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The 2016 ACDA-Michigan Fall Conference is just a few weeks away (Oct. 28-29), and last week I got to connect with headliner Z. Randall Stroope and ask him a few questions about what he’ll be sharing and about his musical worldview. Please enjoy it by clicking here!

Music is elementary. I mean that in several ways. It’s elementary because that’s generally the last time that every public school student is expected to participate in music as part of their education. [*] It’s elementary because I am not sure I know a more fundamental cultural tradition than music. It hits us […]

Let me be perfectly clear. I don’t think arts education is a cure-all. But I do know this: singing together brings people together. It literally teaches empathy. I don’t think choir should be required of high school students, but I do believe that there should be a culture supporting it comparable to […]

Who marks their scores most: the most sophisticated musician, or the beginning chorister? In my experience, the smarter the choir member, the more they use their pencil. Young musicians need to be told what to mark. Mature musicians make marks as they read or rehearse, without being told. Professional musicians can […]

In rehearsal this week a student asked about some musical moment – a decision yet to be made. “Is it going to be A, or B?” “I don’t know,” I answered. “But we’ll figure it out.” Another student said something about it all working out if we trust the process. I think that’s […]

Note: this is the third of a series of posts investigating the leadership style of John Wooden and its applicability to choral music education. John Wooden’s third block in the base of his Pyramid of Success is FRIENDSHIP. Wooden says, “Respect, esteem, and camaraderie are characteristics of Friendship necessary for a high-performance team.” He adds, “Think […]

I am writing this while watching Cantus and Chanticleer perform Gabrieli’s Litaniae Beatae Mariae Virginis in their first-ever joint concert. Well past 10:00pm, and after a sixteen hour day wearing many different hats, I ought to be in bed. Sometimes the best thing you can do is lose a little sleep for art. […]

It’s the first school day of a new month. A great time to reflect and adjust. The first month of school is in large part about establishing routines and baseline standards. My guess is you, like me, have strayed from your intentions as the routines have settled in. A new month, a new opportunity to […]

I had a superstar on my hockey team when I was 10. (This was my last year playing hockey.) Geoff could skate circles around most opponents and handled the puck well. I’m pretty sure he ended up with more goals than the rest of the team-combined. We had a winning season […]

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead   What is your choir but a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens? Do you doubt they could change the world? Did you ever consider that they could? What […]