arrange • compose • conduct
I’ve frequently written before about Snow Days, and particularly about how they exist outside the normal day-to-day routine, and as such, are a chance to dream big, try new things, and step back from your grind. The social distancing so vital to our communal success in slowing the spread of […]
We started a marathon today. Say it out loud. It’s a marathon. The biggest mistake you can make in a marathon is start out like it’s a sprint. Especially if you haven’t really done the training to do a marathon, and let’s face it – no one has. Don’t try […]
As with every other music educator I know, my household has dealt with its fair share of cancellations in the name of social distancing. In just the last twenty-four hours, we have had the following happen: Moving to online-only until at least April 3 for my GRCC Shades of Blue students […]
If I have a question about a piece of music, I ask an expert – ideally the composer if possible, and if not, then a specific stylistic expert. I don’t presume that I have the specialist knowledge, and I don’t assume that anyone with an opinion about the music has […]
One of my composition students is having the first live read of a piece he’s composed this week. The first read of the piece, and the first read of his life. As we finished our lesson today, I urged him to keep his mind really open during the rehearsal, and […]
Twice a year, the heavenly Italian bakery near where I grew up, Bommarito’s, hangs up a sign on the door that simply says Time for a Break They’re gone for a couple of weeks and then they’re back. Businesses don’t work like that – haven’t for a long, long time. […]
On Twitter, an author mentioned the new book she has available for preorder. I thought that my family had read and re-read her previous book (Station Eleven) so many times that she really should be allowed to just publish that book again. (It’s really, really good.) Then again, lots of […]
There are many ways to manage those nerves you feel when you go onstage for a performance. A few examples: Distract (conversation, a game on your phone, a dance party) Mental Checklist (everything you need to do, and when, until you walk onstage) Meditate Mitigate them with a medication like […]
When the going gets tough – when you’re stressed, busy, tired, sick, or otherwise preoccupied – you lean on familiar habits. That’s why I eat poorly when it’s the week of the musical – those familiar habits were built long ago. It’s because we don’t have to think – the […]
My kids have been watching YouTube clips of close-up magicians, particularly from America’s Got Talent and Penn and Teller’s Fool us. So YouTube suggested yesterday I watch clip of magic revealed – a freeze-frame walk through of a close-up magician. Does it bring you less joy knowing how the magic […]