Musical and Non-Musical Responsibilities of Choir Conductors in Malaysia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe how choir conductors perceive their musical and non-musical roles and responsibilities, to list the necessary knowledge and skill required of the choir conductor, and to identify the challenges faced by the choir conductor in leading the choir group. The subject selected for this study is five qualified and experienced choir conductors from UiTM Chamber Choir, two conductors from Young Choral Academy, one from BAVE Chamber Choir, and Johor Chamber Choir. The five conductors were selected based on their qualifications in choral conducting certificates and experiences spent more than 5 years in choir conducting and the criteria were to ensure that the data collected from these subjects would be valid and reliable. Data collections were done via semi-structured interviewing sessions with the choir conductor alone by audio recording the interview session. All the data was organized transcribe, analyzed, and documented. The results of this study have shown that the choir conductor has very important roles and responsibilities for the outcome performance of the choir group.