arrange • compose • conduct
The Aces endeavor to sing in as many musical styles as possible each year, with no discrimination except quality of music. In that spirit, the entire list is organized alphabetically, as in our folders (except music for December, which goes at the end…) Despite the challenges of this year, we […]
It’s birthday month around here – 4 out of 5 birthdays fall within 30 days in our house. So, I get a lot of practice making cakes this time of year. I get pretty good at it by the end of June! But then again, for 11 months out of […]
See In The Heights on the biggest, most immersive screen you feel safe seeing it on. I’ll admit to being puzzled when, in the summer of 2020, the filmmakers indefinitely postponed the release of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights at around the same time as they announced they’d be bringing […]
I am writing 2-4 posts a day right now. All in preparation for a month when I don’t have to write and post anything new. It’s not easy, writing up to 400% of my usual daily quota; it takes effort and it takes persistence. But it is a gift I’m […]
I got to end my year with Shades of Blue this year with a real-live in-person concert. However, it was outdoors, socially distanced, with limited attendance permitted. Because of that, we didn’t publicize it much. Fortunately, with the support of the Media Services Department at GRCC, we filmed the entire […]
“I need to read more, is the thing,” my wife said to me yesterday. “Same!” I replied. There are just so many great books I want to read, and I’ve been in a reading slump really since the pandemic hit. But the truth is, it isn’t about what I need […]
My wife, Mandy, is a brilliant conductor. She regularly makes magic happen in concert and in rehearsal. She has wonderful musical instincts, impeccable training, and makes visual poetry with her conducting. But even as she makes the music come alive, she puts the people first. In the course of her […]
I’m rereading an old favorite right now – a book I fest read a quarter century ago. It’s a pretty uncommon reading choice for me, as I tend to seek out new ideas and perspectives in my reading. Meanwhile, I am perennially listening to old favorites in my musical life. […]
For the past 5 or 6 years, I’ve had an annual Tip Jar in which I accepted donations from readers to help support my costs of maintaining the website. Many people were very generous in their encouragement of my writing. In 2020, I skipped it – it was a time […]
Both of the ensembles I lead got to have cathartic ends to the year – an outdoor concert in May for Shades of Blue, and just last night, a year-capping concert with the Rockford Aces. It wasn’t precisely the same as usual – we didn’t have our usual size of […]