductor and
artistic leader of the orchestra.
The term "music director" is most common
for orchestras in the United States
. With European orchestras, the titles of
"principal conductor" or "chief conductor" are more common, which
designate the conductor who directs the majority of a given
orchestra's concerts in a season. In
musical theatre and
opera, the music director is in charge of the overall
musical performance, including ensuring that the cast knows the
music thoroughly, supervising the musical interpretation of the
performers and pit orchestra, and conducting the orchestra.
In the 20th century, the title and position typically brought with
it an almost unlimited influence over the particular orchestra's
affairs. As implied by the name, the music director not only
conducts concerts, but also controls what music the orchestra will
perform or record, and has much authority regarding hiring, firing,
and other personnel decisions over an orchestra's musicians. Such
authoritarian rule, once expected and even thought necessary for a
symphonic ensemble to function properly, has loosened somewhat in
the closing decades of the 20th century with the advent and
encouragement of more power sharing and cooperative management
styles (with the orchestra musicians themselves, the administrative
staff, and volunteer board of directors). The music director in
American lingo also assists with fund-raising, and also is the
primary focus of publicity for the orchestra, as what is often
called its "public face".
The term "music director" or "musical director" became common in
the United States in the middle of the 20th century, following an
evolution of titles. Early leaders of orchestras were simply
designated as the "conductor." In the 1920s and 1930s, the term
musical director began to be used, in order to delineate the fact
that the person in this position was doing much more than just
conducting, and to differentiate them from guest conductors who
simply led one particular program or concert.
George Szell, for instance, was appointed as
"musical director" of the
Cleveland
Orchestra in 1946, and his position was so named until his
death in 1970. His successor,
Lorin
Maazel, was given the title "music director." Other major
American orchestras kept more current with the times and began
using the simpler term in the 1950s and '60s.
Film and theatre
Alternatively, the term "music director" used to appear in the film
credits for a professional hired to supervise and direct the music
selected for a film or music
documentary, but today the more common
designation is
music
supervisor.
In
India
, where a large number of movies are produced as
musical, the term 'music director' is
commonly used for the composer and music producer of the songs and
score used in the film. Their roles also entail arranging,
mastering, mixing and supervising recording of film music with
conducting and orchestration. Usually, another artist will receive
the credit for the lyrics of the songs.
The "music
director" for a theatrical production or Broadway
musical
often serves as rehearsal pianist and
conductor.
Brass bands,
wind
bands,
choirs,
opera
companies and other ensembles may also have musical
directors.
Broadcasting
A music director of a
radio station is
responsible for interacting with record company representatives,
auditioning new music, and making decisions (sometimes in
conjunction with the
program
director) as to which songs get airplay, how much and when. In
college radio, there may be more than
one music director, as
students usually
volunteer only a few hours each per week, and most stations have a
diverse and extensive library of several different
music genres.
References
See also
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