Management in the conservatoire of the future: Administering or leading

ABSTRACT

The argument of this article is that British music conservatoires have been slow to adapt their management approaches to the rapidly changing higher education environment in which they now find themselves, in particular because of their strong alignment with the music profession. The article argues that there is now a need for strong leadership in conservatoires if they are to succeed in the future and that many have been actively engaged in tackling the transition to a more proactive leadership style. A number of conservatoires have attempted to develop new management models, with varying degrees of success. I conclude that conservatoires need management teams which combine a number of discrete but essential skills if they are to meet their considerable potential.

Since, then, a prince is necessitated to play the animal well, he chooses among the beasts the fox and the lion, because the lion does not protect himself from traps; the fox does not protect himself from wolves. The prince must be a fox, therefore, to recognize the traps and a lion to frighten the wolves. (Niccol`o Machiavelli [1513] Il Principe, ch. 18.

There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method. (Herman Melville [1815] Moby Dick, ch. 82)