ABSTRACT
While some conductors themselves believe it is a God-given gift, that there is a mystique about conducting, people would not expect even the most talented instrumentalist or vocalist to go without teaching or coaching. There is always more to learn, but learning is not the result only of teaching. In the design of choral conducting courses, an underlying rationale must be presumed, so that they become more than just technical, beat-pattern style courses. The essential technical and musical requisites need to be addressed, of course, but alongside communication skills and the expressive and stylistic musical requirements. The construction of a choral conducting curriculum will be dependent naturally on the level of the students. Those who are starting from scratch will have different needs from, say, graduate students who are already practicing with choirs on a regular basis. Developing interpersonal and communication skills in conducting students, or at least heightening awareness of the need for them, is difficult.
