arrange • compose • conduct
Adam Grant: I have noticed, over the last couple of years, that you seem to really enjoy contradicting yourself. Malcolm Gladwell: I do! AG: Why? MG: Well, I’m more worried about not contradicting myself. So, I would be very concerned if I was still saying the same things today as […]
Trust is only valuable when it’s in action. Theoretical trust – what does that even mean? One of my favorite ways of practicing trust in action is with a subito fortissimo. Because the truth is that if you don’t trust the choir around you, you are going to sing mezzo […]
Most creative projects have two distinct phases: Make it. On your own. Share it. With the world. The bridge between phase 1 and 2 is a tiny, gigantic step: showing it to someone. Showing the creative work to one person can be scarier than going from that person to an […]
Sometimes Sir Ken Robinson’s passionate, funny, brilliant keynote speeches (there are many) move me to tears. Here’s an extended quote from one he gave a few years ago at the California Teachers Summit. [The quote begins just before 9:00 in] In it, he differentiates three related terms: learning, education, and […]
Later-life career redirections can feel like trying to turn an ocean liner. It takes full engine power and lots of space to execute the turn. Even as early as just after college graduation, young adults can feel locked into the path they spent so much effort preparing themselves for. Just […]
“Didn’t I warn you all?” “Warn us what?” “Warn you that my favorite type of rehearsal is one where you spend an hour on four bars?” “Oh yeah….” I love the rehearsal that ultra-focuses because there’s so many layers you can put onto those few measures. In the vamp we […]
For most things you aspire to do, the answer is yes. Has anyone grown up in the Midwest and become a session singer in LA? Definitely yes. Has anyone gone to University A and gone on to perform on Broadway? Maybe. Has anyone decided to start running at age 40 […]
How does an audience’s knowledge of the piece you’ll be performing change your interpretation? If I’m conducting a new work, or a piece that I’m fairly certain most audience members are unfamiliar with, I’ll prepare it differently than if I’m preparing the US National Anthem or a Beatles song. (And […]
I’ve been enjoying digging into my all-time favorite TV show, The Muppet Show, since it was recently made available on Disney Plus. One of my favorite parts of the show is this: Everyone sings. Every cast member sings; they aren’t all singers. But they all sing – in harmony, in […]
I have recently begun a new practice of posting my daily post early on Patreon. In terms of my writing work, there has been no change. At the moment, I write in the evenings, as my kids get ready for bed, or just after. (My practice changes over time, because […]