arrange • compose • conduct
Over the years, I’ve learned the value – and some tricks – to collaborating with local news. Maybe your town, too, has a local weekly newspaper; it can be one of your best sources of publicity and advocacy for your choir! Over the last 15 years, I’ve provided as many […]
One of the biggest gifts of the microphone is that it’s the greatest vocal equalizer. When I have sung in a concert choir, often I would be in a section with someone with a beautiful, big instrument. I personally have a small instrument, so in that situation there were only […]
There are times when it’s to your credit to be easygoing, and times when it just adds work for other people. Don’t say, “I’m not picky. You decide.” There are two situations when I’m likely to hear that answer. First is when I’m taking food orders for a group. If […]
One of my goals this year is to send out an agenda the night before every weekly rehearsal. I can’t think of a single ensemble I’ve ever sung in that had a specific agenda that I was aware of ahead of time. I am certain my conductors had specific plans […]
You don’t have to wait for a crisis to reimagine things. I attended almost no campouts or even meetings of my sons’ Scout troop until the pandemic. Part of it was that my Aces rehearsals exactly coincided with the troop meetings, and part of it was a busy schedule that […]
The joke goes that students ask, “Will this be on the test?” rather than just engaging with the material regardless. Well, of course they do. We’ve taught them to. “It’ll be on the test” is how we’ve tried to convince students to engage with our material since they started school. […]
One of the joys of singing choral masterworks is being aware of the connection across time. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has surely been sung by millions of singers since its premiere 1824 (198 years ago!). Getting the chance to perform it connects you with all those amazing singers across ten generations […]
There’s another debt college students are unfortunately graduating with. College costs have ballooned far faster than inflation in the last thirty years, leading to the well-known ballooning in student debt. But that deficit isn’t the only one students have when they leave. So many students I know necessarily have to […]
As you get further removed from the age and generation of your students, how do you maintain mutual reference points? There are at least two ways. You should probably use them both. Stay current! Do your best to engage with current music, styles, trends. It’s important to draw a distinction […]
Back to my old ways… I gained two things during my months of conducting with a mask. First, I learned ever more clearly how to conduct with just my eyes and hands. I, like many conductors, tend to use my whole face, and it was a great education in how […]