arrange • compose • conduct
This is what I said to my son the other day as he was groaning about piano practice. “You’re going to be sitting there until your timer goes off. You get to decide whether you want to be better at the end or not.” It’s a question each of us faces every single day, […]
I have to leave my main blog focus to insist you listen to Hamilton. The record comes out on Friday, but meanwhile NPR has the entire album streaming at their website. Hamilton, the brainchild of Lin-Manuel Miranda, is a biographical musical of Alexander Hamilton, using various forms of popular music, most particularly […]
I’ve sung in choirs that spent a solid 10% of rehearsal with warmups, and in choirs where I was told to come warmed up and ready to rehearse. Here is why we vocalize in my rehearsals. Vocalizing brings all the singers into the same musical space. Vocalizing offers a passage from the bustle of their […]
In a recent interview, Seth Godin answered the question, “How do you get so much done?”, in this way: I don’t watch TV, I don’t go to meetings, and I do things that I’m afraid of. That’s all. I have never met someonewho does those three things who can’t get a lot done. […]
A recent active Facebook discussion in the Vocal Jazz Educators group centered on “Favorite Vocal Jazz Chart.” I said, “it’s like being asked to pick your favorite child!” but in the ensuing comments, a clear pattern emerged. The favorite by a large margin is Gene Puerling. Among the 50+ comments, arrangements he wrote […]
There are certain mile markers that I use to know where I am in a school year. A big part of remaining motivated, excited, and inspired are a series of yearly conferences/events I attend. In calendar order… January: Michigan Music Conference May: Michigan Youth Arts Festival August: MSVMA Summer Workshop And […]
What is it I want to do? Is _____ helping me get there? (an activity, a job, a project, a person) Answer them honestly and the “tough” choices seem a lot easier.
Do un-begun projects carry extra weight in your mind? I find that procrastination tends to exaggerate how long something is going to take – and when I finally start, it almost always takes less time than I think. Just begin. A colleague recently admitted that their voicemail had unheard messages from as far back […]
I typically dress fairly casually for my evening rehearsals: a suit and tie would not be appropriate here. Jeans are more likely. Except for Day One. In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell describes a study of end-of-semester professor evaluations: The psychologist Nalini Ambady once gave students three ten-second videotapes of a […]
I love almost everything about conducting an elite, auditioned extracurricular men’s choir. Almost. The worst part of running the Rockford Aces is holding auditions. For two big reasons, I feel strongly that auditions are at best a necessary evil. Every year I hear talented, passionate young men who won’t get into […]