“With the coming of spring, I am calm again.” Gustav Mahler During the first part of my choral career, I was also a dancer, ballet teacher and choreographer. My ballet background, coupled with understanding and the ability to read complicated scores, made me a natural to choreograph musicals on all levels. I specialized in making […]
Choral Culture
The Conductor as Yogi: Timely Intersections
“The study of asana is not about mastering posture. It’s about using posture to understand and transform yourself.” B.K.S Iyengar A few weeks ago, I received an exciting message in my inbox from Yoga Alliance, the primary professional organization for yoga advocacy, standards, and research. YA regularly tracks legislation or regulations that can have an […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Listening 2
“If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.” Robert Baden-Powell Last week, Choral Ethics began a new series on listening, a very important skill for a choral musician, or ANY musician, to have. I listed a few types of listening skills and blogged about another […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Listening
“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” Ernest Hemingway Listening is a very important component of our Choral profession. We listen to our choruses in rehearsal for mistakes. We listen to the concerts we attend and the concerts we conduct. We listen to music for […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Guest Blogger
Choral Ethics Guest Blog: Time to Embrace a Global Musical Canon! ~~Benjamin Amenta I am taking a bit of a Choral Ethics break and today we have a guest blogger. I continue to work on Choral Ethics Blogs, so if you have a Choral Ethics dilemma or query or comment, please email me: marie@midwestmotet.org. What […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: A Group of Bullies
“As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed.” James Madison Recently I was speaking to someone not familiar with my Choral Ethics Blog. He asked what types of people contact me, what kinds of questions do I get asked and what […]