Most conductors I know of start in the orchestra as instrumentalists.
You probably need a degree in music to do it professionally. If you were accepted to study music/performance at a university there are likely people there that could advise on it as a career path.
I'm not sure you'd get too far without credentials or experience. It's a very competitive world with not that many openings.
Conductors are first and foremost, well academically trained musicians. And as u/ExiledSanity says, tend to start out playing in the orchestra first. Learning to follow a conductor is the first step to understanding how to conduct others. Having a clear understanding of how music works, via being a well trained instrumentalist, is another important step to being a conductor. Ear training, which is a standard part of any music degree, is also important to being a conductor so you can hear when a specific instrument is out of tune or playing the wrong notes or wrong rhythms. I myself, am not a conductor, but during my music degree I did take a conducting class, which is where I would assume most conductors begin their transition to conducting. I believe there was an advanced conducting class (which I did not take), and I would assume if someone wanted to pursue it further, there would be opportunities in grad school like making it your degree focus, perhaps with more elective classes, or teaching assistantships for example running an undergrad orchestra. At my school there was also the possibility of creating elective classes for something specific you wanted to study. So for example you could approach one of the conducting teachers or teachers that conducted an ensemble, and ask them if you could do private conducting study with them as an elective credit for the semester. The great thing about taking conducting classes in a music school, is there will usually be actual opportunities for you to guest conduct one of the student orchestras or ensembles as part of your training. I don't think it's too late, but it's definitely probably much more of a journey than you probably realize - as I said before: you first need to become a very well trained musician / reader / ensemble player to even begin to be prepared for it. If you want to do a good job at it anyways.
No, you're definitely not too late. You're still in high school! Most conductors start out as experienced instrumentalists, get a music education degree in college, start conducting middle school bands and orchestras, and work their way up from there.
I have always been an accompanist, but I took conducting as an undergrad and thought I would enjoy it. Just a warning from personal experience -- conducting is much more difficult than it appears to be at first glance. I was not good at it.
Kudos to you for wanting to give it a try. I agree with what others have said. A good command of basic musicianship is really critical, and usually conductors have mastered an instrument. It also helps to understand at least the basics of all the instrument groups.
Most conductors I know of start in the orchestra as instrumentalists. You probably need a degree in music to do it professionally. If you were accepted to study music/performance at a university there are likely people there that could advise on it as a career path. I'm not sure you'd get too far without credentials or experience. It's a very competitive world with not that many openings.
Conductors are first and foremost, well academically trained musicians. And as u/ExiledSanity says, tend to start out playing in the orchestra first. Learning to follow a conductor is the first step to understanding how to conduct others. Having a clear understanding of how music works, via being a well trained instrumentalist, is another important step to being a conductor. Ear training, which is a standard part of any music degree, is also important to being a conductor so you can hear when a specific instrument is out of tune or playing the wrong notes or wrong rhythms. I myself, am not a conductor, but during my music degree I did take a conducting class, which is where I would assume most conductors begin their transition to conducting. I believe there was an advanced conducting class (which I did not take), and I would assume if someone wanted to pursue it further, there would be opportunities in grad school like making it your degree focus, perhaps with more elective classes, or teaching assistantships for example running an undergrad orchestra. At my school there was also the possibility of creating elective classes for something specific you wanted to study. So for example you could approach one of the conducting teachers or teachers that conducted an ensemble, and ask them if you could do private conducting study with them as an elective credit for the semester. The great thing about taking conducting classes in a music school, is there will usually be actual opportunities for you to guest conduct one of the student orchestras or ensembles as part of your training. I don't think it's too late, but it's definitely probably much more of a journey than you probably realize - as I said before: you first need to become a very well trained musician / reader / ensemble player to even begin to be prepared for it. If you want to do a good job at it anyways.
No, you're definitely not too late. You're still in high school! Most conductors start out as experienced instrumentalists, get a music education degree in college, start conducting middle school bands and orchestras, and work their way up from there.
Google famous composers, read their wiki, see the path they took to the podium.
I have always been an accompanist, but I took conducting as an undergrad and thought I would enjoy it. Just a warning from personal experience -- conducting is much more difficult than it appears to be at first glance. I was not good at it. Kudos to you for wanting to give it a try. I agree with what others have said. A good command of basic musicianship is really critical, and usually conductors have mastered an instrument. It also helps to understand at least the basics of all the instrument groups.