“The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.” Oscar Wilde You all know “her” but you may not know exactly what she does. She is just there, connected with your ensemble in some way. What she does is invisible to you and everyone else, but I am here today to tell […]
Choral Culture
Choral Potpourri: The Care and Feeding of Creatives
“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.” Leo Burnett I first heard the term “creatives” a few years ago and hated it. I was at a meeting of the community arts and business alliance I am involved with and our leader was speaking of […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Winning and Losing with Grace
“You learn how to be a gracious winner and an outstanding loser.” Joe Namath My late mother would tell us being a gracious winner was just as important as being a gracious loser. In fact, she would scold if we were less than kind to our siblings if we won a game and were being […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: The Pause That Refreshes?
“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” Albert Einstein Well, I’m back! I hoped you enjoyed the Choral Ethics Repeats during the month of August. They were part of the first series I wrote for ChoralNet as a guest blogger […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: “Maestra Manners” Explains All
“Fine manners are the mantle of fair minds.” Louisa May Alcott Do you ever say “please” to your singers? Or is it always a command to “turn to page 3, top score, measure 2?” If you occasionally said, “please turn to page 3…..” would the sky fall? When was the last time you said “thank-you” […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Reaping What We Sow
“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain I believe in Karma. Oh, I don’t know if I would really call it that, exactly. I feel if you do something good, it usually comes back to you. If you do something bad, it can come back to you […]