“You hear things about certain people. When you hear someone was mean to a limo driver or a wardrobe lady, or someone was rotten to a fan, somewhere in your brain it gets stuck.” Joan Rivers I hate gossip. Hate it with a passion and will even avoid speaking with someone (if I can) if […]
Choral Ethics
Choral Potpourri: Choral Conductors Behaving Badly
“Etiquette means behaving yourself a little better than is absolutely essential.” Will Cuppy I get so many emails from people wanting to complain or wanting me to weigh in on someone else’s behavior or to come up with a solution. Often, it is singers complaining about their choir directors. Sometimes, it’s choir directors complaining about […]
Choral Potpourri: Being Interviewed
“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” James Thurber For every choral director/conductor there is a perfect choir and for every choir, there is a perfect director/conductor. There are times it just “feels right” and there are times it does not. The past few weeks we’ve looked […]
Choral Potpourri: Interview Questions
“Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are.” Oscar Wilde You have the perfect Music Director Search Committee gathered. You’ve soul-searched and all members of your committee are on the same page for the future of the organization or ensemble. You’ve hired a competent interim. You have sent out audition notices (and advertised for the […]
Choral Potpourri: What’s a Committee to Do?
“They sit there in committees day after day, And they each put in a color and it comes out gray. And we all have heard the saying, which is true as well as witty, That a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee.” Allan Sherman You are a choral singer. You sing […]