Ask An Expert: Leadership Qualities

Here's an excellent question from Emily Kroeck, who asks:

Q: What are the titled players roles and responsibilities? Does each titled player have a unique leadership role? Once a musician accepts a titled position, what must they do to maintain it?

So, let's define our terms first. A titled player in an orchestra is any musician who holds a title like principal, associate principal, co-principal, etc. These are the leaders of the orchestra, and though their roles do differ from instrument to instrument, I went to one of our most prominent titled players, Principal Cellist Tony Ross, for a deeper explanation...

Tony's answer: Well, the principal, of course, is the leader of the section, and the associate or assistant principals are there to take over when the principal isn't there. The main role of the principal starts long before the first rehearsal, with putting bowings and other markings in the parts, and making decisions with other principals about how certain things should be played. We also make decisions in rehearsals, and try to know what the conductor will want before he asks for it.

Occasionally, principals also deal with what you might call artistic enforcement, making sure that everyone in the section is on the same page as far as quality of sound and style. If an individual in the section isn't playing something the way I think it should be played, I take it as part of my job to address that. Aside from all that, we're basically the figureheads for the orchestra.

Sam's addendum: As far as maintaining their positions as titled players, this is a bit tricky, and varies widely from orchestra to orchestra. Here in Minneapolis, all members of the orchestra spend our first two years of employment on probation, during which time we get feedback from our colleagues as to how we're doing, and what could use improvement. At the end of that probation, musicians are granted tenure (or not, in which case the musician must leave the orchestra,) which provides a heavy measure of job security.

However, while a titled musician may have tenure, the tenure does not extend to his/her title, which can be revoked at any time by the music director. In other words, while the music director cannot dismiss a principal from the orchestra for artistic reasons without following a long and deliberately difficult process, he can strip the principal of his/her title, thus demoting him to a less prominent position within the section.

Generally, it is expected that titled players will maintain a good relationship with their sections, keep their skills sharp at all times, and be responsive to other principals in the orchestra, as well as to the music director. The stripping of a player's title has occurred only very rarely in Minnesota Orchestra history, and it has never happened under our current music director. It should also be noted that some titled players choose to give up their titles late in their careers and step back into the section, if they are concerned that their skills might be diminishing.