arrange • compose • conduct
Things can be difficult for wildly different reasons. Don’t let that surprise you. I solved a 67×41 crossword puzzle in the last few days. It’s huge. There were 782 distinct clues and it took up 3 entire newspaper pages. It took awhile, but the truth is, it wasn’t that difficult. […]
How do you help students be both self-critical and proud of their performance? I want you to be constructively critical of your work leading up to a concert. That’s how you get better. I also want you to be proud of what you’ve done in the concert, regardless of what […]
The three things I am communicating with my students as they begin a concert without me: I am PROUD of you. I TRUST you. I EXPECT excellence from you. These are all positive, constructive emotions that help to bring out the best in students without demeaning them. No matter what, […]
When you’re blindsided by illness at an inconvenient time, you’ll be glad you followed these simple steps ahead of time. Build autonomy into your ensemble from day 1. Make sure they can survive without you. Build extra prep time into your rehearsal schedule, so you’re not slammed at the last […]
Having a guest clinician in front of your choir is like having a good proofreader. Anything longer than two sentences, I want a proofreader. It’s not because I think I’m a poor writer – I’ve got a handle on the basics. It’s simply this: mistakes creep into everyone’s writing. We […]
I didn’t have a concert tonight. More precisely, I didn’t have the concert I planned – several of my students put together wonderful jazz solos to fill some of the time that Shades of Blue was set to perform in. Unfortunately, a quartet and Covid-19 don’t go together well. It’s […]
About halfway through rehearsal tonight, I remembered. Rehearsals are always chaotic and significantly less productive when we rehearse here. (“Here” is a just different room, having vacated the choir room to allow an extra warmup room for an elementary concert tonight. I don’t know whether it’s the novelty of the […]
Be aware of just how much context you’re bringing when you begin a piece with your students. I’m watching a “Technical Challenge” in the Great British Bake-Off, in which the contestant bakers are asked to bake a recipe sight-unseen. Sometimes, as in the one I’m watching now, it’s a type […]
The right directorial approach depends on the situation. I love the Socratic method in music rehearsal: asking questions, probing possibilities, discovering the right solution for this ensemble. I love it because it’s a powerful tool for learning, growth, and empowerment of my students. But it’s not the most efficient. There’s […]
We don’t need to agree on our philosophy in front of an ensemble. As long as your perspective is defensible, I respect it! Maybe you choose easily attainable repertoire, so you can aim for high level artistry. That’s defensible. Maybe you choose incredibly hard rep, so that your students grow, […]