arrange • compose • conduct
Pomp and Circumstance are good. I don’t mean the Elgar, though that is pretty nice. It’s one of those magical pieces that carry so much weight in terms of setting a scene. I mean, the ceremonial celebration of milestones is worthwhile. It’s great to blow out candles, to wear a […]
I recently asked one of my kids, “What do you think I’ll do when you’re all adults and out of the house?” We talked about ideas: write more music, maybe another book. “Clean less!” was a funny answer. In the end, my kids answers all amounted to: more of what […]
We’re kind of terrible at it. According to Dan Gilbert, At every age, from 18 to 68 in our data set, people vastly underestimated how much change they would experience over the next 10 years. We call this the “end of history” illusion. To give you an idea of the […]
Meetings don’t always need to last as long as they’re schedule to last. But somehow, almost every meeting I have ever attended has lasted the full scheduled duration. A lot of that is due to meeting creep – discussion points stretching out to fill available time. In the short run, […]
I dare you to take a longer break. What was the last day you completely didn’t think about work? For me, I even worked every day I was home with COVID this winter. My last day without work thoughts was in early August, on my off-the-grid family vacation. For better […]
Tell me what’s the worst part of a conducting job, and tell me why it’s auditions. It can be ensemble auditions or solo auditions – any situation in which I’m expected to make decisions via audition. I don’t have anything but the best interests of the students who audition, and […]
Assumption of Positive Intent is hard to practice. It’s easy to assume malicious intent – that people are out to get you, or don’t have your best interests at heart, or just don’t care enough about what you care about. In Dr. Brené Brown’s Dare To Lead, she writes, “Daring […]
I’m an irrepressible forward thinker. I’m always looking ahead to the next things. Today, though, I’m fighting hard to not look ahead. I’m working to stay present and relive the moments of an incredibly special concert last night. The 15th Annual Aces Concert was an amazing experience – my students […]
Overprepared is a myth. There is prepared and there is unprepared. Any preparation beyond the baseline of prepared simply moves you farther beyond the average level of preparation and into excellence. Come see my students tonight at 7pm (or if you’re not in West Michigan, watch online) as they show […]
It can be hard to invite people to your thing. For a lot of different reasons. I start several months before the Aces Concert each year (it’s tomorrow, May 26 at 7pm – free admission!) letting my students know that the best way for them to get an audience to […]