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Do un-begun projects carry extra weight in your mind? I find that procrastination tends to exaggerate how long something is going to take – and when I finally start, it almost always takes less time than I think. Just begin. A colleague recently admitted that their voicemail had unheard messages from as far back […]

I typically dress fairly casually for my evening rehearsals: a suit and tie would not be appropriate here. Jeans are more likely. Except for Day One. In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell describes a study of end-of-semester professor evaluations: The psychologist Nalini Ambady once gave students three ten-second videotapes of a […]

I love almost everything about conducting an elite, auditioned extracurricular men’s choir. Almost. The worst part of running the Rockford Aces is holding auditions. For two big reasons, I feel strongly that auditions are at best a necessary evil. Every year I hear talented, passionate young men who won’t get into […]

I got to watch about 50 brilliant choir teachers give up their weekend over the last two days. At the end of their stressful first week of school, they drove from across Michigan to volunteer for MSVMA. Seven left directly after school to make it to Big Rapids for an […]

Enjoy this guest post from East Zeeland HS Choir teacher Jonathan Van Eck. I asked him to write it after he shared the number above on Facebook.   285:30. That’s 285 hours and 30 minutes. That’s the amount of time I spent working this summer. Divide that out and it’s almost […]

I’m currently reading Brené Brown’s new book, Rising Strong. It’s about the process about getting back up after failure. (Actually, I’ve been reading a lot of books about the value of failure lately.) What has struck me as I go through this book is that she, a social scientist, leans heavily […]

Shaw on the nature of the choir: “Any worthy amateur choral organization is built around only a single idea extended in two ways: a mutual and high regard for the music which is being performed, and a mutual and high regard for all the people with whom it is being […]

Day Two, you’re nowhere. All the hard work is in front of you – the choir hasn’t done more than sight read. Becoming an ensemble takes time and effort. But you’ve done Day One. You’ve started. No choice now but to do the hard work and head towards your dreams. As Tibetan Buddhist […]

Today is our 13th First Day of School – thirteenth since we finished grad school and started teaching. It’s also our 8th First Day (in Rockford), our 3rd (Mandy full time), our 9th (with kids at home). It’s our 5th First Day of putting a child on the school bus. It’s my 34th First Day since I started kindergarten in […]

Welcome to choir. You can expect to… Make music every day. Learn to speak and read music. Strive for artistry. Express deep emotions in public. (Don’t worry, you’ll be in a group.) Fail on your way to success. Get a solo (maybe). Not get a solo you want (likely). Sing music that […]