"It's just that, when the orchestra look at me, I want them to see a completely involved person who reflects what we rehearsed, and whose function is to make it possible for them to do it"
About this Quote
“Completely involved” is the tell. Involved doesn’t mean emotionally demonstrative for its own sake; it means inhabiting the shared plan so thoroughly that the body becomes a reliable instrument of timing, balance, and intention. Levine’s subtext is that the podium is a place where ego is both tempting and useless. A conductor can be charismatic and still fail the room if the gestures don’t translate into playable clarity. The orchestra isn’t looking for inspiration in the abstract; they’re looking for information that feels like inevitability.
The last clause - “to make it possible for them to do it” - lands like a quiet rebuke to the maestro-as-autocrat mythology. It’s an ethic of enabling: the conductor’s job is to remove friction, coordinate trust, and keep the performance aligned with what was collectively built in rehearsal. In that sense, Levine pitches conducting as relational labor: authority earned by making other people sound like themselves, at their best.
Quote Details
| Topic | Servant Leadership |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Levine, James. (2026, January 16). It's just that, when the orchestra look at me, I want them to see a completely involved person who reflects what we rehearsed, and whose function is to make it possible for them to do it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-just-that-when-the-orchestra-look-at-me-i-113041/
Chicago Style
Levine, James. "It's just that, when the orchestra look at me, I want them to see a completely involved person who reflects what we rehearsed, and whose function is to make it possible for them to do it." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-just-that-when-the-orchestra-look-at-me-i-113041/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It's just that, when the orchestra look at me, I want them to see a completely involved person who reflects what we rehearsed, and whose function is to make it possible for them to do it." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-just-that-when-the-orchestra-look-at-me-i-113041/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

