Curricular structures and philosophies in advanced wind conducting: a study of graduate wind conducting programs in Big Ten universities

Graduate wind conducting programs prepare students to teach collegiate band and conducting techniques through musical curricular content and apprenticeship in administrative tasks. Despite their important role, there is little research examining the structure of these programs beyond a few studies of their course requirements.

The purpose of this study is to examine the curricular and administrative components of graduate wind conducting programs in Big Ten universities, and the philosophical beliefs and curricular decisions of primary wind conducting professors.

Primary wind conducting teachers at the twelve Big Ten universities that offer an MM/MA and DMA wind conducting degrees participated in a questionnaire and open-ended interviews. Some participants also shared personal websites, course syllabi, and other information relevant to understanding the structure of their programs. Interview transcripts were coded to identify common themes, and narrative data on each of the three research questions and their relevant sub-categories were presented in separate chapters.

Although each professor had their own approaches to teaching graduate conductors, three common themes emerged: a) reverse engineering of degree programs to best prepare students for employment opportunities after graduation; b) teaching students to become self-reflective individuals who can continue to observe and refine their conducting and teaching skills following completion of their graduate studies; and c) developing the entire person as a product of graduate conducting studies. The results describe practices used by primary conducting professors in the Big Ten and provide potential instructional strategies and yield a means for future comparison with other universities offering similar degree programs.