arrange • compose • conduct
I recently read a well-argued and reasoned editorial advising that choirs retire from their Winter Concerts the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. The author made excellent points, but I disagree with his conclusion. I’d like to address some of the assertions and add my own thoughts. Familiarity is not a bad thing: the fact […]
People want to sing, they’re just waiting for someone to start. That is my experience of the last few weeks of turning off my internal singing censor. Whether at the grocery store (finding other people also singing along with the background music), walking through downtown (people crossed the street to join our family singing […]
People suddenly remember how much they love choirs in December. So you see choirs rushing around to run outs, parties, tree lightings, and more. Even the professionals know this – 3 of the last 8 albums from The King’s Singers are Christmas albums, and while Chanticleer hasn’t released a Christmas album since […]
Note: this is the eleventh of a series of posts investigating the leadership style of John Wooden and its applicability to choral music education. John Wooden’s central block in the third tier of his Pyramid of Success is SKILL. Wooden says, “At the very center of the Pyramid of Success is Skill. You have to know your stuff and […]
Every December I like to take an hour of rehearsal and do a guided listening with my students. An hour is half of our weekly time together, which should give you an idea of how important I consider this activity. Christmas songs are great for guided listening because of their ubiquity – we […]
Deprofessionalize your Christmas listening. I know too many music-lovers who outsource their Christmas music experience to the professionals, and end up with Christmas listening filled with Hippopotami, Wham!, and, overwhelmingly often, Mariah Carey. Don’t get me wrong – if this is your taste, I won’t hold it against you. But […]
I love collage format – the holding of applause until the end of the concert – in certain situations. For example, the Holiday Collage Concert my high school music department presents every year. Collage format allowed for substantially more music in our 75 minutes concert by transitioning seamlessly from piece to piece, […]
There is a popular quote from Beethoven that goes, “To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.” I certainly agree that passion must be an an integral part of great music-making. However, I think there’s something even more important. Here’s what I would say: To play […]
Every day is easier than three times a week. Than once a week. If you’re forming or maintaining a habit, it’s so helpful to adopt the mindset that you do it every day. I find it really difficult to maintain habits that are inconsistent–MWF habits or every-other-day habits. But if I […]
I’ve written before about the Radio Show On Being with Krista Tippett, which is far and away my favorite audio source for inspiration. It’s a remarkable show. In September I made a list of my favorite episodes, but I have a feeling that there’s going to be a new favorite released today. […]