arrange • compose • conduct
Thanksgiving, while an American holiday, is in family of festivals from across the world that celebrate the harvest. It’s a time of gratitude, and a time of family. Sometimes I think it’s my favorite holiday; setting aside the American additions of televised athletic conflicts and impending consumerism, the holiday, at […]
I have come to believe that more than anything else, creativity is a habit. Whether it’s Beethoven, Emily Dickinson, or Lin-Manuel Miranda, we hear stories of them prioritizing their daily creative time above all else. They knew that doing the act, day after day, is the best way to get […]
I’ve been revisiting some old works of mine recently, and simultaneously thinking about the current musical trend of harmonic maximalism.* I love the rich harmonies that are at the heart of harmonic maximalism, but my heart isn’t in exploring that path. As I’ve looked at older and more recent works, […]
I am very occasionally late to rehearsal. I don’t love it, but I do like to learn one important thing about the ensemble. The ensemble that is owned by the conductor waits for the conductor to start. The ensemble that is self-owned starts when it’s time to start. I love […]
Last week I said a contemporary choral piece we’re working on “sounds kind of metal to me.” I got pushback: this isn’t a metal piece by any stretch of the imagination, and moreover, it’s being sung a cappella – metal has thumping bass, distorted guitars, massive drums. But I stand […]
Two recently resurfaced arguments that in my brain are long-settled. “You can’t sing straight-tone healthfully.” I can’t believe vocal educators are still saying that, when the evidence is clear that that is simply not the case. Any style of singing can be healthy. Any style of singing can be unhealthy. […]
I’ve been busy this week, among other things, prepping three of my old scores for publication. These are arrangements from various dates in the past – the oldest more than 15 years old. I am certainly no longer emotionally tied to these old scores, which allows me to really assess […]
If when I fail, it won’t be for lack of trying. I will fail because I made a bad decision. I will fail because we didn’t have the right resources, or the right skills, or enough time. I will fail because I choose to quit, having gotten into a project […]
I stopped rehearsal last week to ask an important question. “I just said to make that AH vowel taller. But was I talking to everyone?” No, probably not. So I followed up with, “Who here has taller than average vowels in the group?” About a third of the group raised […]
A big part of singing close harmony is personal time spent learning your parts. “Sing it like it’s a solo” my teachers would say. But a big part, and one I didn’t hear as often as a student, is that you have to make friends with the dissonance. Dissonance can […]