arrange • compose • conduct
In The Art of Asking, Amanda Palmer says there are three phases for an artist’s creative process: Collect When you gather new experiences or observations. Reading, listening, tasting. Connect When you literally connect the dots between what you’ve collected. This is when your art gets created. Share When you stop creating the art and […]
Isn’t it amazing how fast an experience can go from living present to “did that even happen” past? Six months ago I had just gotten back from my first European choir tour as a conductor. Fifteen days, five countries, more than ten performances. It was a life-changing trip in the […]
I wrote recently about the universality of singing. Some reactions to the post reminded me that there are teachers out there who choose to squash the musical spark in children. With the lengths many of us go to turn on lights in students, I get terribly angry about those turning […]
Ward Swingle September 21, 1927-January 19, 2015 Let’s take a minute to remember the legacy and life of one of the giants of the 20th Century choral/vocal world, Ward Swingle. He is best known as the founder and long-time director of The Swingle Singers, which earned the Grammy for Best […]
I love keyboard shortcuts. I love knowing that if I hold command+option+F, my copying will be filtered in Finale, and that if I add shift to that combination, I can edit the filter. They’re tough to learn, though. Because most times, you are replacing a known pull-down menu. But once […]
I’ve written about how curiosity is one of the most important habits I look for in my students. Another is self-motivation. And I do not think our industrial-model public school system is designed to teach it. Indeed, I think Self-Motivation is actively discouraged. We work to keep the class together, […]
A friend of mine recently vented on Facebook about their child’s elementary PE class. She asked her friends if she was old-fashioned to expect skills-building such as sit-ups, pull-ups and jumping jacks rather than just playing games. Whether or not the PE teacher is using sound pedagogy, the fact is […]
The mother of one of my Rockford Aces, Cindy Todd, is the chair of the art education program and Kendall College of Design and recently was named Michigan Art Education Association Educator of the Year. In a brief profile in the WMU Alumni magazine (page 29), Cindy said, “In the day-to-day […]
Our society has witnessed a long, steady decline in public music education over the last generation or more. More and more elementary schools are completely cutting elementary arts education, and this inexorably leads to lost opportunities at the secondary level. Meanwhile, in 2015, what we need is more choir teachers. […]
In our first 5K, Mandy and I ran the entire way at a respectable 28:42. About a 9:15 mile pace. The second half of the run, we kept passing and getting passed by another couple. They would sprint for a minute or so, and then walk for about the same. […]