arrange • compose • conduct
A month and a half ago, lots of people jumped into projects with both feet. Probably too many projects. Lots of them have fallen by the wayside – too big a dip, too much work, or just too much distraction. And lots of us have now fallen into new routines. […]
If I had to add one thing to my Virtual Choir guidelines, it would be this: don’t listen back. Tell your students to let their standard be to say, “That one was good” when they finish recording, rather than one they are satisfied with when they listen back. Listening objectively […]
If something is durable, it’s meant to be reliably stable for a long period of time. It lasts, and it lasts despite wear and tear. If you are comfortable in your day-to-day, then you’ve build in some durability into your life. But durability has its limits. Replace regularly scheduled school […]
We started a marathon today. Say it out loud. It’s a marathon. The biggest mistake you can make in a marathon is start out like it’s a sprint. Especially if you haven’t really done the training to do a marathon, and let’s face it – no one has. Don’t try […]
Twice a year, the heavenly Italian bakery near where I grew up, Bommarito’s, hangs up a sign on the door that simply says Time for a Break They’re gone for a couple of weeks and then they’re back. Businesses don’t work like that – haven’t for a long, long time. […]
There are many ways to manage those nerves you feel when you go onstage for a performance. A few examples: Distract (conversation, a game on your phone, a dance party) Mental Checklist (everything you need to do, and when, until you walk onstage) Meditate Mitigate them with a medication like […]
When the going gets tough – when you’re stressed, busy, tired, sick, or otherwise preoccupied – you lean on familiar habits. That’s why I eat poorly when it’s the week of the musical – those familiar habits were built long ago. It’s because we don’t have to think – the […]
My kids have been watching YouTube clips of close-up magicians, particularly from America’s Got Talent and Penn and Teller’s Fool us. So YouTube suggested yesterday I watch clip of magic revealed – a freeze-frame walk through of a close-up magician. Does it bring you less joy knowing how the magic […]
Greek thinkers separated love into multiple varieties, rather than the single overarching word we have in English. Much has been written about these different types of love. The choir can be a great place to explore the love that the Greeks called philia, which is often translated in English as […]
Early into his time with the 2020 Michigan All-State Jazz Honors Choir, Duane Davis introduced one of the themes of his leadership and worldview, and he kept returning to it throughout his time with the singers. Yesness. “Have a pocketful of yesness,” he would say. “Let your face say ‘yes.’” […]