arrange • compose • conduct
This question has been one of the best tools I’ve found to improve my own art making. How do you make your art? I ask it of other artists: What’s your photo editing process like? Whats’ the hardest part about knowing when your poems are done? How long do you […]
It’s probably not, but today might be the day someone important is paying attention. “Every day is an audition” is a mantra I adopted from my mentor, because it’s true and useful. If you’re auditioning for next year’s ensemble, I’m watching you every rehearsal, every day to see how you […]
I believe this to my core: there is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor. The creative arts are subjective and they reach people at a point in their lives when they need it most. It’s like a song, or an album, is made…and it almost has a […]
How do you avoid cliches? Avoiding cliches in your writing is advisable. Cliches tend to cheapen your writing by using bland, repeated phrases or “moves” that have been heard so many times before that they don’t affect your audience. Whether you’re creating music, writing words, or creating any other art, […]
What’s the high-quality problem you spend the most time solving? My brother recently introduced me to the idea of “high-quality problems” and I’ve been thinking about how they might apply to musical situations. A high-quality problem is a problem, to be sure; it’s something that needs solving. But unlike a […]
I’m happy to announce I’m refocusing the daily posts on my website! Rather than my previous focus on creativity, vocal music, and education, I’m so excited to begin a daily post at the intersection of ancient Roman culture and philosophical thought. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Latin, and I’ve […]
The vocal harmony world missed an important golden anniversary last year, and today is a perfect day to make up for it. Just over fifty years ago, in 1971, The Singers Unlimited released their first record, In Tune – a collaboration with the Oscar Peterson Trio. They would go on […]
Can you get a sense of your situational plus-minus score? Plus-minus is a statistic used primarily in ice hockey to assess how effective players are, beyond the number of goals or assists they might personally achieve. In rough terms, a player’s score goes up 1 for every goal their team […]
What are you teaching for? It’s a question worth asking. Maybe you’re teaching for curriculum. If you’re employed by an organization that requires certain measurable curriculum-related outcomes, that can be an appropriate thing to teach for. Maybe you’re teaching for curiosity. Your goal is to create scenarios where the typical […]
Changing the quality of the beat can go a long way to helping choirs switch genres. Transitioning between traditional choral and more contemporary pop genres can stymie choirs, and one of the challenges is a difference in the quality of rhythm. I tend to think of rhythm in even the […]