Turning points in shaping choral conducting practice: six tales of Norwegian conductors’ professional development

Figures & data

Table 1. Informant overview. Abbreviated versions of two turning points are highlighted.

Informant	Entry Point	Music Education	Turning point 1	Turning point 2
Thomas	Inspired in high school	Musicology, followed by a master's in conducting.	Nearly gave up during his conductor education but stuck it out	Failed to get conducting jobs, bit the bullet and continued to develop his skills
Anna	Growing up in choirs	Music therapy, followed by conducting courses	Discovered the shared group pulse during her music therapy education	Discovered the strong impact of conducting during a course
Eva	Tipped off about choir in need of conductor by high school teacher	Teacher education, followed by singer education, choral conducting	Pressurised by mismatch with conducting tutor, on the verge of quitting	Realised that generosity and kindness work better in the long run
Johannes	Friends accidentally dragged him into a choir in need of a conductor	Music educator including conducting, followed by singer education	Reduced full time teaching position to make space for more performing music	Disappointed by entirely gestural focus of conducting education at the expense of pedagogy
Cecilie	Conducting as part of music education	Classical singer, followed by pedagogic training, course in choral conducting	Discovered with an open-minded tutor how she could integrate her gestural style with her overall singing skills	Being outside her classical comfort zone as gospel choir conductor, learned gospel style from choir and band members
Martin	Growing up in boys’ choir, asked to lead group singing at youth camp	Church music with combined organ playing and conducting	Discovered self-confidence coming from the weight of his education	After a life with choirs realised that conducting is not all there is to life, wary of not overidentifying with it