“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain My late Mom always said arrogance and ignorance are a deadly combination. As a coloratura soprano, nothing irritated her more than someone telling her how to sing or what to sing, unless they were a director or conductor she was working […]
Choral Ethics
Choral Ethics: ‘Tis the Season
“Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling” Edna Ferber I recently was contacted by a lovely colleague, Pete*, about an ongoing discussion during his community chorus’s rehearsals. He is not sure what to do and wants some data collected from other Choral Professionals to share with his group. I said I would write about it […]
Choral Ethics: ChoralNet Readers
“The best leaders are readers of people. They have the intuitive ability to understand others by discerning how they feel and recognizing what they sense.” John C. Maxwell Since beginning this Blog in 2015, I have been contacted by numbers of ChoralNet Readers—I like to call these folks ChoralNetters–who want to share their stories about […]
Choral Ethics: A Code of Choral Ethics and the Choral Professional
“Professionalism in art has this difficulty: To be professional is to be dependable, to be dependable is to be predictable, and predictability is esthetically boring – an anti-virtue in a field where we hope to be astonished and startled and at some deep level refreshed.” John Updike I have struggled for a long time with […]
Choral Ethics: Respect in the Rehearsal Hall
“Fine Manners need the support of fine manners in others.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Fine manners are really not about showing off but showing respect for others. When you are shown respect, you become respectful. My late mother used to tell us, having good manners was not showing off how ‘fancy’ you are but showing respect […]
Choral Ethics: A State of Grace
“The best effort of a fine person is felt after we have left their presence.” Ralph Waldo Emerson The term “choral ethics” has always confused me. Do we as choral conductors and directors have ethics? Do we need ethics? The Presbyterian Association of Musicians, as do other denominations musicians’ organizations, has a code of ethics. […]