“Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings.” Victor Hugo I am taking the week off (and wrote this several weeks ahead of the actual Blog posting). My concert was last Sunday, and I have […]
Choral Potpourri: Thanking the People We Should
“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.” Albert Schweitzer The choral year is winding down with the academic calendar closing, the concert year finishing and church choir year ending with Pentecost or Trinity Sunday. My […]
Choral Potpourri: Being Interviewed
“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” James Thurber For every choral director/conductor there is a perfect choir and for every choir, there is a perfect director/conductor. There are times it just “feels right” and there are times it does not. The past few weeks we’ve looked […]
Choral Potpourri: Interview Questions
“Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are.” Oscar Wilde You have the perfect Music Director Search Committee gathered. You’ve soul-searched and all members of your committee are on the same page for the future of the organization or ensemble. You’ve hired a competent interim. You have sent out audition notices (and advertised for the […]
Choral Potpourri: What’s a Committee to Do?
“They sit there in committees day after day, And they each put in a color and it comes out gray. And we all have heard the saying, which is true as well as witty, That a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee.” Allan Sherman You are a choral singer. You sing […]
Choral Potpourri: Hiring Committees
“She was one of the people who say ‘I don’t know anything about music really, but I know what I like.’ ” Sir Max Beerbohm in “Zuleika Dobson” Last fall, longtime ChoralNetter Lulu* contacted me. She has always been a supporter of my Choral Ethics Project and suggested I start including something about the hiring […]