“Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things.” George Carlin Jackie* and I became friends at a long ago ACDA national conference and have stayed in contact for several decades. She directs a community chorus two states over and recently emailed me about a situation which came up during her […]
Choral Potpourri: Perfection is Over-Rated
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” Henry Van Dyke Many Choral Ethics problems stem from perfection issues, or the perception of what perfection […]
Choral Potpourri: Ethics Should Matter
“We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.” W. H. Auden What does it mean to be an ethical choral conductor/director? Our own Choral Ethics code should be a model of behaviors for how we treat our singers, but shouldn’t it […]
Choral Potpourri: Collaborating with Other Arts
“Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art.” Claude Debussy If you read Tim Sharp’s ChoralBlog on Monday, you know the title was, “Collaboration Outside Our Comfort Level.” I meant to write about collaboration as well and his […]
Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics Begins Soon!
” I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.” Lou Holtz In two weeks, I will begin another series on Choral Ethics here on ChoralBlog. There are a few misconceptions floating around as to what I mean by Choral Ethics, so before the […]
Choral Potpourri: Choir Rules
” I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren’t any rules, how could you break them?” Leo Durocher In the past few weeks, everything has started (or will start soon) for our choirs. Getting back […]