arrange • compose • conduct
In June, I took a quick ride on the Big Shot at the top of the Las Vegas Stratopshere. The ride shot me and my son 160 up from the 921′ platform at the top of the tower at 45 mph. Sounds like a thrill, no? As a self-reflective introvert, […]
There is a resignation to realizing that you’re the one who’s going to have to get something done. Maybe you’ve been meeting about a goal without action for months or years. Maybe no one is raising their hand in rehearsal. Maybe someone has dropped the ball and there’s no time […]
I came to Joni Mitchell’s Blue late. I guess it’s because I came to Joni late – most pop music wasn’t really on my radar growing up. Twenty years ago, I bought a CD of Blue based on friends’ enthusiasm, and having heard her jazz album Both Sides Now live […]
A busman’s holiday isn’t all bad! A busman’s holiday refers to the idea that a family road trip for a bus driver would find them doing exactly what they did when not on vacation – driving. It refers, generally, to doing the things you do for work on your off […]
Seth Godin recently wrote: The second time you rewire a system after finding a hum, it might take two minutes. The first time, the time you figured out what the problem was, it might have taken two hours. It’s true! My second virtual choir project was much faster than the […]
Here’s a way to put your pre-concert nerves in perspective. Think about your own performance. Are you nervous about it? (Of course. Yes.) Now think about every other ensemble member. Are you nervous for their performance? (Probably not.) The other members feel about your performance the way you do about […]
The branches on every deciduous tree in my yard are hanging so low right now. After days of rain, every leaf and every stem has absorbed as much water as it can, and the net effect is hundreds of extra pounds of weight for every tree. When the rain stops, […]
What does it mean when you say, “I wouldn’t be good at that”? I see a few different possibilities: I’m not good at it now, and I’m unable to imagine that changing. I’m not good at it now, and I am unwilling to put in the effort I know it […]
Sometimes we focus on mastering one tool for every case, when we’d be better served by using two tools with different strengths. I use two applications for when I want to write words down. Google Docs and Adobe InDesign. How do I choose? Easy: if I care how it will […]
There comes a time when we all have to become specialists. Time is maybe the biggest cause – there simply isn’t enough time for us to be generalists about everything. Also the demands of a specific job or career path tend to focus us into specialization. But I think it’s […]