“Martyrdom covers a multitude of sins.” Mark Twain “The concert is going to be awful; why can’t singers come to rehearsal?” “The board expects perfection, and then hires a sub-par accompanist.” “Concert attendance will be down tomorrow, we’re expecting snow.” Have you ever felt like you needed an excuse for your concert’s outcome? Three ChoralNetters […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: What Should We Do About Self-Promotion?
“There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.” Mark Twain Our profession has two schools of thought about self-promotion. The first school we all claim to belong to believes we shouldn’t self-promote. The other school of thought is […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Refreshing OURSELVES
“Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.” Mark Twain In contrast to January’s Alfred Lord Tennyson quotes I thought I would take my cue from that most American of authors, Mark Twain, to unify my Blogs for February. Mr. Twain says […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Knowing Yourself
“Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three alone lead life to sovereign power.” Alfred Lord Tennyson January is such a good month for self-reflection. I hope the quotes of Alfred Lord Tennyson I have used this month for Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics have gotten you thinking and reflecting about your own choral life. I’ve written many a Blog […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: The People You Know
“I am a part of all that I have met.” Alfred Lord Tennyson I had a ballet teacher who would often tell us everyone is good for something, if only to be a bad example. I was never sure what he meant until I, myself, experienced a very bad teacher as an undergrad. I vowed […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Wisdom
“Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.” Alfred Lord Tennyson With age and experience comes wisdom or something akin to it. In our youth and training we read, we study, we practice and attend concerts and rehearsals and we think we know it all. And maybe we do, theoretically. It isn’t until we get out in the […]