arrange • compose • conduct
I know someone who has a little extra anxiety on Sunday nights, because school is coming on Monday. Mild everyday school anxiety is totally normal for lots of kids; and the small disruption in routine created by the weekend is enough to maximize that anxiety on Sunday nights. One of […]
When you’re working with professionals, it’s evident almost immediately – and it makes your own performance, and your state of mind, so much better. I spent part of yesterday in a socially-distanced video shoot with several professionals from Grand Rapids Community College. Each other person there (someone from the charitable […]
When you’re an aspiring creator, you seek the remarkable, earth-shattering change. The one work of transformative art that will literally change everything. I’d rather make incremental change, day after day. That work isn’t fast, it isn’t flashy, it won’t bring you fame. But it will change the world. It will […]
The practice of making your decisions and behaviors match your ideals is the work of a lifetime. We are all working on it. It’s why New Year’s Resolutions continue to exist and hold our attention. The desire of matching ideals and behaviors. Our students will repeatedly fail at this matching–just […]
On Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld asked Jimmy Fallon this question: “Do you ever wake up and think, ‘I can’t get in front of these people.”? But he gave the clearest answer to the question himself, saying that he’s fine, “Once you walk out there. When the lights […]
We sometimes think that all the learning happens during those four or six years of college/grad school. The truth is, lots more learning happens afterwards, if we are open to it. In other words: what used to be hard doesn’t stay hard. I was reflecting on this today as I […]
There’s something special about the bonds we form in choir. That’s true whether it’s the friends you return to, year after year, or the songs you can sing a quarter century later, in 4-part harmony, or in some special occasions, the couples who forget lifelong bonds in their choir. If […]
Dr. Brené Brown launched two podcasts in 2020, including the wonderful Unlocking Us. On the very first episode, she introduced us to her idea of FFTs (the FT stands for “First Time”). She outlines the various ways that dealing with a first-time experience can affect our lives, and gives great […]
I made a list this weekend (during my Singing Brook Day) of active projects in my life right now. It wasn’t a complete GTD Mind Sweep but it was a solid clearing out of my mental to-do list. I ended up with a full 4×6 card in tiny handwriting. So […]
Life’s worthwhile arcs often last a lifetime. There are deadlines, due dates, smaller projects that come and go – but the overall arc is never-ending. Contrast that with the impression we often give students over 13 years of compulsory schooling: that knowledge is discrete; that every unit comes with a […]