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Essentials in
Direct and Teach
Benefits of Having Assistant Directors
Tim Brooks discusses important functions of the assistant music director.
Updated: 9/27/2007 10:19:32 AM
Assistant Directors:
How best to make them part of the team.
By Tim Brooks, former director of the Stone Mountain Chorus, Stone Mountain, GA
It is a well-known fact that the overall level of a chorus is directly related to the quality of the music leadership. And typically, this level is closely associated with the skills of the chorus director. As the director improves--so does the chorus.
So, how can one guy keep all the plates spinning? I think the easiest way is through the use of assistant directors. They can provide the necessary glue to keep the musical program going forward during times when the director isn’t able to provide 100 percent. They can also offer some well-needed diversity by presenting a fresh face down front on a regular basis.
These are guys who may or may not have the same skill level as the director. They also may or may not have the necessary amount of time available to be an adequate front-line director. However, in some cases they may have unique skills that surpass those of the director. Even better! In any case, they should have a desire to help and a willingness to take responsibility for one or more areas of the music program.
In my chorus, the assistant directors were involved every week. They were the lead and bass section leaders and two members of the warm-up team. They each direct a song or two in performance and either one of them is more than capable of handling the entire show if necessary.
Assistant directors can and should be used as sounding boards and or coaches while the director is in front. My assistant directors each had unique strengths and weaknesses that they brought to the table. When I played to their strengths, they helped me grow as a director. They also had the opportunity to exercise their teaching skills, so we all benefited.
Once our regular meeting was over, the three of us always would “pow-wow” for a few minutes to discuss the good, bad and ugly of the rehearsal. We also began to develop the plan for the following week. If time permitted, we’d play through potential new songs, ponder interpretation and presentation issues, talk about coaching, debate artistic philosophies--basically, discuss any topic that involves music.
It is imperative that the front line and assistant directors have a unified vision for the chorus. I was quite fortunate to have just that with my two assistants. We discussed and agreed upon a vision for the chorus. We fed off each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We presented a united front to our chorus. Their presence and input were indispensable.
Having assistant directors helped our chorus maintain a very high musical level for many years. Having these assistants also created a musical talent-pool that other chapters have drawn upon. No less than six assistants from our chorus have gone on to sing in champion quartets, coach quartets and choruses, certify as judges, and serve as front-line directors.
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