arrange • compose • conduct
I’m a big believer in empower students to own their schedule. In my high school ensemble, I communicate almost exclusively with students – parents are not invited to join our Facebook discussion group, and I would be surprised if I emailed parents as a group more than five times in […]
Right is right and wrong is wrong. That’s what we’ve learned throughout school – there is a right answer to every questions and if it’s right today, it will be right every single time it’s asked. 8×9 is always 72, a subject always needs a verb for a complete sentence, […]
I love the story of Accent. From what I’ve observed, six vocal harmony nerds from five countries met online and have used technology to enable them to make amazing music together. They belong to the post-Puerling/Fischer tradition of great, rich harmony, often moving incredibly quickly. Their new Christmas album, Christmas […]
There is a beauty to the communicative shorthand you develop with collaborators over time. It takes time to build the relationship, but when it’s solid, you can process through work more quickly, make decisions more effectively, and achieve greater heights together. It’s an advantage too often missing from scholastic ensemble […]
I solved a puzzle magazine math contest last night, involving seven- and ten-digit numbers with particular properties. It was fun and a brain break, since the thinking was so different from my work. But I noticed that it became solvable only when I found the right perspective to look at […]
The first thing that gets dropped when you get busy is long-term vision. You’re plowing onward through the deep snow of today’s to do list, and the long-term horizon is utterly obscured. It’s worthwhile to have a trusted colleague with whom you can schedule regular or irregular vision conversations. A […]
Is there anything better than the rehearsal when you turn the corner? The corner to where you spend more time making music than rehearsing notes. My goal every rehearsal is to turn that corner at least once: for some piece, for some phrase. For as much as we can.
The musicians I meet – really, most people I meet – fall into two categories: Too Busy and Not Busy Enough. I always say that I’m too busy, but given the choice, that’s the one I’d pick. The problem is Too Busy is a state that comes with no recovery […]
I think we have an easy respect for physical exertion: if someone has done backbreaking work, or a remarkable athletic feat (shoutout to my marathon-running friends!), it’s easy and right to honor it. But it’s not so easy to innately respect the exhaustion from purely mental labor. But it’s just […]
I musically produce the annual Cabaret at our high school – we select a theme and audition performers, then I book and write charts (37 this year) for a live band to play the show. A few years ago, I started staying on stage during the show, and it’s made […]