arrange • compose • conduct
Parents get this question a lot: What sports does Little Johnny play? I wonder what would happen if the response was: What arts does Little Timmy do? In 2017 America, organized sports are a rite of passage for children. We have convinced ourselves that a childhood isn’t complete without the team sport experience. […]
One of the perks to being involved in a school-sponsored group activity (a sport, a club, a ensemble) is the sense of connection and bonding that comes with close proximity to your peers. But not all activities are created equal – and the different ways that bonding happens makes a difference in outcome. […]
Student tiredness is cyclical, and doesn’t line up personally across your entire student population. However, we all deal occasionally with rehearsals where, because of other activities, because of personal issues, school calendar, illness, or other challenges, the group as a whole appears to be more tired than usual. What can you do in […]
“Universal health care would do more to help artists in this country than any arts organization could ever do. Every arts organization in this country, in my opinion, should stop whatever they’re doing and throw all their efforts into health care reform.” –Austin Kleon My daily posts here are dedicated to […]
Good teammates know that some of the time, they’ll have to shoulder extra weight. The other teammate will be sick, or tired, or distracted, or in some other need. Good teammates don’t complain when they have to carry their colleagues load. They don’t accuse, they don’t badmouth. Good teammates know that there […]
Brené Brown puts language about the gap between reality and our inner monologue when she advises to bolster conversations with this statement: “The story I’m telling is…” We respond to story, and our stories help us make sense of our lives. But our stories don’t always conform to reality, and we’d do […]
Recently I was working on a challenging transition with my TTBB group. They had to go from a unison G to a 2nd-inversion Eb ma7 chord. The crunchy half-step between B1 and T2 was tricky. The solution? Rehearse with just one part at a time. Without the B1s, the chord rang as a […]
Do you have montage moments? That’s a moment when you feel like, if this were a movie, this would be the first shot in a montage that would fast-forward through a time transition. Once you start to build a habit, it’s easy to expect the results will start to appear […]
A few weeks into the school year can be a miserable place to be. You’ve got some notes down, but you’re not an ensemble yet. You’ve got some inkling of where you’re headed, but you’re still a ways away. Here are the things to remember: On the way to good, you […]
The right note at the wrong time is the wrong note. So goes an old adage, and one I’ve been thinking a lot about recently. I’ve heard a lot of auditions recently with musicians who sight read (or sing prepared pieces) with accurate pitches and inaccurate rhythms. In a heightened, nervous state, brains hyper-focus on […]