Jeffrey Tucker reports on remarks made by Pope Benedict after a concert of the Mozart Requiem: Allow me, however, to express once again the particular affection that has united me, I could say, always, to this great musician. Every time I listen to his music I cannot help but return in memory to my parish […]
Mirror neurons
Liz Garnett creates yet another interesting column, this time on the communicative mode of conducting gesture. Quoting a research study by Michelle Sampson of Roehampton University. Referring to a study in which singers and conductors watched videos of conductors in action, I observed that when the singers watched the video clips, they could usually write down immediately […]
Best choir logos
We've all seen lots of bad choir logos, and lots of unimaginative ones which put the choir name on a staff, or substitute a treble clef for a G (or worse, S). But recently I've run across a few good ones, which I thought I'd highlight here. This isn't the result of any systematic […]
Boys voices changing earlier?
A recent article in the UK Daily Telegraph discuss the earlier onset of puberty and how it impacts boychoirs: Growing numbers of boy singers, known as trebles, are having to leave prematurely because they can no longer sing the high notes. Instead of singing until the age of 15 or 16, many now stop at […]
Steal This Concert
In 1971, Abbie Hoffman wrote a book entitiled Steal This Book as a countercultural manifesto. The equivalent in the digital age is to encourage people to share recordings of your performances: At the Straight No Chaser concert in Fort Wayne on Friday night, the typical ban on recording the concert was lifted. “We wouldn’t […]
Don’t talk during rehearsals
Watch it all the way to the end (only 30 seconds). h/t Chris Rowbury, who has a bunch of good suggestions for handling chatting during rehearsals with adults.