Introduction

The conductor is many things to many people, now more than ever. Until well into the twentieth century, for instance, the profession, with few exceptions, was an exclusively male preserve. Today, women conductors, while still a minority, are increasingly familiar. Ethel Leginska (1886–1970) and Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979) were the great pioneers. Their successors include Veronika Dudarova, Iona Brown, Marin Alsop, Jane Glover, Odaline de la Martinez, Sian Edwards, Andrea Quinn and JoAnn Falletta, although at the time of writing, the principal conductors of all the world's major symphony orchestras remain resolutely male, and there is little evidence that this is likely to change in the immediately foreseeable future. And while the conductor still represents the very apex of glamour in the musical world, the profession itself has never been more seriously questioned.