When Yannick Nézet-Séguin began his conducting career, he tells us, he was younger and less experienced than every musician in the orchestra—but it was his job to lead them nonetheless. In this interview, Nézet-Séguin reflects on the nature of leadership and explains what he thinks should be the source of a conductor’s authority.
Questions of Practice: Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin on Leadership
Philadelphia Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin on why trust is more useful for leadership than fear. Filmed at The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, March 7, 2019.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the Orchestra Métropolitain in Montreal. He also conducts master classes at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, the Juilliard School of New York, and other institutions.