arrange • compose • conduct
The first time I bake or cook a new recipe, I try to follow it to the letter. No substitutions, no tweaks, no “I think it’ll taste better if…”. That’s because I don’t know yet what’s integral and what’s flexible. After I’ve made it at least once, a recipe is […]
There are two kinds of board games I love to play. The first has complex and subtle rules: they are difficult to learn, at first (your first round might feel like riding a roller coaster blindfolded, trying to understand what’s happening) but when you’ve mastered the gameplay, there are all […]
I had lots of opportunities (six concerts this week with me directing) to be reminded of why I do what I do. I do it to see students flourish. I watched my high school students flourish with new ideas, new commitment, new professionalism in every one of their four performances […]
How long do you need to wear a new pair of shoes before they feel worn in? A week? Longer? There’s a process of the shoe adjusting to conform to your feet, and your feet getting to know the shoes. It takes time, and it’s pretty much unavoidable. There’s the […]
I arrange vocal jazz because I love it. I sang in vocal jazz ensembles throughout school and listen to vocal groups all the time because I love it. I teach it because I believe in it. I believe that learning to sing the close harmony we encounter in vocal jazz […]
There are a lot of things I’ve adjusted to since we entered the pandemic in March, 2020. I’ve adjusted to wearing masks (no big deal…).I’ve adjusted to Zoom meetings.I’ve adjusted to surprise changes in teaching modality. But there area a few things I keep forgetting, 18 months on. I keep […]
There are a few times of year when a choir director can’t hope for work-life balance, and one is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The commitments come non-stop, and the most you can hope for is a single quiet day with your family, or a few moments of peace between school […]
When I look at the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas Break, I shudder, then cheerfully tie up my running shoes. I have for years. It’s a mad dash – all the normal things a person does in this time, but, like all musicians, also in one of the busiest months […]
I want my students to graduate with the same constellation of skills, regardless of the year they graduate. There needs to be some consistency to the experience, year after year. I want to have novelty – I am teaching between 15 and 20 pieces per year to each of my […]
Thanksgiving, while an American holiday, is in family of festivals from across the world that celebrate the harvest. It’s a time of gratitude, and a time of family. Sometimes I think it’s my favorite holiday; setting aside the American additions of televised athletic conflicts and impending consumerism, the holiday, at […]