Amelia Nagoski describes the power dynamics in choir in terms of the conductor's demeanor:Calm, assertive energy. My husband has it in spades. He is the Choir Whisperer. He’s chill, but he’s authoritative. …His highly-skilled competence and thoughtful artistry are distilled through channels of calm assertion that make him powerful beyond the typical high school or church choral director.I am not a source of calm, assertive energy. I am a source of, as Caesar would put it, excited energy…. I am intense. ”Passionate, positive, and boundlessly enthusiastic”.My dogs know my husband is the pack leader. We both provide exercise, discipline, and affection; but they go to him, pile into his lap, and ask him for what they need. They only come to me in his absence.Do choirs respond the same way? Are choirs drawn to calm, assertive energy the same way dogs are?
Every conductor has his/her own style. I don't think either way is really wrong. I think choirs pay attention to conductors who know the music, know how they want the music performed, know how to ask for it. Conductors who hold themselves to as high a standard as they hold their choirs. Energy and intensity are tools conductors can use in rehearsal, but trying to fake a style which didn't match your personality would be counterproductive.
Some conductors use hyperactivity as a substitute for earning true respect, because it's the only way they can get the choir to pay attention, but that doesn't mean all high-energy conductors are like that.
I was in a choir conducted by Maurice Skones, and he almost never raised his voice above a whisper. No one else ever spoke during his rehearsals. If you rattled your music while he was talking, you'd miss what he was saying, and he never repeated anything, so everyone learned to keep totally silent (other than singing) during rehearsals. You could literally hear a pin drop. But it wasn't because that's such a super technique that everyone should adopt. It's because we knew that everything he had to say would be worth hearing.
There are many right ways to run rehearsals, just like there are many right ways to perform music. Stay focused on the goal rather than the route.
Edward Palmer says