Uncategorized

“When you write a book, you have to let it go at some point. You stop fiddling with the text, and the story is set in print. And then, it isn’t yours anymore. Not really. It belongs to the people who read it, which is a wonderful – and painful […]

Even the most tried-and-true workflow sometimes can feel tired. “I always do it this way” is a great way to build consistent success, and also a great way to feel stuck in a rut. Recently I’ve been composing a new piece, and was gratified to be able to try a […]

One of my singers for the GR Symphony gig I worked the last few weeks mentioned during the intermission that he had still been circling notes that day – during the first act of the last performance. “I guess I can stop doing that,” he said. I watched orchestra members […]

It’s not that professionals don’t make mistakes, and beginners do. It’s that professionals make idiomatic mistakes. They make mistakes that make internal sense – mistakes that are still in the right tonality, that are still in the right metric feel, that are still in tune and articulated in the right […]

Some conducting jobs are a matter of measured growth over a number of rehearsals, towards an eventual artistic performance. You collaborate to discover the perfect performance for this ensemble, in this moment, on this piece. Other conducting jobs are essentially parachuting in, quickly and effectively teaching notes and rhythms while ensuring that […]

I’ll never forget the prep for a recording session in April, 2000. My ensemble had finished nearly 48-hours of nonstop (and largely improvised) intercontinental travel with a 2-hour homecoming concert. The next morning, my director and mentor joined me in the recording studio early to record some pitch and tempo […]

At the very busiest times of the year, when you’re running from rehearsal to gig to rehearsal to gig (with a little sleep thrown in when possible), you need to go on autopilot to cover some of your responsibilities. You can’t possibly give full attention to everything. This is why […]

“Real Talk: we will only sing this piece, top-to-bottom, a dozen or fewer times before our performance in six weeks. We’ll do more partial runs, rehearsals on sections, etc. But complete runs? Probably closer to six than twelve.” It’s good to have real perspective, and to internalize that time singing […]

I received my first print copy of Downbeat Magazine in over a decade this week – thanks to my new membership in the Jazz Education Network. It got me thinking – there was a time in my life when I devoured Downbeat monthly, cover to cover. I read the features, […]

We’ve tried a little bit of blitz chess around here – 3 minutes total per player. Go. The thing is, it’s really a completely different game. With the massive time restraints, your advance planning must be simple at best, and generally you’re mostly reacting, not acting. Compare that to a […]