arrange • compose • conduct
My son made custom Valentines for his classmates – assigning them to a Greek God and sketching a symbol for each. I sat and helped him with inking the drawings – tracing his sketches and then erasing the original pencil. It’s so satisfying to remove all of those rough sketch […]
Priya Parker often says that the best gatherings have “a specific, disputable purpose.” That the purpose is disputable is essential to creating meaning, because an indisputable purpose is going to give rise to gatherings where little growth can occur among the participants. If everyone agrees, no one can grow. I […]
Is there a less helpful interpretive marking than espressivo? What I mean is, in what context would you not play the music expressively? Under what circumstances should you sing without expressing the emotions of the text and music? Of course, espressivo is a good reminder to sing with expression, to […]
Children love non sequiturs. Silliness in picture books – even full on absurdism – is accepted and appreciated by five-year-olds. Not so much for kids in their second decade, generally. We generally tend to seek more “realism” in our literature as we age. A five-year-old doesn’t think that being silly […]
When a couple new people joined the ensemble, as they were working to get up to speed on a difficult piece, I pointed out that, “The fact that everyone else eventually got there is proof of concept. I know you can, too!” Proof of Concept is a real-world example that […]
I don’t think that you can overstate the legacy of Dr. Steve Zegree and the influence he had on the lives and careers of so many performers, writers, producers, and music educators. Now, nearly five years after his untimely death, I still feel like you would need four-inch-high letters to […]
The best outcomes often come when you balance personal initiative and collaboration. Many minds come up with better ideas than any individuals, that is clear. But many minds staring at a big problem might not find a good way in. At the very least, they won’t find it quickly. So […]
Choral concert days are full of special moments. There are the special moments before the concert – warmups, final instructions, huddles and so on. There are the special moments during the concert – your favorite measure of your favorite piece, when you heart soars. Nailing the spot that gave you […]
This Saturday, the Rockford Choirs will be hosting a Silent Auction and Dinner to raise funds for our 2020 European Tour to France, Germany, and Belgium (including the 11th World Choir Games in Flanders). I’ve donated several items, and one is a commissioned composition or arrangement for the ensemble of […]
Choral educators often urge their singers not to show it on their faces when they mistake. The idea is that, if we don’t show that we made the error, most of the audience might not know. I think the truth is even better than that. I think that an audience […]