Uncategorized

The story of my connection with Alice Parker is the story of dreaming big dreams and then asking. “Those who can ask without shame are viewing themselves in collaboration with—rather than in competition with—the world.”  ― Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let […]

Caroyln F. Leep was a vital resource for choral educators in Michigan for over twenty years as head of the choral/vocal department of Malecki Music. Since 1988 MSVMA has awarded an endowed scholarship in her name to a member using it for advanced study. A number of my friends and colleagues […]

We had our first quartet tests in the Rockford Aces Monday night – one on a part demonstrating their mastery of a piece. Afterwards, one singer asked me how he can stop feeling like he knows it in the practice room but forgets it during the test. Here are a […]

VOCE was only in its second season. Probably too early in their development for a commission. But their conductor, Carol Hunter, and staff clearly saw the value. So they reached out to a composer who had only recently started his own publishing company. According to Wikipedia, he had graduated from […]

The conference bonus is, you get to recharge with your colleagues. You get to sit at dinner and share stories from the past year, hear their stories, celebrate joys and commiserate about the challenges you are all facing. My first music conference was the Atlanta IAJE Convention of January, 1996. […]

Revitalized literally means “made alive again.” And I am pleased to share that the 2015 Michigan Music Conference has revitalized me in the best possible ways. Every January I look forward to this opportunity to connect with colleagues, hear new ideas and performances, and springboard into the second half of […]

As I’ve written before, clarity in your writing is just as important as what you write. If I can’t read it easily, I’m not going to ever perform it well. So however advanced your music is, you need to notate it as clearly as possible. Today’s lesson: Show Beat Three. […]

In The Art of Asking, Amanda Palmer says there are three phases for an artist’s creative process: Collect When you gather new experiences or observations. Reading, listening, tasting. Connect When you literally connect the dots between what you’ve collected. This is when your art gets created. Share When you stop creating the art and […]

Isn’t it amazing how fast an experience can go from living present to “did that even happen” past? Six months ago I had just gotten back from my first European choir tour as a conductor. Fifteen days, five countries, more than ten performances. It was a life-changing trip in the […]

I wrote recently about the universality of singing. Some reactions to the post reminded me that there are teachers out there who choose to squash the musical spark in children. With the lengths many of us go to turn on lights in students, I get terribly angry about those turning […]