arrange • compose • conduct
In this classic instructional video from Phil Mattson, the main topic I’ve always gravitated to is the one with the heading “The Rehearsal as Sacred Time.” As Phil says, “the goal of the rehearsal is to learn to serve the music….without attitude of respect and the spirit of servanthood, one […]
I’ve had this passage stuck in my head since I read it as a high school freshman in 1991 or 1992. It resurfaces whenever I’m thinking about what it takes to be an outstanding learner. In Chaim Potok’s masterpiece The Chosen, the narrator and protagonist Reuven Master, is studying the […]
Falling is essential in the learning process. We have to fall to learn. It’s not fun, it’s not pretty. It can let people down. But it’s inevitable. It’s my policy as a teacher to let my students fall. Not catch them, but let them fall. And then to help them […]
Choir directors suffer from long-term project overload. Think about it: every one of your projects is a delayed-gratification project. Concert days are eight weeks in the making. You start planning and prepping your musical months before it opens. Even your educational goals can be years in the making – giving […]
There are a lot of things that happen because we make them happen. The tomato and cucumber plants in my backyard didn’t sprout, grow, and produce fruit on their own – they were carefully cultivated over generations, sprouted by a local organic farmer, and nurtured in my garden for the […]
You don’t schedule a concert based on when you’re ready. You get ready based on when the concert is. It’s obvious, but it’s also hard to internalize. The idea that the concert is coming, whether you’re ready for it or not, and then the action to mobilize. Sometimes it takes […]
“This document is from a long time ago–2016.” That’s a sentence I heard today, and it was perfectly appropriate in context. And it’s all too common these days to live in fast time. Fast as in, this podcast is outdated – it came out in 2018. It came out on […]
It’s International Pronouns Day, which is a perfect time to encourage anyone who conducts an audition to ask for pronouns on an audition form. It’s an easy question to ask. I use four options on my forms: She/herHe/himThey/themOther (Please Specify) Asking this question empowers your auditionees, informs you, and creates […]
What’s the cause of the intonation troubles your choir showed today in measures 39-43? They needs to learn the notes more carefully. An alto leader had a rough night caring for a sick sibling. Vowels need to be unified. Everyone is in various stages of getting or getting over a […]
With first concerts of the year happening for school choirs everywhere, it’s important to remember that before your first concert, you haven’t practiced performing. You can practice performance behavior – eye contact, facial engagement, stage deportment, etc. But you cannot practice performing until you’re in front of people who there […]