arrange • compose • conduct
Welcome to Week 19 of The Definitive Version, a regular feature of my website. You can read more about the project here and read all past entries here. Song: “Nice Work If You Can Get It” (1937)Composer: George GershwinLyricist: Ira GershwinForm: AABAStandard Key: G Major. Starting in 1918 and continuing until George Gershwin’s […]
Emily Dickinson’s famous couplet goes Tell all the truth but tell it slant —Success in Circuit lies I think the same can go for building community – we can do it slant. Sometimes we can be focused on building community through our most on-brand work. Say, “building your choir’s community […]
When I solve Matt Gaffney’s Weekly Crossword Contest, I’m always looking for the click. The moment when one small logical bridges the gap to the solution. I’m not alone, there. When his Crossword Meta Puzzles require too large of a logical leap to get to the answer, there is always […]
Standardized tests mostly show whether you are good at taking standardized tests. Having coached students in leading “test prep” programs, having done well on the tests myself, and having watched students and my own children take numerous standardized tests, I can absolutely confirm: they are not great predictors of subject […]
The challenge is this: balance on every scale. Check at the scale of a single rehearsal: are you balancing all of your repertoire that needs work? Are you balancing drills and scrimmages? Are you balancing your various educational and social goals? Check at the scale of a week: are you […]
“When you write a book, you have to let it go at some point. You stop fiddling with the text, and the story is set in print. And then, it isn’t yours anymore. Not really. It belongs to the people who read it, which is a wonderful – and painful […]
Even the most tried-and-true workflow sometimes can feel tired. “I always do it this way” is a great way to build consistent success, and also a great way to feel stuck in a rut. Recently I’ve been composing a new piece, and was gratified to be able to try a […]
One of my singers for the GR Symphony gig I worked the last few weeks mentioned during the intermission that he had still been circling notes that day – during the first act of the last performance. “I guess I can stop doing that,” he said. I watched orchestra members […]
It’s not that professionals don’t make mistakes, and beginners do. It’s that professionals make idiomatic mistakes. They make mistakes that make internal sense – mistakes that are still in the right tonality, that are still in the right metric feel, that are still in tune and articulated in the right […]
Some conducting jobs are a matter of measured growth over a number of rehearsals, towards an eventual artistic performance. You collaborate to discover the perfect performance for this ensemble, in this moment, on this piece. Other conducting jobs are essentially parachuting in, quickly and effectively teaching notes and rhythms while ensuring that […]