arrange • compose • conduct
I’m beginning a series on the brilliant book The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker, looking at the ideas from each chapter and how they might specifically apply to choral gatherings. As we go, I’m going to write about specific choral gatherings that I encounter in a normal school/concert year, […]
It’s time to talk about gathering. There’s no better source for rethinking gatherings than the amazing book The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. I reread it last month in preparation, and am writing a series of blogs next week examining each chapter and what it has to say about […]
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 […]
In his conversation with Dr. Brené Brown on her podcast Dare To Lead, Simon Sinek said: They don’t make movies about good leaders. They only make movies about bad leaders, like Master and Commander and things like this. Because nothing’s going well, and some big personality comes in and barks orders and […]
Reading the instructions is the worst way to learn a new game. Way better is when the game maker creates a 4 minute video that teaches the game to you: it’s more engaging, interactive, and concise. But better still is to learn it from a veteran who knows the game […]
Leaders aren’t the ones who are in charge. They’re the ones with the courage to go first. Simon Sinek, in A Bit of Optimism, Episode 6 Leadership is about the courage to go first. Asking the singers around you to quiet down in rehearsal is an act of leadership. Speaking […]
A memory came up yesterday of me with my students on the elementary playground, nine years ago. This was at the end of a long week of rehearsals, preparing for our arrival at the 2012 World Choir Games on July 4. As I remember it, the Aces had worked incredibly […]
“I need to read more, is the thing,” my wife said to me yesterday. “Same!” I replied. There are just so many great books I want to read, and I’ve been in a reading slump really since the pandemic hit. But the truth is, it isn’t about what I need […]
My wife, Mandy, is a brilliant conductor. She regularly makes magic happen in concert and in rehearsal. She has wonderful musical instincts, impeccable training, and makes visual poetry with her conducting. But even as she makes the music come alive, she puts the people first. In the course of her […]
My dad described one of his first chances to scrub in with an orthopedic surgeon, on the day he was interviewing for an internship in that hospital. When the surgery was mostly done, the doctor offered him a chance to see the work, and my dad noticed, and pointed out, […]