“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 […]
Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; Snubbed
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Mahatma Gandhi A few weeks ago, I wrote about Donald* who felt uncomfortable when a colleague, who usually snubbed and ignored him, began treating him normally. Of course, there was a reason for Donald’s sudden promotion to Lyndon’s* “Best […]
Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; What’s Right With the World
“The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another… and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.” Leonard Bernstein We all know Holy Week is the busiest […]