Career Goal: Orchestra Director

Conducting an orchestra can be one of the most fulfilling jobs in all of music. It takes great musicianship, leadership and organizational skills, along with a whole lot of personality.

At SFA, the first step toward this goal would be a Bachelor of Music in music education with a strings concentration. This will give you a good foundation of knowledge and skills, and a few semesters of conducting classes and instruction in orchestra administration. You can decide whether to pursue teacher certification training or not. If you're aiming for an orchestra job at a high school, then the certification track will be the perfect fit.

If you want to grow even more, you can move on to a graduate degree like SFA's Master of Music in conducting. This will take your skills even further and give you the opportunity to stand on the podium more — both in rehearsal and concerts.

Many orchestra directors begin their path as string players in the ensemble and it's not uncommon for someone to start their college career with a BM in performance, usually on an orchestral instrument, and then further develop their conducting skills at the graduate level.

With world-class applied studio teachers and a busy performance schedule, SFA has you covered for this route too.