arrange • compose • conduct
Tonight, I said to my son, “My studio setup should work just fine. Logic is right there. Go ahead – you can’t break it.” The fear that something might break is major stifling force in creativity. Especially in new creators, and young people, the safety rules, the strongly imposed caution, […]
My students and I talked about 9/11 this weekend on our retreat. I shared my story, and reflected on the arc of my students over the years – my first students had been in middle or high school at the moment 9/11 happened. My current students weren’t alive, but their […]
The last time I was on a retreat was in 2019, and this weekend I’m (with school approval and as safely as I can) on a retreat with the Rockford Aces. I’ve noticed a trend in my own retreat planning towards more human connection and away from actual musical rehearsal. […]
In rehearsal, I heard myself say, “It’s your group – I’m just here to help you achieve your potential.” I really believe that. I call them “my students” or “my singers” but they don’t belong to me. On the other hand, “their director” is a good description – my role […]
Our society has long been obsessed with marking the differences between “Generations” (basically arbitrarily marked) like Z, Millennial, X, etc. The obsession has seemed to ramp up in recent years. The truth is, there are some noticeable and consistent differences in generations over time, though I think that they’re detectable […]
How often do you have students who are “totally planning to audition…when I’m 100% ready.” Perhaps they’re not feeling knowledgeable enough, or have a tuning problem or a tone problem or a vibrato problem. In my experience, those students almost never actually get close enough to 100% to audition. Because […]
A lot of the students I teach and conduct in ensembles end up spending two, three, even four years with me in the same ensemble. How do I handle the problem of repeating myself? My impulse is to either apologize to returning students for the repetition or to skim through […]
My preferred place to be when walking into a rehearsal or class is three steps ahead. I want to be far enough ahead to anticipate any questions, to be prepared with accurate answers or advice, and to guide my students smoothly forward in their learning. But you can’t always be […]
Like many others, I struggle with the ethics of using [Popular Streaming Service That Underpays Musicians]. In the end, I stream music regularly because the convenience and educational advantages are too much to ignore. That said, there are several steps I take to ensure that the artists I love are […]
I’m in love with the mental challenge of working on two versions of the same song. Currently, the Aces are learning a TTBB version of the Star Spangled Banner, while each of them is learning an SATB version in their curricular choir. It’s hard. It’s especially hard if you’re singing […]