Uncategorized

In her fabulous TED Talk and book (How To Raise an Adult), Julie Lythcott-Haims emphasizes the overlooked importance of building self-efficacy in children. Here’s how she describes it in her TED Talk: With our overhelp, our overprotection and overdirection and hand-holding, we deprive our kids of the chance to build […]

March Madness, a multi-week sporting event involving collegiate basketball teams, is an annual reminder to me that so much of our culture is the way it is simply because “We all decided to.” We all decided it was important to have an opinion on collegiate basketball. We all decided you […]

Louis Armstrong was wise, funny, brilliant. A leader, an innovator, and a consummate performer. And when asked how to define jazz, he famously replied, “Man, if you gotta ask, you’ll never know.” I can’t overstate enough how much this hinders the reach of jazz, particularly in the choral world. Because […]

At a fabulous presentation tonight about parenting from Julie Lythcott-Haims, I was reminded that sometimes winning the long game means failing the short game. (In her context, it was that often we need to let our children fail now so that they can succeed later.) We need to let our students […]

Some rehearsals surprise you – your entire tenor section has a cold, say…or some unexpected event or distracts the choir from the task at hand. In those situations, you have to think on your feet and adjust your plans to meet the challenge. It’s not easy, and having a successful […]

Welcome to Week 19 of The Definitive Version, a regular feature of my website. You can read more about the project here and read all past entries here. Song: “Nice Work If You Can Get It” (1937)Composer: George GershwinLyricist: Ira GershwinForm: AABAStandard Key: G Major. Starting in 1918 and continuing until George Gershwin’s […]

Emily Dickinson’s famous couplet goes Tell all the truth but tell it slant —Success in Circuit lies I think the same can go for building community – we can do it slant. Sometimes we can be focused on building community through our most on-brand work. Say, “building your choir’s community […]

When I solve Matt Gaffney’s Weekly Crossword Contest, I’m always looking for the click. The moment when one small logical bridges the gap to the solution. I’m not alone, there. When his Crossword Meta Puzzles require too large of a logical leap to get to the answer, there is always […]

Standardized tests mostly show whether you are good at taking standardized tests. Having coached students in leading “test prep” programs, having done well on the tests myself, and having watched students and my own children take numerous standardized tests, I can absolutely confirm: they are not great predictors of subject […]

The challenge is this: balance on every scale. Check at the scale of a single rehearsal: are you balancing all of your repertoire that needs work? Are you balancing drills and scrimmages? Are you balancing your various educational and social goals? Check at the scale of a week: are you […]