arrange • compose • conduct
When you were born, the longest cycle you knew was eating. A few hours. A little later, you understood the cycle of a day, or the cycle of mommy leaving for work and coming home. By elementary school you could start to feel the cycle of a year – birthday to birthday, Christmas […]
I’m currently reading Mary Oliver’s wonderful book about writing poetry, A Poetry Handbook. (It’s essential, even if you have no intention of writing verse.) Her very first chapter is about the primary importance of reading poetry. She writes, “Many of my students would spend almost of their time writing, and very little of […]
Every year I make a couple of pies that I’ve had at every Thanksgiving since I was a toddler. Lemon and Chocolate Chess pies are part of my family tradition; they found their way there because when my mom tried one out of a cooking magazine in 1979, she walked into […]
If you’re like me, you’ve already loaded up your CD player and devices with Christmas music; but today you should give it a rest. Celebrate Thanksgiving with some classic Americana on the stereo. Here are a few listening recommendations to accompany your time in the kitchen and at the table. A Harvest Home […]
Choral conductors – time to stock up. Here’s hoping today begins a few days of breathing, gratitude, food, family. It will for me. I am also trying to be intentional about filling up on patience and restfulness. December is when everyone remembers about the beauty of choirs – and wants to hear them. You’ll spend […]
Have you ever really read the words to this classic Shaker tune? ‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free ‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ‘Twill be in the valley […]
Do your singers know how the story ends? When you read a story, there are dozens of little clues that can help you know from the beginning how it’s going to end. the cover art, the blurb, past stories by the same author, the genre, the tone of the opening paragraphs. You take […]
The deck isn’t always stacked in your favor in performance. Maybe the acoustics of the hall make it difficult to hear; maybe your section leader double-booked himself and is missing the performance; maybe other members are sick and throwing up just off stage. Maybe it’s all three of those things. Or any number […]
This is an open call for publishers and/or composers to maintain errata online. This week I caught two errors in two different scores (of the three I was conducting). I looked on publishers’ websites to no avail – not only did the individual score page have no information, there was no […]
If I always show love to my choir, I run the risk of having a bad egg taking advantage of me. If I don’t show love to my choir, I run the risk of having good eggs go bad. The world needs more love. In my rehearsals, in my interactions, in my life, I choose to show […]