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There are three vertices to the triangle of music-making. Composer. Performer. Audience. Can you neglect these and have an acceptable performance? Sure – within reason. A strong connection between performer and audience can transcend material that is not stellar. A strong, supportive audience can lift up a lesser performer, and […]

It is undoubtedly the case that we absorb the culture we’re around. We pick up cues – intentional and not – from those around us, particularly our authorities: parents, teachers, leaders. We absorb the culture and then we reflect it back. So it is that we can affect our students […]

Imposter syndrome seems to be a common ailment these days: the sense that your accomplishments are fraudulent and that any minute you’ll be discovered for the imposter you actually are. The natural reaction to imposter syndrome is to back up: remove yourself from the sensation of fraudulence and return to […]

Just a quick perspective to carry forward on the trope that teachers “have summers off.” The truth is that teachers are a different kind of busy. If they aren’t heading off to summer jobs, as is increasingly common, they are getting caught up on projects that they had to set […]

How many listens does it take to fall in love with a piece? The truth is, it varies. You might need lonely one listen to understand,  love, and sing along with the latest top-40 pop song, while understanding the Shostakovich string quartets might take dozens of listens or more for […]

In the musical revue Sondheim on Sondheim, the composer says the following in one of his video narrations: I write on yellow pads. I prefer the kind that have exactly 32 lines on them, because it means that you can make alternate choices of words in between two lines. If there […]

It’s easy to say “I love you” on the easy days. But love means saying “I love you” when it’s hard. It’s what good teachers do so well. They give love to their students in real, subtle, tangible ways every day. When it’s easy and when it’s hard. Admittedly, it’s […]

Sometimes, the most powerful action is to be still. Sometimes, the most powerful action is to be kinetic. Recognizing which it’s time for is the secret.

It won’t take you long on social media to find someone inviting recommendations for books, podcasts, TV shows, or other cultural goods. (In the choral world, the most common posts in conductor discussion groups are looking for [1] repertoire recommendations and [2] behavioral problem suggestions.) Step back for a second, […]

A teacher’s summer is, among other things, for rebuilding capacity that she can use during the busy months with no time to slow down. (Though that is increasingly hard as more and more teacher spend their summers in second jobs, extra professional development/training, or working their social media side hustles […]