arrange • compose • conduct
I’ve dipped my feet into the waters of eCommerce, with a new Shop – available at the top of my website or here. I’ve so far introduced one chart available for purchase – the arrangement of “What’ll I Do?” that I did as my second Patreon project. I’ve also included […]
I have been blessed with some fabulous Patrons on Patreon supporting me in creating new vocal music every month. In April, my project was an a cappella SATB arrangement of “What’ll I Do?” – the classic Irving Berlin ballad that recently entered the public domain. Patreon supporters get free access […]
Sometimes we focus on mastering one tool for every case, when we’d be better served by using two tools with different strengths. I use two applications for when I want to write words down. Google Docs and Adobe InDesign. How do I choose? Easy: if I care how it will […]
There comes a time when we all have to become specialists. Time is maybe the biggest cause – there simply isn’t enough time for us to be generalists about everything. Also the demands of a specific job or career path tend to focus us into specialization. But I think it’s […]
“I don’t like their voice” is about the least compelling criticism I’ve ever heard. Almost any singer whose voice is distinctive from the average sound is going to receive this criticism. I’ve heard it recently about both Jacob Collier and Lin-Manuel Miranda. But I could have heard it said about […]
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 […]