What does it truly mean to read an orchestral score, and how can it be done? This book offers an in-depth exploration of orchestral score reading, presenting approaches employed by both historical and contemporary professional conductors from around the world. Through interviews, a questionnaire, and research, it reveals the diversity of methods and techniques conductors use to read, analyze, and interpret scores. Emphasizing the intrinsic connection between score reading and conducting, the book illustrates how a conductor's vision of a piece is formed, and how it may evolve in collaboration with the orchestra. It invites students, musicians, and anyone interested in orchestral music into a masterclass on the art of score reading.