arrange • compose • conduct
Leadership means asking for feedback to spur your own growth. That’s why I’m doing my first-ever exit interviews this year. I get faculty evaluations at the college, and I get feedback from students and parents in the form of emails, notes, social media posts. But this year I’m going beyond […]
I think this is one of the best questions you can ask, and that you can encourage your students to ask: What will you say about these times when they are over? About a tour, a year, a grade, a project, friendship: how will you describe them? It’s always my […]
How do you know if you’ll like a career? We spent the weekend talking and theorizing with our kids about the life on the road – after we had walked past the Jacob Collier tour buses, there were lots of questions. Tour life is strenuous and non-stop. Some people derive […]
I spent the week listening to music I appreciate but don’t always love. To be clear – I appreciate it deeply. I think it’s brilliant, and I totally allow for the fact that the reason I don’t always love it has to do with my own biases and experience. Certainly […]
Encouragement isn’t always simple positivity. “True encouragement consists not so much of burbling as of detailed attention.” Stephen Sondheim, in a letter to Adam Guettel I personally struggle to five encouragement that isn’t simple positivity. I desperately want my students and mentees to keep going – to build on what […]
Whenever you always approach a type of problem with a certain strategy, it might be useful to ask: “What other approaches might work?” As a general principle, I often take a few months after a recording session with my ensembles before I sit down to mix it. The distance from […]
It’s impossible to be prepared for every eventuality. But… The first time you do something – perform a recital, say, or do a recording session – you can’t know what to expect, or what common pitfalls are to be avoided. You’re going to have to learn, through a combination of […]
Working with students requires you to occupy three places on the timeline. First, you have the past – what they needed when you started working with them. When this school year started, students needed love, psychological safety, and routine. Second, you have the present – what they need today to […]
“You’re so smart, you should be a doctor!” (lawyer, rocket scientist, engineer) Yes, you could be those things. But how should you use your intellect? Use your intellect to bring more love into the world. However that works for you. Be a teacher. Be an author. Yes, be a musician. […]
“For those who have been trained by it, no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful.” These words, this tune, sing in my ears whenever I’m struggling to find the discipline to do the work I intend to do. “I’m tired.” “I don’t feel like it.” “I can do […]