Richard Sparks

This one will be short (busy week!) and is not a book to read, but a great reference to have on your shelf: The A to Z of Foreign Musical Terms, by Christine Ammer. Scores often have terminology in foreign languages and since the composer put them there to give you information about performance (calando, […]

Thomas M. Sterner's The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life. Sterner is a musician, worked for years as a piano tuner/technician, as well as having an interest in Eastern philosophy. It's one of the best books I've read about developing better habits of discipline and focus. He has a wonderful little section […]

Welcome back, everyone! The new year is beginning for most of us, whether school, church, community, or professional choir, and it's time for auditions  (for some!) and getting ready for first rehearsals. It's an exciting time!   I'll begin the year with a series on books I think are worthwhile. Not all will be for […]

Eric Ericson is one of the giants of our field and his work has been a model for many others: in his enthusiasm for performing and commissioning new music, in raising standards in a cappella singing, as a teacher, and as a conductor. His ensembles (Chamber Choir, Swedish Radio Choir, and Orphei Drängar) became models […]

Stefan Parkman has had a long association with Eric. Born in 1952, he first studied medicine, but began singing with Eric in Orphei Drängar in the early '70s. Just a few years later he began his studies in the Royal College of Music. Stefan's an exceptionally fine tenor (listen here or buy the album here […]

Arne Lundmark is the manager for the Swedish Radio Choir, a fine singer, and voice teacher. He's the baritone soloist on a recording of Sven-David Sandström's Etyd, som e-moll (if you get a chance, listen to it–gorgeous!). I was able to write Arne and ask about his experiences with Eric when a member of Eric's […]