arrange • compose • conduct
Don’t try to compose what other people want you to compose. The most successful arrangements and compositions I’ve written are the ones in which I intentionally tried to write the sort of thing I loved to sing when I was in singing groups. Too many young composers focus on writing […]
I recently changed my mind about opting for Italian musical terms in my scores. It came after receiving a new score with Italian marking such as Più Mosso and Meno Mosso, among others. It came because they were in a score written by a Swedish composer. The argument I’ve heard […]
Even the harmony master himself agreed. Gene Puerling loved unison singing. I can’t prove it to you, because the album is not available on any streaming services. I can’t link to a YouTube video because they’re all unavailable. But go and find The Hi-Lo’s singing “A Quiet Girl” By Leonard […]
Happy almost-end of the school year! I’m celebrating by looking ahead to next school year/concert year; aren’t you? Commissioning is, I believe, one of the most powerful ways of impacting both future musicians and the future of music. I’ve written plenty about that here. I have just two slots left […]
I think there can be a fear that if you go too long without exercising a craft, it disappears. It helps to recognize that that’s not true. I haven’t written any new music recently. While I think of writing music as the core of my professional work, there are seasons […]
Writing music to impress is an essential stage of a composer’s development. You might need to impress your early supporters, your teachers, your classmates and colleagues. It’s an essential stage. Let it be a stage. The best music you’ll write is on the other side of that stage. When you […]
A brand new arrangement from Gene Puerling dropped today, courtesy of Chanticleer! Gene Puerling is a towering presence in the world of jazz and choral arranging. Having passed away just over 15 years ago, I wouldn’t have expected to hear brand new Puerling arrangements today; but a discovery in the […]
How do you know it’s your passion? I have written music at every hour of the day and night. I have the times I gravitate towards in 2023, but 2013 me used different parts of the day, and 2003 me was frantically writing a thesis and arrangements for class – […]
I’m busy editing a number of scores. What else is new? It’s a privilege that I get to work with new works by other people frequently, in addition to my own writing. As I work through the editing process, I realize that the editing process is really never, ever finished. […]
Your creation doesn’t need to have everything. Just make what’s necessary, and then stop. I finished a vocal jazz arrangement today that fits on two pages. Not an a cappella ballad, either! In this case, I was casting around, trying to see what kind of soli, shout chorus, vocalese, or […]