The maestro on the podium is one of classical music’s most recognisable figures – but what exactly are they doing up there? Clemency Burton-Hill finds out.

Fifty years later I do it for real. But what conductors actually do can be a bit of a mystery. It’s a misconception that the sole purpose of a conductor is to wave their arms around .

And don’t duck under the train, because most stations do not have enough clearance for the average human. And do NOT jump down onto the tracks to try to save someone else.

“What the audience sees at a performance is really the final touches of what a conductor does,” says Patti Niemi, the acting principal percussionist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.

Most people know a conductor stands at a podium and waves a stick to keep an ensemble in time. But what exactly does a conductor do? UC Davis Concert Band Director Pete Nowlen said he has three main ...

That’s what a conductor does: mold an interpretation by filtering the thousands of decisions packed into every minute of symphonic music.

The maestro on the podium is one of classical music’s most recognisable figures – but what exactly are they doing up there? Clemency Burton-Hill finds out.