ABSTRACT

This study examines the challenges of choral conducting. The modern conductor, who provides artistic leadership and direction in music making, is a relatively recent figure in the history of musical performance, but questions of musical leadership, and of how leadership addresses the constraints performers face, are much older. A large body of historical and contemporary literature already exists on conducting and conducting technique, and recent work stresses the conductor’s role as a leader and communicator as well as a technician (Garnett, 2021; Ludwa, 2012). The study set out to investigate the leadership characteristics of choral conductors; to examine the relationships between conductors’ perceived leadership characteristics and elements of their communication style; to ascertain the relationship between conductors’ perceived leadership skills and the clarity of their conducting gestures; and to determine the challenges of choral conducting that arise from conductors’ leadership characteristics, skills and communication styles.

The study used a quantitative research design, with conductors selected because they stand at the centre of the leadership and organisational challenges choirs face. The findings point to a clear link between music education, choral conducting and leadership studies. Whatever the type of ensemble, conductors’ presence, their communication skills on and off the podium, and their transactional, transformational and inspirational leadership skills are related. Conductors therefore need to develop sound communication skills, relationships and capacities, and they should adopt a transformational leadership style to reduce friction within the group and to measure the success achieved.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

A choir, or chorus, is an organised group of singers. Choirs take several forms: a mixed-voice choir includes both women and men, a male-voice choir is usually made up of men (and sometimes boys), and a double choir is divided into two equal and complete bodies. The word “chorus” tends to be used for secular groups, though there are many exceptions. Choral singing has a long history that reaches back to Greek tragedy and the Italian Renaissance, and it has remained a prominent form of communal music-making in schools, workplaces, churches and community organisations.

A choir is also a small society. Singers bring individual voices, personalities and expectations to a group that must sound as one. Recent scholarship on choral leadership argues that successful groups depend on members’ sense of belonging, and that choral practice contains both features that build belonging and features that inhibit it, such as the way rehearsal structures can discourage safety and vulnerability among singers (Garnett, 2021). The conductor sits at the centre of these dynamics. Conducting is not only a matter of beating time and shaping interpretation; it involves training, administration and overall leadership of the ensemble, communicated through gesture, facial expression, voice and verbal instruction (Odusanya, 2025).

In Africa, and Nigeria in particular, the number of choirs has grown considerably over recent decades, especially in churches, schools and communities. Choral conducting in Nigeria has expanded, particularly in religious groups, but the expansion faces serious obstacles. These include financial constraints, inadequate rehearsal facilities, limited access to formal training and mentorship, and tension between Western and indigenous musical traditions (Odusanya, 2025). Many conductors come from informal backgrounds such as church choirs, where training often relies on trial and error or oral transmission rather than a systematic framework (Odusanya, 2025). Choir directors in the contemporary African church also face a widening range of roles and pressures as new musical idioms enter Christian worship (Shitandi, 2018).

The qualities of the conductor shape how a choir develops and holds together. Leadership research in music suggests that transformational leadership, which includes inspirational motivation and idealised influence, is associated with positive outcomes in ensembles. It has been studied in youth choirs (Hoffart, 2017), and conductors’ ratings of their own communication skills have been linked with their ratings of transformational, transactional and inspirational leadership (Ludwa, 2012). The same research warns that a conductor’s self-perception may not match how singers and colleagues experience the conductor’s leadership (Ludwa, 2012). Choirs in Nigeria are also changing: studies of contemporary practice show conductors adopting new performance strategies to broaden audiences, and finding that the conductor’s role extends beyond directing to include additional responsibilities (Ebe, 2026).

Where choirs are formed and run informally, the challenges multiply. Conflict over power and roles, age differences, technology, individual recognition, ownership rights and money can all weaken a choir, and members who are dissatisfied may leave to join or form new groups. Observations of the choral scene suggest that some church choristers feel uncomfortable or unwelcome in adult choirs, that some junior choristers are moved into adult choirs against their wishes, and that some choirs are formed by young, inexperienced musicians who are in a hurry to start groups without regard to their technical and organisational demands. Some groups also operate more like businesses, organising concerts and events for income and for identity. Conflict is an unavoidable part of any group of people, and a choir is no exception. As a director of music, the researcher has seen these problems at first hand, and the study investigates them in order to understand how conducting can respond to them.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Choirs have multiplied in Africa over the last three decades, and they attract many people, especially young adults. They have also opened an avenue for professional and non-professional musicians that differs from the older church-based system in its motivations and development. Choirs now exist in most communities and are helping to revive choral performance through concerts.

This growth has not removed the difficulties of leading these groups. Conductors encounter problems of leadership, communication, discipline and group cohesion, and when these are poorly handled, members break away and groups split. Previous work shows that conducting in Nigeria suffers from weak training and mentorship, limited funding and facilities, and cultural tensions in repertoire and practice (Odusanya, 2025), while research on leadership shows that conductors’ own perception of their leadership may differ from that of their singers (Ludwa, 2012). Little attention has been paid to how a conductor’s leadership characteristics, skills and communication style produce challenges within a particular choir. It is therefore important to understand the challenges encountered in conducting choirs, the consequences of members breaking away, and the changes and innovations that have followed. Exquisite Choir is used as the case study.

1.3 Justification for the Study

Choirs play an important part in Christian worship. They lead congregational singing, preserve the music of the church’s heritage and introduce contemporary music, and they contribute to the vitality of the liturgy. Many church choirs, however, are performing below their potential. Reasons include declining interest among members, ageing membership and weak leadership, together with the attitude of some clergy who regard the choir as less important now that church bands are common. In many services, anthems and other choral pieces have been shortened or dropped to save time. Young people with a strong desire for choral music often find no suitable environment in the church, and move into new choirs formed outside it.

These developments call for an approach that can help sustain and promote church and choral music, and effective conducting is central to such an approach. The study therefore investigates the leadership characteristics, skills and communication styles of choral conductors and the challenges they produce, with the aim of contributing to the development, performance practices and contribution of choirs to choral art music in Africa.

1.4 Aims and Objectives

The general objective of the study is to investigate the challenges in choral conducting. Specifically, the study seeks to:

1. investigate the leadership characteristics of choral conductors;
2. examine the relationships between conductors’ perceived leadership characteristics and elements of communication style;
3. ascertain the relationship between conductors’ perceived leadership skills and the clarity of their conducting gestures; and
4. determine the challenges of choral conducting arising from conductors’ leadership characteristics, skills and communication styles.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study will add to the literature on choirs and conducting and help define the identity of individual musicians and choirs. It will serve as source material for those who wish to develop choirs further, and as a platform for researchers who wish to examine other performance practices and styles in Africa. It will also help in documenting and passing on indigenous church music and choral art music, and in explaining the distinctive traditions and performance practices of choirs. Given the call for better conductor training and mentorship in Nigeria (Odusanya, 2025), the findings can also inform curriculum design and professional development for choral conductors.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The study focuses on the challenges, development, conflict management, performance practices and styles, and contributions of choirs in Africa, with particular emphasis on selected choirs in Nigeria, using Exquisite Choir as a case study. It explores their roles, performance events and the type of music they perform. The analysis of performance practice covers recruitment, rehearsal, repertoire, costume, performance settings, instrumental accompaniment, conducting and overall choral sound, in order to evaluate properly the challenges of choral conducting and management.

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms

Choir: An organised group of singers, especially one that takes part in church services or performs in public.

Conducting: The art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. The conductor usually stands on a raised podium with a music stand holding the full score, which contains the notation for all the instruments or voices.

Leadership: The ability of a conductor to guide, motivate and influence singers towards shared musical goals. Leadership styles discussed in this study include transformational, transactional and inspirational leadership.

References

Ebe, S. O. (2026). Contemporary performance practices in Nigerian choral music: A study of Gbenga Obagbemi’s performances. https://nigerianjournalsonline.com/index.php/afujma/article/view/92

Garnett, L. (2021). The Culture Code: Implications for choral leadership. Association of British Choral Directors Journal, 166. https://abcd.org.uk/our-journal/published-articles/the-culture-code/

Hoffart, D. (2017). Innovation and empowerment: Transformational leadership and ubuntu in the youth choir [Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary]. https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/26538

Ludwa, C. (2012). Assessing the leadership potential of choral conductors [Doctoral final project, Indiana University]. IUScholarWorks. https://hdl.handle.net/2022/15208

Odusanya, O. S. (2025). Repositioning choral conducting in Nigerian university education: A performance-based and interdisciplinary approach. ACU Journal of Humanities, 8(1), 65–77. https://acujoh.acu.edu.ng/index.php/acujoh/article/download/131/81

Shitandi, W. O. (2018). The emerging roles and challenges facing choir directors in contemporary Christian worship. Kabarak University. https://ir.kabarak.ac.ke/items/bc6a07d5-de4b-47f3-b544-846906b053d6