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Before the first rehearsal, your choir sings every chord in tune. They never disagree or have a bad rehearsal. They don’t check their phones in class. They always remember pencils. In short, before the first rehearsal, your choir is perfect. But wouldn’t you give up a fair percentage of your […]

How do you measure work-life balance? By the hour? By the day? By the year? Some years are less balanced than others – make sure you offset the extra-busy years. But some days are less balanced than others, too. An up north leisurely beach day with an evening concert might […]

Welcome to Week 2 of The Definitive Version, a new weekly feature of my website. You can read more about the project here. Song: My Funny Valentine Composer: Richard Rodgers Lyricist: Lorenz Hart Form: AABA, 32-bar Standard Key: C Minor/E-flat Major The song was composed by Rodgers and Hart for their 1937 musical Babes in […]

Favorite books can be the best insight into a person’s philosophical outlook. You can learn so much about someone by the books they recommend to you. Wouldn’t you like to know someone’s Life Bibliography? That is, a list of the books that have shaped their life and contributed most deeply […]

In his wonderful headlining sessions at the MSVMA Summer Conference, ACDA Executive Director Tim Sharp shared many great ideas that will affect my work. One sentence of his that I wrote down has been echoing in my ears since he said it: On the other side of tension is the emergence of […]

The best part of a summer conference is the moment when you can’t wait to be in front of your students again. It can come from a session, during a speech, or just from a rich conversation with a trusted colleague. In any case, the conference has facilitated your rejuvenation. […]

A conference offers three major benefits to prioritize. Learning. New ideas, strategies, music. Inspiration. Motivation to improve, renew, or reinvent yourself. Connection. With friends old and new. Walk into a conference knowing those three benefits, and prioritize them. These priorities can change over the course of your career (with a […]

The sooner you recognize that there’s a second, secret, school you can enroll in, the better. Some never realize it, or discover it only after college is over. Others perceive it in elementary school, and are able to enroll in Secret School and get all the advantages of concurrent enrollment. […]

That blissful July hour isn’t what you think it is. Here’s what that July hour means. That yoga class? It’s actually an hour spent after school consoling a student struggling with anxiety. That walk in the woods? It’s actually an extra long weekend at Solo & Ensemble. That soft serve […]

Welcome to Week 1 of The Definitive Version, a new weekly feature of my website. You can read more about the project here. Song: Misty Composer: Errol Garner Lyricist: Johnny Burke Form: AABA, 32-bar Standard Key: E-flat major Composed by Errol Garner in 1954 and first recorded by him in 1955, Misty is a super-standard: […]