arrange • compose • conduct
Note: This week I’ve selected words I think we should consider removing from usage for various reasons. When we talk about what we’re not good at, let’s stop using the word can’t. Today I’ll be at the ACDA Michigan Conference, and of course on the minds of me and my fellow Michigan […]
Note: This week I’ve selected words I think we should consider removing from usage for various reasons. When we talk about good singing, let’s stop using the word talented. As a choral educator, I am in the business of taking enthusiastic, musical students and helping them develop the skills they need to perform […]
Note: This week I’ve selected words I think we should consider removing from usage for various reasons. When we talk about athletics, let’s stop using the word sportsball. Is this happening in your choir, too? For years, the music students I’ve known have felt picked on, bullied, marginalized by the athletes in the school. […]
Note: This week I’ve selected words I think we should consider removing from usage for various reasons. When we talk about people making a living creatively, let’s stop using the word creatives. Creativity is our most unique trait as human beings. I agree with those who say it’s what makes us human. So when […]
Note: This week I’ve selected words I think we should consider removing from usage for various reasons. When we talk about payment, let’s stop using the word compensation. When Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines compensation, the definition that relates to payment is the fifth and final one (2b). I think when we use […]
Listen, I’m going to keep it short today. Click here and listen to Mary Oliver on the radio show On Being. A remarkable poet in a remarkable interview about poetry. (iTunes/Podcasts here.) I first heard it en route to Alice Parker’s home last summer – and I can say that the parallels between Mary’s […]
In which I draw a connection between Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (2015 AD) and Virgil’s Aeneid (19 BC)… Chiasmus is a literary term roughly referring to parallelism in reverse – an AB-BA form. It’s named for the Greek letter chi, which looks like an X. The word order in Ancient Latin was very flexible – […]
Isn’t it enough just to do the practice? Why take the extra time to keep a log? (After all, I’ve already admitted that we know when you haven’t practiced….) You can show your mentor how you’ve been practicing. Every day when you start practicing, you have a reminder of where you ended. A physical object […]
“Unused creativity is not benign. It metastasizes. It turns into grief, rage, judgement, sorrow, shame.” So says researcher and storyteller Brené Brown. And I believe her, because my experience has been a gradual but consistent rise in anxiety and depression in the high school students I see. Make no mistake, this is […]
It’s a superstition in the theatrical and musical worlds that a bad dress rehearsal leads to a good show. I am not one for superstitions, but I understand the logic. If you have a crummy rehearsal, and know it, you’re going to be focused, determined, and a little on edge when your […]