The Conductor's Credo

Music lives only when the notes fly off the page and soar into glorious sound. The performer, the conductor, releases them from bondage through his or her feeling for the message, through the power of the imagination, and by means of the physical technique one devotedly acquires. We build technique only to ensure that our music can achieve its unforgettable moments, evanescent as they are, before once more returning to its prison of impatient silence. The most profoundly inspiring performances o a lifetime were those where the performer's technique was so superb that we forgot it existed. Music spoke its own language in its own way, uninfluenced by human frailty.

~Elizabeth Green, The Modern Conductor