arrange • compose • conduct
Please enjoy Shades of Blue’s virtual recording of “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” – out in virtual choir style now. It was the hardest chart we recorded remotely this year. Darmon Meader’s writing never disappoints, and this is a fun and silly song for him to play with. It […]
The RAMA Vocal Center (part of the Danish Royal Academy of Music in Aalborg) has become a world leader in contemporary music training. Recently, two of the staff leaders have released innovative new apps. Vocal Painting, developed by Jim Daus Hjernøe, teaches 75 interactive hand signs that enable an ensemble […]
It’s my end-of-school-year tradition to publish the repertoire my ensemble sang over the year. With my fourth year at GRCC in the books, here are the pieces Shades of Blue learned and performed. Shades of Blue had eight singers (2-2-2-2) in the fall semester and nine singers (2-2-3-2) in the […]
The Aces endeavor to sing in as many musical styles as possible each year, with no discrimination except quality of music. In that spirit, the entire list is organized alphabetically, as in our folders (except music for December, which goes at the end…) Despite the challenges of this year, we […]
It’s birthday month around here – 4 out of 5 birthdays fall within 30 days in our house. So, I get a lot of practice making cakes this time of year. I get pretty good at it by the end of June! But then again, for 11 months out of […]
See In The Heights on the biggest, most immersive screen you feel safe seeing it on. I’ll admit to being puzzled when, in the summer of 2020, the filmmakers indefinitely postponed the release of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights at around the same time as they announced they’d be bringing […]
I am writing 2-4 posts a day right now. All in preparation for a month when I don’t have to write and post anything new. It’s not easy, writing up to 400% of my usual daily quota; it takes effort and it takes persistence. But it is a gift I’m […]
I got to end my year with Shades of Blue this year with a real-live in-person concert. However, it was outdoors, socially distanced, with limited attendance permitted. Because of that, we didn’t publicize it much. Fortunately, with the support of the Media Services Department at GRCC, we filmed the entire […]
“I need to read more, is the thing,” my wife said to me yesterday. “Same!” I replied. There are just so many great books I want to read, and I’ve been in a reading slump really since the pandemic hit. But the truth is, it isn’t about what I need […]
My wife, Mandy, is a brilliant conductor. She regularly makes magic happen in concert and in rehearsal. She has wonderful musical instincts, impeccable training, and makes visual poetry with her conducting. But even as she makes the music come alive, she puts the people first. In the course of her […]