“Well-ordered self-love is right and natural.” Thomas Aquinas The choir year is winding down. We end this year while we begin our plans for the next. It’s a tough time for many of us as we look back on what we’ve accomplished, or didn’t accomplish. It is often painful. The right, positive mind frame is […]
Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; Can’t We Just Be Nice?
“I can live for two months on a good compliment.” Mark Twain This week we will look at stories from two high school chorus directors. One teaches in a private school and the other teaches in a public school. Both have had to deal with administration’s lack of understanding about their choirs this spring. What […]
Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; Make Yourself Comfortable and We’ll Talk
“If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.” Abraham Lincoln I don’t know what it is but there is something strange going on this spring. I have had more than my usual number of emails about People Behaving Badly as well as Conductors Being […]
Choral Potpourri: Take a Chance
“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.” Alexander Graham Bell The choir year is winding down for most of us. The Academic year is just about finished and our concerts have been sung. For church choirs, the Big Holidays (other than […]
Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; Bag of Tricks
“The fox has many tricks. The hedgehog has but one. But that is the best of all.” Ralph Waldo Emerson I have a bag of tricks—I am not ashamed to admit it—to get my choirs to do what they need to do. Some are appropriate for young singers, some are appropriate for older singers and […]
Choral Potpourri: The Unicorns Among Us
“Now I will believe that there are unicorns…,” William Shakespeare, The Tempest Last year around this time, I wrote a blog about unicorns. In it, I explained I feel like an exotic creature most of the time, outside of rehearsals or performances. I also spoke of enjoying being able to work with other like-minded folks […]