“The great leaders are like the best conductors – they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players.” Blaine Lee A few weeks ago, I had lunch with an old friend, Jay*, who is a choir friend of mine. He teaches and directs in the city, so we don’t always have time […]
Choral Culture
Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; The Care and Feeding of Your Board
“Feed your brothers and sisters simply, graciously, with generous care, and you will secure a place in their heart.” Maximillian Degenerez The artistic director of a large choral organization in a suburban Midwestern setting, Dina* was astonished by the lack of communication between art groups when she first arrived in the community. Always one to […]
Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; Doing the Right Thing
“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain About half of all emails I get are from folks who want my opinion about the right thing to do. I’ve written about this before; many choral directors don’t trust their instincts any longer and want validation. I don’t blatantly […]
Choral Potpourri: Choral Ethics; Some Advice Bears Repeating, Part Two
“There is no harm in repeating a good thing.” Plato Last week, I wrote about recently getting emails concerning three problems I know I have addressed before in this Blog. I wrote about one of those re-occurring problems—tardiness. This week, we will tackle the other two. Absences Like the tardiness issues from last week, if […]
14 Tips to Enrich the Multi-Year (Repeating) Choir Members
Do you want to be the choir director that has taught for 20+ years, or the choir director that has taught 1 year 20+ times? Is every year the same for your repeating choir members or do they experience greater opportunity, higher levels of learning, and deeper meaning with each successive year? Here Are 14 […]
Choral Potpourri: This Is What A Conductor Looks Like
“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Madeleine K. Albright March is Women’s History Month, so forgive me if I rant a bit this week. This is a month when we in the arts feature women composers on concerts, ballet companies feature women choreographers (there is a ballet […]