arrange • compose • conduct
What are the most important things you want your choirs to end this school year with? Got the list? If you’re like me, there are at least a dozen major goals on it. You have to shorten it. Make it three. You’ll get more done, but you can only guarantee […]
One of the hardest things for conductors to manage is their younger students’ lack of perspective.
The arc of most choirs’ experience with any piece is predictable.
My goal is to develop an ensemble’s autonomy until there’s no difference when I’m not in front of them.
I read the room, and I said confidently, “You’re going to read and learn this entire piece today.”
I had a quick National Anthem gig for the Aces, but I was double booked. They could be there. I couldn’t. What a great opportunity! A National Anthem performance is the perfect first chance to practice singing without your conductor, for leadership to step up. It’s low-stakes! (The crowd for […]
A Zen proverb goes, “If you don’t think you have time to meditate for an hour today, you should meditate for two hours.” This runs through my head every single time I want to skip past vocal warmups in my Aces rehearsals. Sometimes the motivation is so strong to get […]
One of the best parts about longevity in a position is being able to say, “In the past, students facing this situation have done X.” It comes with the important caveat that today’s students aren’t yesterday’s students; thus yesterday’s solutions might not be today’s. But it has helped a lot […]
If I was asked to describe my ideal choral educator, it would be someone with an equal combination of these three traits. Of course, you must have skill. A great choral educator knows how to tune a chord, cue the tenors, select great repertoire, teach it effectively and well, and […]
Don’t wait on creating your alumni list. It’s incredibly helpful, I find, to have a list of past students. To contact, to reminisce, and someday, to plan reunions. It’s going to be a lot harder to make that list if it’s in the run up to a reunion; looking back […]