arrange • compose • conduct
The brain processes while we sleep. It can lead to miraculous results, in the right circumstances. I watched the Michigan All-State Jazz Choir start every morning having moved forward as an ensemble from where they were the previous evening. They literally got better in their sleep! Part of this was […]
“Is it okay to make mistakes?” she asked. “No!” (she answered her own question.) “But seriously, in performance, is it okay to make mistakes?” The students started nodding. “NO!” “All right, don’t make mistakes, but if you have to it’s okay, right?” “NO!!!” She went on, “It’s okay to make […]
One of the things I have missed most about in-person conferencing is that my ideas get to cross-pollinate. They get to mix and mingle with other ideas, and I come back with novel fruits to share with my students. It can happen in lecture sessions, in concert sessions, even in […]
Have you tried whisking left-handed recently? (For me, that’s whisking right-handed…what I mean is your non-dominant hand.) It feels weird. I’m pretty agile with kitchen tools, but in my “wrong” hand, I feel like a novice all over again. I sometimes do just that, to remind myself the way that […]
Imposter Syndrome never ends. The sense that you don’t actually belong doing what you’re doing – what Amanda Palmer calls “The Fraud Police” – is, at least in my experience, ongoing in even situations where I know without question that I am qualified and capable. I’ve found only one solution […]
I like to start each new semester with a handful of personal resolutions – things I want to do better this semester, things I want to try, things I want to achieve. Things like: No repertoire I’ve conducted before Keep my talking to under 30 seconds during active rehearsal segments. […]
I’ve just started digging into Atomic Habits by James Clear, and it’s already evident that there’s a lot here applicable to music education. Consider: Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure […]
I think the best learning happens when you have enough time to have fun. Sometimes, in the crunch of the moment, I have to move with peak efficiency. In the recording studio or in the rehearsal process, I am leaving no moment unused. It’s effective but it isn’t very fun. […]
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 […]