arrange • compose • conduct
Christine Guter made a point to call the members of the All-State Jazz Choir “professionals” or “young professionals” this past weekend, and to hold them to a standard of professionalism that was likely well beyond what they were accustomed to. It’s a reminder to me that we become professional when […]
“Is it okay to make mistakes?” she asked. “No!” (she answered her own question.) “But seriously, in performance, is it okay to make mistakes?” The students started nodding. “NO!” “All right, don’t make mistakes, but if you have to it’s okay, right?” “NO!!!” She went on, “It’s okay to make […]
Once upon a time, I always thought like an arranger when I arranged, like a composer when I composed. Effective voicings. Timbre, texture, form, phrasing. I still think about all of those things, of course. But I prioritize thinking like the performer. Would I enjoy singing this? Would this read […]
The first time I bake or cook a new recipe, I try to follow it to the letter. No substitutions, no tweaks, no “I think it’ll taste better if…”. That’s because I don’t know yet what’s integral and what’s flexible. After I’ve made it at least once, a recipe is […]
I love introducing singers to the studio. I love it for three reasons. It’s educational. You can learn so much from the work you do recording and listening back to what you’ve done. It’s fun. Being effective in the moment, reactive and consistent, can be such a thrill. It’s lasting. […]
Awe and wonder are essential to the human experience. Wonder fuels our passion for exploration and learning, for curiosity and adventure. […] Some researches even believe that “awe-inducing events may be one of the fastest and most powerful methods of personal change and growth.” from Atlas of the Heart by […]
Yesterday, I wrote about how much music benefits from percolation, especially in the form of multiple performances. Why not, then, program less music? I tend to program between 15 and 20 pieces of music for my ensembles each year. Why not cut that to 10 or even 8, and repeated […]
Music requires percolation time to achieve the best results. Think about the number of pieces a high school, college, or community choir might perform only once before putting away. It’s a significant percentage, and that’s too bad, because the percolation works better in performance than in rehearsal. Every performance you […]
Every year around this time, the Rockford Choirs are shaken with the latest “battle” an ongoing “war” between Mrs. and Mr. Scott. “Oh no,” they say, “Mrs. and Mr. Scott are fighting about Christmas again.” Even our kids, now, take sides in the argument. We are arguing about the pronunciation […]
Hiring a pro band for our annual Cabaret is certainly not the cheapest way to put on the show. Particularly with the availability of good quality karaoke tracks as well as skillful student musicians, it might seem hard to justify. It never is for me. For a lot of reasons. […]