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Dear Choir Directors, Thanksgiving is behind us. December looms around the corner. Steel yourself. You can do this. I’ll see you on the other side.

Singers had the opportunity to guide the phrasing from within the ensemble during an a cappella ballad this week. We called it being in the hot seat. Some of the lessons learned along the way: It’s hard to show what you want to the ensemble. Especially without waving your arms. […]

The day after Thanksgiving is the right time to think about dirty dishes, right? I’ve been trying to approach dishes with this mindset: never better than now. That glass that used to hold smoothie will never be easier to clean than right now, and even if I don’t have time […]

The biggest challenge of Thanksgiving, we’re told, is to safely navigate the landmines of differing political and social opinions when you’re among family you see only rarely. This is less of a challenge if you approach the day with a choral educator’s mindset. Choral educators, after all, navigate emotional vulnerability […]

The best Thanksgiving dinners aren’t cooked on Thursdays. If you want a truly out-of-this-world Thanksgiving dinner, you need to start prepping a week ahead. Select the recipes, buy the groceries, and prepare recipes as early as possible. Make the pies on Monday or Tuesday! Of course tomorrow, Thanksgiving, will be […]

Your daily commute usually takes 15 minutes. But on certain unfortunate days, treacherous roads stretch it to 30 or even 45 minutes. Unless you want to be very late, you have to anticipate those days and budget extra time for yourself. The same is true rehearsing music. You, the director, […]

Perhaps you know this good advice for leaders everywhere: If you want something done, ask a busy person. The same goes for placing students – busy students are the most likely, once they carve out time for your choir, to get the job done well. They know how to manage […]

If you’re lucky, you get one good leg to run with a student. They’re on a long race, and you get your turn in the relay. You do your best, and you try to leave the teachers to come after you in a strong position. Every time I see a […]

You can choose the easy way or the hard way. For almost everything. Hard way: scratch gourmet cooking. Easy way: McDonald’s. Hard way: engaged parenting. Easy way: parked in front of a screen. Hard way: emotionally connected, active teaching. Easy way: checked out, robotic teaching. Of course, every one of […]

We all, for a variety of reasons, refer people to other people. A dentist, a doctor, an organic farmer at the market. A choir director when a student moves. Have the sorts of relationships that, when you refer one friend to another friend, for any reason, you can say, “Tell […]