What does a director of music do?
A music director is responsible for leading the musical aspects of a theatre production, monitoring the performance of musical groups to ensure the audience's satisfaction, as well as smooth show transitions. Music directors evaluate the production's concept and select the best music pieces. They must have excellent knowledge of the music industry, especially on training music groups to establish the desired quality performance result. A music director must have excellent communication and organizational skills, cooperating with the whole production team to create a fun, engaging show.
Director of music responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real director of music resumes:
- Manage entire music program, schedule ministers, concerts, and prayer services.
- Achieve staff competence with 4 staff members, encouraging the growth and development of one staff member into a leadership position.
- Direct 7th - 8th girls chorus.
- Introduce and integrate Orff instruments to vocal songs.
- Serve as rehearsal accompanist for chorus number while directing.
- Draft and create costumes and props by hand for the production
- Travele to Switzerland twice providing gospel music during the advent season
- Direct choirs, musicals, teach voice lessons and music classes
- Plan and coordinate use of drama and visual arts in worship.
- Plan special events and serve as a member of scholarship committee.
- Write all of the station sweepers, create imaging and promos.
- Coordinate ASCAP, and BMI logging while protecting the station license.
- Provide worship service music including hymns, gospel selections, and anthems.
- Recruit, train, and equip singers and musicians for participation in worship services.
- Involve in interviewing, hiring, training, & directing DJ's, on-air talent and producers.
Director of music skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Directors Of Music are proficient in Music Program, Music Theory, and General Music. They’re also known for soft skills such as Discipline, Musical talent, and Promotional skills.
We break down the percentage of Directors Of Music that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Music Program, 19%
Served on Board of Directors at student-owned and operated university radio station and was responsible for developing local music programming.
- Music Theory, 12%
Created a more comprehensive music curriculum that encompasses not only singing but music theory, history, listening and comprehension.
- General Music, 6%
Developed, authored and implemented complete general music curriculum for Kindergarten through Grade Eight.
- Fine Arts, 6%
Developed a program of music and fine arts that provided an atmosphere of enriched music and art conducive to all people.
- Instrumental Ensembles, 5%
Teach and Conduct Vocal Choir, Bell Choir and Instrumental Ensembles for weekly worship services and holiday services.
- Music Selection, 4%
Coordinate weekly music selections to fit worship format and themes* Communicate with band regarding rehearsals and performances* Lead contemporary worship
"music program," "music theory," and "general music" are among the most common skills that directors of music use at work. You can find even more director of music responsibilities below, including:
Discipline. The most essential soft skill for a director of music to carry out their responsibilities is discipline. This skill is important for the role because "talent is not enough for most music directors and composers to find employment in this field." Additionally, a director of music resume shows how their duties depend on discipline: "manage teams/bands musicianship, leadership, spiritual growth and discipline. "
Musical talent. Another essential skill to perform director of music duties is musical talent. Directors of music responsibilities require that "to become a music director or composer, one must have musical talent." Directors of music also use musical talent in their role according to a real resume snippet: "directed three choirs produced the musical taught music appreciation and piano classes"
Promotional skills. This is an important skill for directors of music to perform their duties. For an example of how director of music responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "music directors and composers need to promote their performances through local communities, word of mouth, and social media platforms." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a director of music: "co-produced live promotional musical performances for nickelodeon talent. ".
The three companies that hire the most director of musics are:
- Sanford Health4 directors of music jobs
- First United Church of Christ
4 directors of music jobs
- The Salvation Army3 directors of music jobs
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Compare different directors of music
Director of music vs. Band leader
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, director of music responsibilities require skills like "music program," "music theory," "general music," and "fine arts." Meanwhile a typical band leader has skills in areas such as "live performances," "event planning," "travel arrangements," and "nyc." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that band leaders earn slightly differ from directors of music. In particular, band leaders are 8.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a director of music. Additionally, they're 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of music vs. Chaperon
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, director of music responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "music program," "music theory," "general music," and "fine arts." Meanwhile, a chaperon has duties that require skills in areas such as "cpr," "developmental disabilities," "incident reports," and "esl." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Chaperons tend to reach lower levels of education than directors of music. In fact, they're 5.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of music vs. Music composer
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a director of music is likely to be skilled in "music program," "general music," "fine arts," and "instrumental ensembles," while a typical music composer is skilled in "audio engineering," "video games," "r," and "sound design."
Music composers make a very good living in the media industry with an average annual salary of $54,744. On the other hand, directors of music are paid the highest salary in the media industry, with average annual pay of $46,172.music composers typically earn similar educational levels compared to directors of music. Specifically, they're 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of music vs. High school music director
Even though a few skill sets overlap between directors of music and high school music directors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a director of music might have more use for skills like "music program," "general music," "instrumental ensembles," and "music selection." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of high school music directors require skills like "curriculum development," "all-state," "chorus," and "drama. "
High school music directors reach similar levels of education compared to directors of music, in general. The difference is that they're 4.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of director of music
Updated January 8, 2025
