arrange • compose • conduct
At any conference, I find that brain overload is a consistent challenge: so much good information, good music, good human connection gets combine with so much bad hotel sleep, bad restaurant food, bad (too busy) self care. (The ACDA National Conference, happening now in Kansas City, is among the most […]
The biannual ACDA 2019 National Conference starts tonight in Kansas City. Although I won’t be attending this year, I have many friends and colleagues who are, so I’m sharing some previews. I’ve prepared a cheat sheet of conference offerings that appeal to my particular interests: Vocal Jazz, TTBB Choirs, and Composing/Arranging. I’ll offer separate posts […]
The biannual ACDA 2019 National Conference starts tonight in Kansas City. Although I won’t be attending this year, I have many friends and colleagues who are, so I’m sharing some previews. I’ve prepared a cheat sheet of conference offerings that appeal to my particular interests: Vocal Jazz, TTBB Choirs, and Composing/Arranging. I’ll offer separate posts […]
The biannual ACDA 2019 National Conference starts tonight in Kansas City. Although I won’t be attending this year, I have many friends and colleagues who are, so I’m sharing some previews. I’ve prepared a cheat sheet of conference offerings that appeal to my particular interests: vocal jazz, TTBB Choirs, and composing/arranging. I’ll offer separate posts […]
The biannual ACDA 2019 National Conference starts tonight in Kansas City. Although I won’t be attending this year, I have many friends and colleagues who are, so I’m sharing some previews. I’ve prepared a cheat sheet of conference offerings that appeal to my particular interests: vocal jazz, TTBB Choirs, and composing/arranging. I’ll offer separate posts […]
So far, our school district has had fifteen – fifteen! – Snow Days in the 2018-19 school year. But Snow Day is a catchall phrase. We have had school canceled due to: Snow Freezing rain High winds Glaze ice Sub-zero temperatures And even, in September, heat! So it got me […]
Welcome to Week 18 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: “All Of Me” (1931)Composers/Lyricists: Gerald Marks and Seymour SimonsForm: ABACStandard Key: C Major. Marks & Simons were both successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters with […]
“Painting should make you happy, if nothing else.” – Bob Ross There are those who seek to make Art with a capital A. And they are likely to disdain those painters like Bob Ross, who made joy the point of his art. Well, count me with Bob Ross. Choral music […]
Here are four vocal warmups I’ve been experimenting with, along with rationale for their use. Mississippi – the state everyone loves to spell as fast as possible. It introduces two concepts simultaneously – odd meter/metric division and clear diction. And the spelling is familiar enough for American singers that it […]
In the wake of the truly historic school-canceling winter we’ve had, I have heard this question a few times: why can’t we have online school on Snow Days? I suppose we could have “Digital Snow Days”…if we solved the following problems. Contracts need to be renegotiated to provide for teachers […]