Just How Important Is Eye Contact Between Musicians? And What Does It Signal?

If you’re in the orchestra and the conductor give you “the look,” what does it mean? What does it mean when the musicians won’t make eye contact with the conductor? Ariane Todes investigates, in this piece at Classical Music.

Eye contact between musicians isn’t a necessary condition for great music. Conductors have other means to convey their intentions and instrumentalists find the information they need by watching technical cues.