“In doing what we ought we deserve no praise, because it is our duty.” Saint Augustine Happy anniversary to US! It’s hard to believe it has been nine years since Scott Dorsey asked me to become a regular ChoralNet Blogger. At first, I worried about having enough material to write a regular blog on something […]
A Family of Artists
Choral Ethics: Cicadas, Brahms and the Approah of Summer
Dad, Peter Genaro and me at a dance workshop in the 1970s “The truth is, I’ve been lucky. But just like the waltz, life has its own rhythm of rise and fall.” Len Goodman Here in Chicago, the cicadas are out in force. In my area, I awaken to hear a low hum in the […]
Choral Ethics: Mother’s Day–Songs My Mother Taught Me
My Mother, Rose Marie (Ditto) Grass, in a 1956 production of “Martha.” “Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.” William Makepeace Thackeray This Sunday is Mother’s Day in the United States. I am a mother but am also a daughter, missing her mother especially this year. I think […]
Choral Ethics: Last Man Standing for the Final Time
Dad and Bob Fosse ( both age 12) Dad, Peter Gennaro, and me (I was probably 16) “If you think you can do better, then do better. Don’t compete with anyone; just yourself.” Bob Fosse I am re-running the Choral Ethics Blog I wrote for my Dad’s 96th birthday December 7, 2023. Unfortunately, there will be no more […]
Choral Ethics: Self-Fulfilling Prophesy
“America’s future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live.” Jane Addams I have been around the performing arts, LITERALLY, all my life. With an opera singer mother and a tap/ballet dancer/choreographer/stage director father, I […]
Choral Ethics: Last Man Standing
Charles Grass (Dad) left, and Bob Fosse, right. They were about 12 years old. “If you think you can do better, then do better. Don’t compete with anyone; just yourself.” Bob Fosse Today is my father’s 96th birthday. He is still with us, still as sharp as a tack, still very independent and still telling us what to do. We know […]