arrange • compose • conduct
How do you stay in the zone? For me, it’s important – and tough – to remember to not overuse it. I’ve been in a really good writing zone for about a week, with progress made on a number of fronts, music flowing relatively smoothly, and results I’ve been pleased with. The […]
Thanks to Minnesota Public Radio’s Choral Stream, I got to enjoy Anúna’s new album, Revelation, last night via live stream. It’s a fabulous new record, from the unique musical perspective of Michael McGlynn. Anúna and McGlynn are probably the best-known Irish choral music today. McGlynn has been leading Anúna since 1987, producing a remarkable […]
As school starts up again across the country, I am always reminded of this fabulous free book on what education should be about. My first time reading it, it had a profound effect on how I think about education and especially about music education’s place in the school landscape. It’s […]
As each arrow left for its target, the archers were caught between success (hitting the ten) and mastery (knowing it means nothing if you can’t do it again and again). -Sarah Lewis, The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery It means nothing if you can’t repeat it. […]
Yesterday I said that we should strongly avoid standardized assessment in music class. As soon as I finished it, I heard the protests – but the Senate bill is a great advocacy of of our subject – how can we scorn it? What should we do instead? What we should do instead […]
Music is at the core of our society. It is not a “core class” as we are intent on defining it in the U.S. Along with “core subject” status comes the need to know that students are proficient in this area. And the only way we know to assess their proficiency is … to assess […]
At today’s ACDA-Michigan morning, our president Jared Anderson asked us to share our “ACDA Moments” – those touchstones where this organization affected us most profoundly. Here’s mine. I was not a music education or conducting student as an undergraduate or in grad school. At Western, I effectively majored in Gold […]
As you’re building your practice habit, have you found a solid trigger to precede your action? Just as important is what you do after you practice. Reward yourself. It doesn’t need to be a big reward. Food is tricky, if you want to stay healthy. Some small thing you love that can show up […]
Precious students you’ve seen daily for four (or more) years are heading out to college in the coming days and weeks. You’re excited to see them rise to new heights, anxious to hear about their successes, and sad not to see them in your choirs and community going forward. Here a few thoughts for them. […]
For over a year, all of our work books have been in boxes. Choral texts, fake books, theory tomes and a dozen other boxes have been packed up since a flooded basement forced us to get rid of two large bookcases. Last week we installed new shelves, and the books came back into the […]