arrange • compose • conduct
Day Two, you’re nowhere. All the hard work is in front of you – the choir hasn’t done more than sight read. Becoming an ensemble takes time and effort. But you’ve done Day One. You’ve started. No choice now but to do the hard work and head towards your dreams. As Tibetan Buddhist […]
Today is our 13th First Day of School – thirteenth since we finished grad school and started teaching. It’s also our 8th First Day (in Rockford), our 3rd (Mandy full time), our 9th (with kids at home). It’s our 5th First Day of putting a child on the school bus. It’s my 34th First Day since I started kindergarten in […]
Welcome to choir. You can expect to… Make music every day. Learn to speak and read music. Strive for artistry. Express deep emotions in public. (Don’t worry, you’ll be in a group.) Fail on your way to success. Get a solo (maybe). Not get a solo you want (likely). Sing music that […]
I had my first ever “viral” post this week. As of this morning, my quote art of one of the Ken Robinson quotes from last week’s blog has been shared 193 times on Facebook and seen by nearly 14,000 people. It’s been cool to watch, but I have tried to remain mindful […]
More and more we are called to educate our students as humans as well as musicians. Choir seems to be the one place in their schedule where our students can relax, be human, and release their anxiety about college/standardized tests/just being a teenager in 2015. My wife has created a fabulous website for teachers […]
Summer is great – full of the impromptu time with family and friends that being a choir teacher doesn’t often afford during the school year. But the impromptu gets hard. I think human beings crave routine. I can’t wait for the regular schedule of a bus arriving, predictable rehearsal times, and being […]
I have long enjoyed many of neurologist Oliver Sacks’s writings, and more recently his appearances on Radio Lab. He was insightful, clever, and profoundly human. His death is a loss to the world. In addition to being a brilliant neurologist and a masterful writer, Sacks was a musician – a […]
I know that sometimes your educational professional development can feel like neither professional nor development. Many of my friends and colleagues are spending their days in lectures, meetings, and various other activities that keep them from doing the work they want to be doing to be their best for their students. If […]
A Michigan law since 2006 requires schools to start after Labor Day. Because Labor Day is as late as possible (Sept. 7), that means schools don’t start until September 8. But because last year Labor Day was Sept. 1, we in Rockford finished school on June 5. That gave us over […]
It’s time to greet September and say goodbye to August. Perhaps with this lovely poem by Irish poet Francis Ledwidge. August by Francis Ledwidge She’ll come at dusky first of day, White over yellow harvest’s song. Upon her dewy rainbow way She shall be beautiful and strong. The lidless eye […]