This month, Benjamin Northey becomes the first-ever Professor of Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In an illuminating conversation with Clive Paget, he traces his career, discusses different approaches to conducting and explains what he’d like to impart to his students.

Benjamin Northey sits in audience chairs, his feet up, at the Sydney Conservatorium's Recital Hall.
Benjamin Northey. Photo © Stefanie Zingsheim/Sydney Conservatorium of Music

A conductor, one might imagine, must surely be the elite product of an intensive musical education. And yet the skillset for this linchpin of the orchestra is far from easily defined, while practitioners can sometimes be the least specifically trained people in the room. The Sydney Conservatorium of Music wants to change that. Their secret weapon? Benjamin Northey, who this month...