Margaret Hillis in 1978, Terry’s Photography “There’s only one woman I know who could never be a symphony conductor, and that’s Venus de Milo.” Margaret Hillis I first learned about the new biography of Margaret Hillis (Margaret Hillis: Unsung Pioneer, Cheryl Frazes Hill, GIA Publications, Inc., Chicago, 2022) last spring. I quickly pre-ordered it from […]
Leadership
The Conductor as Yogi: Brain Aerobics in Rehearsal
Our recent posts have focused on the impact of stress on the brain (not just on our “feeling” state) and how we can mitigate it by taking time in our day and in our rehearsals to pause and move and breathe. Today we look at another way to enhance brain health for us and our […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Favorite Teacher
I am taking a bit of a Choral Ethics break during the next few weeks, and this is a Choral Ethics Blog repeat. My review of a new biography of Margaret Hillis will be on December 1. But if you have a Choral Ethics dilemma or query or comment in the mean time, please email […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Staying With It
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” Albert Einstein Happy November everyone! In two more months, and we will be out of 2022, a very difficult year for most of us. It has been tough, but I have a tough question for you; did you stay with it? […]
The Conductor as Yogi: The Brain-Healthy Rehearsal
In my last post, we looked at the brain’s response to stress and the importance of understanding stress not only as a “feeling” thing but also, a “thinking” thing. The effects of stress can negatively impact our short-term memory and our ability to manage the details of our professional and personal worlds and can have […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Why Choral Ethics?
“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.” Voltaire I became a regular blogger here at ChoralNet in the Fall of 2015, so it’s a few weeks more than seven years I’ve been writing this blog. Before that, I contributed about ten blog posts in 2014/early 2015 as a Guest Blogger […]