Essential reading for all who wish to elevate their conducting artistry and leadership skills to the highest order.

—Richard Floyd

Conducting is more than gesture, technique, and score study. Who we are as conductors is also critically important because character, integrity, and personality directly influence the way we connect with others.

Drawing from a deep well of research and years of experience, conductor and teacher Tobin Stewart identifies fourteen essential qualities of great leaders—vision, humility, and passion, to name a few—and applies these to leadership on and off the podium.

He shares candidly about his own successes and failures, and offers practical strategies, stories, quotes, and reflection questions designed to build character and develop the intangible traits of effective, compassionate leaders.

Equally suited for personal or classroom use, Leading as a Conductor: With Integrity of Heart and Skillful Hands closes the gap between technique and the heart and soul of being a conductor. A must-read for instrumental and choral educators at any stage of their career.

Tobin Stewart is the Symphony Orchestra Director and Professor of Music at Montana State University, where he leads the orchestra program and teaches conducting and music education courses. Stewart is a frequent guest conductor and regularly presents workshops on leadership and conducting at regional and national conferences.