arrange • compose • conduct
My ideal ensemble environment is high expectations but low stakes. How do you, as a director, lower the stakes of a performance? “Stakes Too High” is a common cause of lowered performance. Performers do worse when they’re particularly anxious, and it’s essential that a director find ways to lower the […]
You’ve gotta want it. I am constantly working to convince my students to hold onto more of what they learn from one rehearsal to the next. I don’t like re-teaching notes and rhythms, they don’t like repeating the process. But somehow, things sometimes just…don’t stick. There are a lot of […]
I’ve used this quote in the warmup room at festival for years. “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” Attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe We spend our rehearsals gaining knowledge and building a framework of unified intentions. We know what we want […]
We’re celebrating Bobby McFerrin this weekend! As I’ve written before, the best Bobby McFerrin album is whatever one you’re listening to, and his live concerts are always revelatory. I can literally put myself in my seat at every Bobby concert I’ve ever attended and remember the process of trying to […]
How do you know it’s your passion? I have written music at every hour of the day and night. I have the times I gravitate towards in 2023, but 2013 me used different parts of the day, and 2003 me was frantically writing a thesis and arrangements for class – […]
That’s how it always is. “I think if you look at the history of completely overthrowing systems, that often doesn’t work great.” […] “The Utopian crowd is all like, ‘Oh, these are problems that will naturally fix themselves.’ No. These are problems that will fix themselves because [anonymous] is working […]
Humans are complex. Our family recently watched Amadeus – it’s a beautiful, funny, and powerful film telling a fictionalized story of Mozart’s life. In the end, my eighth grade son enjoyed the film but didn’t love it. When I asked why, he said it was because of Mozart. To paraphrase, […]
One more for the old cognitive dissonance file. I want my students to know that there is no hurry on achieving their dreams. If it takes a little longer to complete your music degree, or to learn to belt an A, or to find your musical community, that’s okay. We […]
My strength may not be your strength. If you are interested in fitness as a hobby or as a path to wellness, you likely find that there are many kinds of fitness. You might be focused on cardio, as I did when I was running every day. Or you might […]
You can’t be a professional if you’re waiting for the creative mood to strike. You have to plan for it. Indeed, you have to plan a lot, because opportunities to do creative work are often time-limited. There are days of the week I know I won’t have the opportunity to […]