Abstract

In completion of the Honors Contract for the Instrumental Conducting and Techniques course, I studied the life, career, and output of influential conductor and music educator Elizabeth A. H. Green. In a Credo of her text, The Modern Conductor, Green grounded her philosophy on the importance of training the hands to further express the demands of the music by stating, “We build the technique only to ensure that our music can achieve its unforgettable moments, evanescent as they are, before once more returning to its prison of impatient silence.” However, her contributions to instrumental music education stretched far beyond her perspective as merely a woman orchestral conductor. By exploring the biographical elements of her life, one gains foundational knowledge of the prominent professor’s upbringing and career. Particularly, the study of Green’s texts, The Conductor and His Score, The Modern Conductor, and Orchestral Bowings and Routines, promote additional discourse on the conductor-teacher duality while recognizing similarities between her published works. In conjunction with the research paper, I practiced and recreated several of Green’s training exercises, outlined in The Modern Conductor, and compiled them into a video presentation set similar to Green’s 1981 recording of the exercises. Through writing, teaching, performing, conducting, and studying, Elizabeth A. H. Green became one of the most influential role models in instrumental music education.