All Things Considered's David Was encourages his listeners to try choral music: The next 40-some weeks are going to be a screaming tower of political babble; a cacophony of accusing and boasting, pandering and slandering. I watch the news these days with the mute button permanently depressed, lest I fall into a permanent depression myself. […]
Paypal destroys violins!
If you buy something via PayPal, and dispute the authenticity of the item you purchased, their terms of service might require you to destroy the item in question. This makes sense if we're talking about a pirated DVD, but in other cases… I sold an old French violin to a buyer in Canada, and the […]
Stifled by block scheduling
I’m surprised there haven’t been more stories like this: The Middletown High School vocal ensemble has qualified to participate in the state choral festival in May, but practicing between now and then will be a challenge. Students and choir director Lori Bower have started scheduling after-school rehearsals, but it’s been difficult. Senior Timmy Huth said the ensemble’s […]
Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the positive
Chris Rowbury points to a familiar experience of choral directors: Things are going swimmingly, the choir are eating up the new, complex song you’re teaching them, even though it was a bit of a risk introducing it. They sound great, they’ve mastered the tricky rhythms and are clearly having fun. Then you see the one […]
Buxtehude’s daughter
Composer and creative writer Kurt Knecht comes through again, this time with an inventive story about Buxtehude: So, when someone showed up to audition, Buxtehude would pull the applicant aside and say, “This is a really sweet gig. Lübeck is a great town. The congregation is very supportive. The organ is fantastic. Oh, by the […]
Hallelujah from an Eskimo Village
A variation on a familiar effect. Link for the embedded-impaired: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyviyF-N23A