arrange • compose • conduct
New York Voices’ last studio album came a full twelve years ago – 2007’s A Day Like This. (They have released a Christmas album and a live album with Bob Mintzer since then.) So the fact that Reminiscing In Tempo is released today is a great reason to celebrate! Check […]
My vocal jazz ensemble audition consists of five important components. Solo Song Sight Reading Ear Testing Improvisation 24-hour prepared excerpt (learn your part) All of these are important in assessing the overall skills of the singer. I can better assess voice quality in the solo song, but better understand their […]
Creating is the act of repeatedly rediscovering how. In some fields, there might be a sense of repetition – to the point of predictability. But to create is to approach each project, each day, with the humility of not knowing how to proceed. The job is to discover how, and […]
Like many choral conductors, I’ve been finding more and more of my repertoire via digital-only retailers – independent publishers like MusicSpoke and Graphite as well as individual composers‘ sites. I have long been frustrated with the quality of putting 8.5×11 photocopied octavos in my students’ hands. But with digital-only publishing, […]
Over the course of the summer, I’ve delved deeply into Dr. Brené Brown’s work on leadership, and tried to apply her lessons specifically to choral leaders in the rehearsal environment. I’m going to try to tie up loose ends and look back in this final post of the Dare To […]
Part of being a young person is asking a lot, “Is this me?” You try on a way of being, or an activity, a club, a sport. You try it long enough to not be absolutely green, and then you as, “Is this me?” Part of the reason we have […]
When you want an equitable solution and someone else wants to WIN, how do you proceed? In other words, how do you not get run over when you’re willing to compromise and the other party views compromise as losing. Involve other people who are more interested in compromise. Communicate clearly […]
Teachers have many superpowers. This is one of their most special. A great teacher has the power to understand a subject deeply and still see it like the beginners they work with. They can help novices navigate through challenges, because they can see it as novices, and can anticipate the […]
Oh, August skies. Blue and wide. Warm days that cool off overnight. Every school year lives its own weather story, and my part of the country might tell very different stories than yours. Where I am, I am soaking up these blue blue skies to sock away for the trough […]
“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” Toni Morrison, 1993 Nobel Lecture Toni Morrison didn’t write for me. But her writing profoundly affected me. She died on Monday at the age of 88. I feel no […]