arrange • compose • conduct
There are people who say “I don’t read books.” Let’s not discuss them. There are some readers who say, “I don’t read nonfiction.” To them I say, you are missing so many opportunities to get the best ideas, condensed and made accessible to you. You’re letting someone else do the […]
Marketing, sad to say, is an important part of your job as a choir director. But during the fast-paced days and weeks of the school year, you don’t have the time to plan your marketing, create the eye-catching graphics and text that will publicize your successes. If, like many choir […]
I don’t know what the day means until I’ve found a moment of quiet. Quiet from the world – both online and off. Quiet from music, quiet, from the radio or television. Quiet from the to do list. It’s only in that moment of quiet that I can step back and […]
Seen on Twitter: “One sure way to feel terrible is read a pitchfork review of music you love.” https://twitter.com/fmanjoo/status/1015412913132064769 A great way to feel less terrible is to love music that Pitchfork doesn’t even consider. There are a dozen new albums I’ve listened to regularly in the first half of […]
It’s very easy for a young child with short legs to lag behind on a long walk. Long ago, I learned the best way to encourage these stragglers isn’t to yell, cajole, criticize, or encourage. No, the best way is to hold their hands. Holding hands with a child, with […]
Nothing is more American, to me, than the music of America. Jazz, blues, hip hop. Broadway from Gershwin to Miranda. Spirituals, Gospel, classic folk songs to folk, rock, R&B and beyond. The musical landscape of America is as majestic as the purple mountains and amber waves we immortalize in song. […]
Albert Einstein famously said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” However he meant it, it’s fine advice for writers in any medium. Maybe you thought we study theory, notation, orchestration, and advanced compositional tools to make our writing more complex. No. We study it to […]
Sailboats often can’t go directly toward their goal. The physics of sailing dictates that boats can sail a minimum of 35 or 40 degrees away from the wind direction without losing too much speed. So if your goal is directly upwind (i.e., in the direction the wind is coming from), […]
It can be really effective to you make your art for an audience of one. Mr. Rogers imagined he was communicating directly with a single child when he made his favorite show. Lin-Manuel Miranda recently shared that he sometimes writes with himself at certain ages in mind. And of course […]
Enough with the productivity hacks. You’re productive enough. Focus on happiness hacks. Presence hacks. Family time hacks. Longevity hacks. Connection, love, and empathy hacks. If you’re obsessing over 1% increases in productivity, you’re productive enough. You’re. Productive. Enough.