arrange • compose • conduct
I said in rehearsal, “I want to sight read just the first four bars today.” We ended up getting through the first 16 bars, and everyone left pleased with their effectiveness. I can’t say that was my plan, but I will say that setting goals that you can beat can […]
Do you enjoy being a part of scrappy organizations? I teach in music departments – often the scrappiest part of a school. Fighting for every dollar, getting creative to solve problems. I love vocal jazz – is one of the scrappiest contingents in the choral world – working to convince […]
Drop some balls today so you won’t have so many to juggle tomorrow. The only way to stop feeling like you’re triaging your work life, day after day, is to turn away from today. Drop everything, for a little while, and look further ahead. Two days, two weeks, a month […]
Anger alienates. Always. Communicating with anger rarely solves a problem, and can often make it worse. As and educator, I believe that anger is never a tool that teaches, so if possible, I never want to use it at all. This goes for all types of communication, and double for […]
How is it not obvious? It seems an almost universal challenge to learn to differentiate between things we do to make ourselves happy things we do to make the people around us happy. As an educator, it’s essential that we master the art of helping our students find what makes […]
You might not know what’s going to work in your plans. But today’s surprises will be tomorrow’s staples. Mirror glazes, dry sponge cakes, under-proved breads, and a Paul Hollywood handshake are just a few of the stapes of the Great British Baking Show. I’m willing to bet almost none of […]
…you’ll never get close. I think this is true regardless of where you’re headed. It’s not enough to say “I want to be a musician” or even “I want to be a vocal performance major.” That’s nowhere near precise enough of a direction to aim. Some vocal performance majors are […]
…doesn’t mean I’m more right than you, who are new. I’ve directed the Rockford Aces for 15 years, and that means I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t, generally speaking. I’ve learned from hard mistakes I’ve made, and I’ve learned from successes. I’ve seen cyclical patterns, learned […]
In everything I do, “build it to outlast me” is an organizing principle. I want the ensembles I have started or directed to continue after I finish leading them. I want the music I write to continue to be of use after I’m not conducting it. I want the words […]
Take a deep breath, and consider what it means to be emotionally professional. Here’s Simon Sinek: “If you’re having a bad day, you can say, ‘Listen, I’m a little off my game today.” But you can’t sit in the meeting and be grumpy and give one word answers. That’s emotionally […]