arrange • compose • conduct
“There are no new stories,” they tell us. It’s all just retelling of a few primal narrative arcs. And that’s probably true – look at the newest Best Musical Tony Award Winner – a retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. What could be less new than a Greek myth? The details […]
When you did chemical equations back in 10th Grade Chemistry, you’ll remember that you might have to determine which substance was the limiting reagent. You were figuring out which material would run out first as the chemical reaction happened. In your creative life, there are many factors. Which is your […]
The fourth section of Dare To Lead is “Shame and Empathy” (it’s the fourth of five sections in Part One, “Rumbling With Vulnerability”). Dr Brown faces head-on the universal experience of shame, and then moves into shame’s antidote, empathy. This article will unpack the chapter, discuss its implications specifically for choral […]
On Friday, I had the profoundly weird experience of singing a song I didn’t realize I knew by heart. It happened at a Boy Scout Camp bonfire; the staff ended singing a traditional campfire song, and I started singing along – while having no idea that I had it memorized. […]
Every time I think I’m a literary fiction fan, I get engrossed in a great new book about Roman history. When I decided I’m a non-fiction person, I swallow whole a great piece of science fiction. “Oh, I’m a genre person,” I say, only to get obsessed with a novel […]
Personal trainers will tell you that if you strengthen one set of muscles but ignore the opposing set, you’re setting yourself up for an injury. To me, the most important set of opposing emotional “muscles” to strengthen are these: High Standards and Personal Grace. High Standards are vital to achieving […]
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell […]
We can leave the same hour lecture with completely different lessons. Walk the same woods, join the same choir, weather the same storm – your experience will still be different than mine. Is it any wonder, then, that children can grow up in the same household and turn out vastly […]
Pride Month doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the brave LGBTQ community members who are standing up for their rights and the rights of each other. It belongs to the leaders who’ve been around since before Stonewall and the youths who haven’t even come out yet. But Pride doesn’t […]
The third chapter of Dare To Lead is called “The Armory” (it’s the third of five sections in Part One, “Rumbling With Vulnerability”). In this chapter, Dr. Brown addresses the idea of wholeheartedness, and provides examples of sixteen types of armor leaders are seen to use in their leadership, and then […]