arrange • compose • conduct
An excerpt from Sometimes, a 2008 poem by Mary Oliver that encapsulates what I’m trying to do both in my life, and here in my daily writings. Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. All three are hard. You need all three.
As of this morning, Jon Stewart is retired from his sixteen-year run at The Daily Show. To have lived in the era of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is like living through the peak years of Will Rogers, Dorothy Parker, Mark Twain. We are lucky he spent so many years as the […]
Pick Yourself Up, composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, has been a source of inspiration to me for years – a great lift when you’ve had a bad day. And even if you haven’t had a bad day, it will raise your spirits. Now, enjoy this great American song in […]
I’m constantly honing my system to stay on task, and to order my tasks to ensure things get done when they need to. The freelance life can be challenging, with no boss looking over my shoulder to keep me productive. August hits and with it my busy season. At present moment, I have roughly sixteen […]
I am decidedly introverted; however, my work and especially the projects I am creating require me to get out and talk to groups about what I’m working on. After a particularly busy weekend a couple years ago, presenting, presiding, and helping host a conference, I joked at the end of one session that […]
One of the most important keys to success in habit maintenance is the use of triggers. Find something you do that can act as a tripwire – and then force yourself to perform your habit immediately. For example: during the school year, I make a cup of tea every morning at 6am – after I’ve finished my […]
Choral teachers: as we reach the end of the summer and the beginning of the school year, it’s time for a “summer take-stock.” (I saw my school’s summer stock performance of Once on This Island on Friday…) I’m asking myself these questions; hope they are of value to you, too. What do […]
In our choral world, the possibility to thrive seems to grow more fraught every year. I don’t need to list the reasons why: anyone paying attention to the current states of education, music, and society knows why. Which is why we need the camaraderie that we get from a few days together in a workshop. The […]
Yesterday, as part of the MSVMA Summer Workshop, I gave a 15-minute talk on the value and obstacles of choirs participating in commissions. I am increasingly convinced that commissioning new works is a vital and neglected part of our duty as choral conductors. As part of that talk, I announced and launched a […]
This morning at the MSVMA Summer Workshop, Mandy shared a fabulous hour of insight into the use of mindfulness for the choral educator and in the choral classroom. I hope she continues to share it in other locations; in the meantime enjoy her session presentation here.