arrange • compose • conduct
Different teachers are here for different things. One history teacher was there to tear you down, so she could rebuild you better. One teacher was there to see how far you could go, and push you just as hard as he could. One teacher was there to make you feel […]
Leadership means asking for feedback to spur your own growth. That’s why I’m doing my first-ever exit interviews this year. I get faculty evaluations at the college, and I get feedback from students and parents in the form of emails, notes, social media posts. But this year I’m going beyond […]
Keep reminding yourself. In the past few months, there’s been more and more of a sense of “back to normal.” Putting aside whether normal exists and whether pre-pandemic behavior is where we should want to return to, there’s this to remember. Most of the “back to normal” events I’ve had […]
Sometimes, the outcome is frustrating even when you do everything right. Nothing to be done: sometimes forces outside your control prevent you from succeeding. Today, half a dozen small and large events too the wind out of the sails of the Aces recording session. In a session, momentum is everything, […]
I am of two minds on repeating yourself in rehearsal. On the one hand: repeat yourself until the message sinks in. My students shout back at me some of my rules of music-making with the slightest prompting: “We’re dragging. Why not try…” “Physicalize the beat!”“The only way to memorize is?” […]
I think this is one of the best questions you can ask, and that you can encourage your students to ask: What will you say about these times when they are over? About a tour, a year, a grade, a project, friendship: how will you describe them? It’s always my […]
I had my reservations about his music. It’s too hard, too complex, too musically dense. But after the concert on Saturday night in Detroit, I can unequivocally say, the critics are wrong. That includes me. I don’t doubt that Jacob Collier’s music will continue to evolve, grow, as he matures […]
How do you know if you’ll like a career? We spent the weekend talking and theorizing with our kids about the life on the road – after we had walked past the Jacob Collier tour buses, there were lots of questions. Tour life is strenuous and non-stop. Some people derive […]
I spent the week listening to music I appreciate but don’t always love. To be clear – I appreciate it deeply. I think it’s brilliant, and I totally allow for the fact that the reason I don’t always love it has to do with my own biases and experience. Certainly […]
That’s almost always the first question I ask. Having a framework for your creative work is essential for making choices about what to include and what to exclude. Even if the title changes later, the title itself – of an essay, of a talk, of a composition – is an […]