arrange • compose • conduct
Most of Lower Michigan is waking up to a Snow Day today. Here’s a little letter I wrote to my students this morning. Dear Students, Consider this: You have been granted a seven hour bonus to your life. Are you really going to spend it all sleeping? Or watching Friends […]
Jon Butler, the Executive Director of Pop Warner Football, recently wrote in Time Magazine: “Nothing teaches [leadership and fitness] like football and team sports.” Many things teach leadership and fitness like football or other team sports. My choral students are held personally accountable for their preparation, are taught practice regimens […]
Over and over and over again I heard variations on the following from music teachers at the Michigan Music Conference (MMC). “The job is so hard. More and more is being asked of me and I’m getting less and less support. I feel every day like I’m drowning. How long […]
The story of my connection with Alice Parker is the story of dreaming big dreams and then asking. “Those who can ask without shame are viewing themselves in collaboration with—rather than in competition with—the world.” ― Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let […]
Caroyln F. Leep was a vital resource for choral educators in Michigan for over twenty years as head of the choral/vocal department of Malecki Music. Since 1988 MSVMA has awarded an endowed scholarship in her name to a member using it for advanced study. A number of my friends and colleagues […]
We had our first quartet tests in the Rockford Aces Monday night – one on a part demonstrating their mastery of a piece. Afterwards, one singer asked me how he can stop feeling like he knows it in the practice room but forgets it during the test. Here are a […]
VOCE was only in its second season. Probably too early in their development for a commission. But their conductor, Carol Hunter, and staff clearly saw the value. So they reached out to a composer who had only recently started his own publishing company. According to Wikipedia, he had graduated from […]
The conference bonus is, you get to recharge with your colleagues. You get to sit at dinner and share stories from the past year, hear their stories, celebrate joys and commiserate about the challenges you are all facing. My first music conference was the Atlanta IAJE Convention of January, 1996. […]
Revitalized literally means “made alive again.” And I am pleased to share that the 2015 Michigan Music Conference has revitalized me in the best possible ways. Every January I look forward to this opportunity to connect with colleagues, hear new ideas and performances, and springboard into the second half of […]
As I’ve written before, clarity in your writing is just as important as what you write. If I can’t read it easily, I’m not going to ever perform it well. So however advanced your music is, you need to notate it as clearly as possible. Today’s lesson: Show Beat Three. […]