arrange • compose • conduct
There are three types of decisions. First, the decisions that are easy to make. I’d peg this at 90%. They are easy to make either because you’ve made them before, or because there is a clear right-wrong dichotomy. Second and third, the decisions that are hard to make. New situations, murky ethics, or […]
I was visiting with a former student recently, who has completed his first year of music school. He’s entering the second year with eyes wide open: knowing exactly what’s coming, he’s better prepared for success. He also reflected on his abandoning of Netflix-binging over his two freshman semesters. Simply put, he discovered his […]
When you’re a six-year-old waiting for a friend to arrive for a play date, an hour can feel like an eternity. (“How many minutes now?”) When your friend has arrived, two hours can fly by in an instant. It’s universally agreed that our sense of time is influenced by our mental […]
For a variety of reasons, this list of twelve positive traits has been on my mind a lot recently: A Scout is…trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, & reverent. (Yep, still memorized.) What about a musician? Here’s a prospective list of twelve traits you might aim for […]
I like to pass out a full music folder at the first rehearsal – the folders I prepped today have about fifteen pieces in them. How, then, do you organize them? Straight alphabetical? By genre? (separate the jazz, the pop, the classical, etc.) How about chronological by date of composition? […]
I’ve been reflecting over the rise of Podcasts and how it has changed the method and content of what I listen to. (Both in the past and now, I listened to story-based reporting, a la NPR.) Bear with me, this has a choral connection. It seems to me that more and more I hear the […]
Do you have this problem? I can’t work halfway. On these summer days, I want to spend a few hours working, and then take advantage of my family being home from school. But my mental state seems to be binary: either I’m in vacation mode or I’m working; even when I walk […]
We are all a mix of extrovert and introvert, though you probably identify more as one or the other. Many choral conductors at least appear to be extroverts, judging by the way they spend their professional lives: “on” in front of students…”on” in front of concertgoers…”on” in lessons and personal interactions…always “on.” Even introverted […]
I’ve been struggling to prioritize reading books, which I love, in recent months. I knew that the lure of online dithering was a big part of the problem. But even with that more under control, I still struggled. It was only recently I recognized the other piece of the problem. […]
Alton Brown, creator of Good Eats and host of Iron Chef America, was recently a guest on the excellent podcast The Moment with Brian Koppelman. During the discussion, Alton said this about his teaching: Curiosity is the most powerful force on the earth. People talk to me about, “Well, you know, you’re a great teacher, blah, […]