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I’ve been making a massive playlist of vocal harmony groups on Spotify – it makes for nice shuffling when I’m working in the kitchen. There’s lots of great music on the playlist, but whats’ most interesting is what’s missing. What’s outside the database. There are albums around the corner on […]

One of the things you learn as a long-time listener to the music The Real Group is a sense of musical malleability: the idea that their compositions and arrangements can evolve and change over time. An original version can be rewritten, expanded for a studio recording, and revised multiple times […]

Getting a commissioned work in the mail is a little like Christmas – except that, unlike a holiday, it’s always a surprise exactly when it’s going to come. It’s a thrill to be the first to set eyes on a piece you’ve commissioned, and to start to imagine interpreting it […]

“What does ‘done’ look like?” is an question I took with me from my in-depth read of Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead this summer. What’s vital to understand is that even on relatively simple projects or goals, my concept of “done” might be different than yours. Until we agree on […]

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas […]

Some of the team building strategies are way out of my personal comfort zone. Things like Karaoke or Lip Sync Battles – things that appeal to extroverts but not to a committed introvert like me. Nevertheless, I provide opportunities and even participate myself. Why? Because breadth is needed in team […]

Young vocal improvisers are always concerned about what syllables they should use – in fact, I think they’re sometimes more concerned with that than with the ideas of improvising melodies! That concern often leads to some pretty extravagant syllabic choices: lots “squee” and “skadoodle” and “skiddama” types of things. To […]

Many choirs are renaming their choirs to remove gender-based descriptors from their names. I applaud this trend as we all can do better at supporting our trans and gender-non-binary students as they wrestle with conformity in so many other aspects of their life. Women’s Ensemble, Men’s Glee Club, etc. – […]

We never want our expressions to be static. A static face doesn’t convey emotion. A static phrase doesn’t move anywhere. Giving a speech with a static tone is not compelling. A static human has no life. The opposite of static is dynamic. We are often so hesitant to add dynamic […]

1. Your organizational ability is not a talent. It is a skill that can ben developed. 2. The organizational skill will be more valuable to you than any specific skill or knowledge base you acquire in any class in high school, college, or graduate school. 3. Luckily, your teachers know […]