arrange • compose • conduct
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 […]
I am very occasionally late to rehearsal. I don’t love it, but I do like to learn one important thing about the ensemble. The ensemble that is owned by the conductor waits for the conductor to start. The ensemble that is self-owned starts when it’s time to start. I love […]
I stopped rehearsal last week to ask an important question. “I just said to make that AH vowel taller. But was I talking to everyone?” No, probably not. So I followed up with, “Who here has taller than average vowels in the group?” About a third of the group raised […]
Hiring a pro band for our annual Cabaret is certainly not the cheapest way to put on the show. Particularly with the availability of good quality karaoke tracks as well as skillful student musicians, it might seem hard to justify. It never is for me. For a lot of reasons. […]
I start out each week planning the perfect rehearsal. Efficient! Fun! Productive! There is music, and laughter, and camaraderie, and mutual respect among all people in the rehearsal. This, of course, never happens. I plan the perfect rehearsal, but I never plan on the perfect rehearsal! Why? There’s a sporting […]
We spend so much time practicing singing in choir, and give so much feedback on singing better…but how much time do we spend practicing listening and giving feedback on listening better? I can sometimes sing and listen critically to what’s happening around me at the same time. Not always. The […]
I remember wanting to learn to mark scores more effectively, and being told by someone, “there’s lots of different ways to mark score. However you do it is fine, just pick a method.” I remember mostly being utterly unsatisfied with that suggestion – what I wanted was a specific tool […]
I used to get frustrated as the conductor of a tenor-bass a cappella ensemble, because of the easy fandom they received. They could give a good performance and get screams from their peers, even when an outstanding performance by another choir on the same concert didn’t receive the same level […]