arrange • compose • conduct
All the leadership books, seminars, and past wisdom should fall out the window once you’re in the room with your people you’re leading. Well, they don’t fall out the window. They should still form the core of your approach to leadership. But I have never learned a leadership technique that […]
Pacing in a studio session is one of the overlooked essentials of success. I’m obsessed with getting a new engineer up to speed on my strategies, preferences, and quirks before a session, and the reason is that those are the things that most affect pacing – the downtime between takes, […]
What’s the high-quality problem you spend the most time solving? My brother recently introduced me to the idea of “high-quality problems” and I’ve been thinking about how they might apply to musical situations. A high-quality problem is a problem, to be sure; it’s something that needs solving. But unlike a […]
The way I see it, for the last two years we’ve been at sea with our ensembles. We were out on our voyage when we were becalmed by the pandemic. When the winds picked back up, the students I was leading needed to be led to a harbor. Any harbor. […]
A key question for conductors to ask themselves is, “Have I prepared my ensemble so that they achieve even when I’m not there?” My students are performing tomorrow at State Solo & Ensemble. I won’t be there, nor am I at their rehearsal tonight. It is profoundly difficult for me […]
Ted Lasso reminds us to lead with a personal touch. “Every person is a different person.” Ted Lasso, Season 2, Episode 2, “Lavender” It’s never bad to remind yourself that “every person is a different person.” Even when leading large groups, teaching full classes, or interacting with someone who “reminds […]
Don’t give me a list of the things you don’t like. A long time ago, I was an early subscriber to the Believer, a magazine put out by McSweeney’s publishing. One of the things I loved about reading it was an editorial philosophy prioritizing positive reviews. I don’t have their […]
Sometimes, it’s enough in a rehearsal to not go backwards. In times of great busyness, I do my very best to maintain regularly scheduled rehearsals. Sometimes, of course, it’s impossible – dress rehearsals, exams, performances, etc. can encroach on rehearsal. But if possible, even if everyone is exhausted, I hold […]
Reflecting on a project when it’s fresh is the best way to improve the next one. I just built a new cast bio input form…for next year’s musical. Why do the work now when the need is eleven months away, and I’m neck-deep in work for next week? Simple. It’s […]
If you’re not a good leader, it doesn’t matter how polished your musical skills are. There’s a reason I spend so much time thinking, reading, and writing about leadership. I think it’s undervalued when we train music educators and conductors, and I think its value is far greater than your […]