arrange • compose • conduct
Posts specifically about choral music
I think I know what choirs are for. Well, choirs are for everyone. But specifically, a choir should be about creating a deep connection and a single intentional throughline among all the singers, and then sharing that as clearly as possible with an audience. It’s when the audience receives the […]
This is a quick recommendation for those seeking growth and learning over the summer. My friend Dr. Jeremy Fox has been leading in-person week-long masterclasses called the “Jazz Harmony Retreat” for years, multiple weeks per summer. They are an intimate, carefully curated small-group class focused on giving music educators, and […]
Four virtual choirs, a senior tribute. Countless hours of work. I’m delighted with the results of our weeks and weeks of work together/apart. Here are the four virtual song performances we presented at the Virtual Aces Concert last night. (We also debuted a track from our new album, “Take Me […]
The Aces Concert 2020 is at 8pm tonight. It’s the 12th annual and, of course, it’s virtual. I thought it might be instructive to think about the numbers involved in a typical concert and in this year’s edition. Typical run time: 2 hours2020: 23 minutes. Typical number of pieces: 18-202020: […]
I’m typically particularly exhausted in the couple of days after a big concert. Switching to online concerts makes that completely backwards. The last two weeks have been full of mixing, video editing, and cajoling singers for their files. In particular, I’ve clocked 16-18 hour days since Wednesday putting the final […]
Thank you to the LA Master Chorale, who have been putting together a wonderful series of online replay concerts and virtual choir performances, called Sundays at Seven. This week, they paid tribute to Alice Parker, whose music they would have performed last weekend, until the concert was canceled. In lieu […]
One of the things I love most about the choral community is how proactive it is. Choral leaders are planners and communicators. They see what’s coming, and they want to plan for it, face it head on, and communicate about it. With the very real issues facing group singing in […]
In times of upheaval, I lean on touchstones–works of art that have shaped me and the continue to be sources of inspiration, influence, and solace. It might be rereading a favorite novel, a cherished poem, a movie, or (especially often) a favorite album with a good pair of headphones. My […]
Choir directors were served up some bleak, bleak news via a webinar sponsored by NATS, Chorus America, ACDA, the Barbershop Harmony Society, and the Performing Arts Medical Association. It was hard to hear the information the scientists, physicians, and vocal music experts shared and not feel pessimistic about the near-term […]
Greek thinkers separated love into multiple varieties, rather than the single overarching word we have in English. Much has been written about these different types of love. The choir can be a great place to explore the love that the Greeks called philia, which is often translated in English as […]