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music director

music director

16 4.2
A person who leads the music for a group like an orchestra
  • noun
  • /ˈmjuːzɪk dɪˈrɛktər/
translation icon : director musical
  • The music director led the choir during the holiday concert, ensuring perfect harmony.
  • Kurt Masur, music director
  • new music director
  • school music director

Examples

  • Peter Oundjian is to be the music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

    Blog text (27)
  • Orchestra! is hosted by Dudley Moore and features Sir Georg Solti as the conductor and music director.

    Academic text (2003)
  • As it happened, he also got hired by my church to be the music director.

    Blog text (9)
  • As the steel band increases in popularity, music directors find themselves in need of new pieces for their groups to learn and perform.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Teaching instrumental music may present some extraordinary challenges in urban schools, but urban instrumental music directors can build successful programs.

    Academic text (2005)
  • By debriefing after a concert, the music director can relate strong or weak parts of the presentation to the students' efforts.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Oundjian will also continue to be the music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

    Blog text (27)
  • Prior to that, he was the music director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, Germany.

    Academic text (1998)
  • The board of managers hired Anthony Reiff as the NYIB's first music director in 1835.

    Academic text (2015)
  • In 1946, Minerva Pepinsky was the music director and a recreational specialist at a U.S. Naval Hospital in Philadelphia.

    Academic text (2014)

Synonyms

conductor
vsmusic director
64 4.4

A person who leads musicians in groups like an orchestra or choir

is responsible more broadly for musical aspects of a performance or organization
maestro
vsmusic director
64 7.6

A very skilled conductor or musician who leads an orchestra

focuses instead on the broader responsibility for musical leadership and organization
bandleader
vsmusic director
9 3.4

A person who leads a music group like a dance band or orchestra

covers broader organizational musical duties not limited to leading a band
choirmaster
vsmusic director
2 6.5

A person who leads a group of singers, often at church

covers leading musical aspects across performances and organizations generally
bandmaster
vsmusic director
1 5.8

A person who leads a band, often a military or marching band

is responsible more generally for musical leadership in diverse groups and settings
chorus master
vsmusic director
5.1

A person who leads and trains a choir before performances so the singers perform together

applies more broadly beyond choir training to overall musical responsibility

How Senior

music director
16 4.2
art director
15 4.4
conductor
64 4.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

music + director

The meaning 'a person who leads or is responsible for musical aspects' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'music' (musical activity) with 'director' (a leader or person in charge). This noun–noun composition is a common, compositional pattern cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Music director comes from the image of someone who 'directs' the music, like a director or conductor standing in front and guiding a group of musicians. That's why it means 'the person in charge of the musical side'.