After three very busy weeks in Jacksonville, I’m back in New York City. The air is crisp, and in the afternoons the parks are wonderfully quiet apart from the sound of leaves crackling underfoot. It’s the perfect atmosphere in which to think about the holidays. For me, music has always been the most joyful part of Christmas. Growing up, December was a stream of carol services and evensongs, leading up to the thrilling Midnight Eucharist on Christmas Eve. I can remember my nervousness before singing the first verse of “Once in Royal David’s City” as a solo, candle in hand, from the back of the church when I was a small boy, and my fascination with the evocative archaic texts on which so much Christmas

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What does a conductor actually do? Alongside the inquiry about whether I work on a bus or a train, this is a question I dread. Yet it’s completely reasonable, since conducting remains an art that is at best mysterious – and at worst, suspicious – to everyone, including musicians. One of my favourite answers is a little glib, but contains a grain of truth: we do everything except play the notes. Our job is to help the musicians play together as well as they can, and to interpret the music in a way that makes it come alive. Before conductors begin working with an orchestra, we develop a mental picture of how we want the piece to sound. In rehearsal, we work towards realizing that.

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