Conducting an ensemble takes more than a few waves of a baton and a fancy suit — it takes imagination, patience, knowledge, experience and humility.

Prof. Jerry Blackstone, chair of the conducting department in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, said that since ensembles generally consist of people from a variety of backgrounds, a conductor’s job is to unify them.

“The ensemble is as a good as the conductor,” he said. “The choir will only be as good as the person standing in front of them, same is true for an orchestra or band. Just like a football team, the members might be really talented, but until there is someone there to unify and build a team and perspective, it’s not going to work.”

Arian Khaefi, a choral conducting graduate student, said he fell in love with conducting because it allows him to create music in a collaborative setting.

“I think that (conducting) is a wonderful way to communicate with people,” Khaefi said. “It’s about the ability to help people make fantastic sounds and shape the music.”

Although conducting might be something a selection of undergraduates have a strong passion for, Blackstone said it isn’t offered at that level because the department wants the students to have experience as a vocalist or instrumentalist.

Students interested in conducting degrees are usually those who have an undergraduate performance degree or a liberal arts degree from a prestigious college.

“People who want (the degree) are people who have a passion for ensembles, whether it be vocal, orchestral or band,” Blackstone said.

Since potential conductors are required to have a deep understanding of the piece, they usually have an undergraduate focus in theory, musicology or performance.

“They aren’t amateurs,” Blackstone said. “They are professionals that could go in any direction but chances are, they got bit by the conducting bug due to their love for working with groups of people and making an ensemble.”

Khaefi’s decision to go into choral conducting started when he was young, at his grandmother’s wake. He was intrigued by the classical music playing.

“I’ve never heard anything like it before,” he said. “Turns out it was Mozart’s Requiem. After I heard it, I knew I had to be a part of whatever that was.”

Music, Theatre & Dance junior Ken Sieloff said he has a strong interest in pursuing a graduate degree in conducting — most likely choral, due to his natural inclination as a leader and his passion for music.

“I’ve always been a leader,” Sieloff said. “Not only musically, but with things outside of music as well. There’s something about the preparation that goes into conducting and actually conducting a performance that is really satisfying to my inner musician.”

Sieloff added that, as a conductor, the relationship that develops with the members of an ensemble and with the music is highly rewarding.

“Being able to study a single piece of music so deeply that you know it inside and out really gives you an interesting connection,” he said.

The University's program has three divisions of conducting classes — vocal, orchestral and band, each led by a faculty member who focuses in that area. In those classes, two or three times a week, a student will stand up and conduct while everyone else sings or plays. At the conclusion, the professor responds to the student’s conducting. The sessions are recorded for the student to look back upon and improve.