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The great part about creating a physical object is that you can hold something and say, “I made this.” That’s the main reason why I still make physical CDs, rather than digital downloads. Someday my students will be able to say to their children, I made this. You can’t do that with […]

1. Show up. 2. See what happens. That’s Napoleon’s Batte Plan, as described by Aaron Sorkin in the eponymous Sports Night Episode (#22). We tend to think that the best way forward is to be as specific, detailed, and forward thinking as we can–and it’s true that in many situations, that’s the […]

When you are so sick you have to cancel rehearsal but:   1. It makes you cry to have to miss rehearsal and 2. You know your students are still going to have an excellent rehearsal even without their director.   That’s how you know it’s right.

Do you find it easier to learn words or tunes? If you’re like me, my students, and most people I’ve asked, the answer is tunes. Thus the number of times you’ve sung along with the radio, and nailed the song but made up words. I mention this for two reasons. First, because […]

Mr. Rogers was the master of irony-free creative expression. I don’t know if there’s any entertainer who more effectively connected with an audience with a generous, genuine expression of emotion. I was reminded because right now, Twitch is airing a marathon of the complete series of Mister Rogers Neighborhood (over […]

My TTBB chamber ensemble, The Rockford Aces, have been having a banner year. I want to especially congratulate them on the hard work they put in to achieve one of their goals today. Every year, many of these students set a performance at Michigan Youth Arts Festival as a goal they have for the […]

Sometimes our culture wants us to turn out critical thinking off. (“All the time,” shouted a student when I said that in rehearsal. “So we’ll buy stuff.”) We all need an antidote, then, to the numbing presence of our culture on our conscious brains. And singing in the choir is a […]

Commissioning new music is its own reward – you get to perform new, original music written just for your ensemble. However, there’s a big bonus to commissioning when the piece goes on to have a life of its own. Recently, the brilliant piece May, written by Michael McGlynn for my choir, The […]

Forced creating every day, especially with narrow limits on the creation, can lead you to surprisingly creative results. I’ve been putting daily notes in lunches for a couple of years now – every day, a sentence, reminder, doodle, or other. Recently, I’ve started experimenting with the rather limited form, and […]

We have to show up. I can certify that about half of my blog posts are below average. And…that doesn’t mean I don’t blog those days, because I’m not sure what’s going to be a below-average blog post until after it’s in the world. All I know is if I […]