“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Madeleine K. Albright March is Women’s History Month, and I’ll be blogging about women conductors for a few weeks. But today I’ll begin with a Sarcasm Rant. Women’s History Month is a month when we in the arts feature women composers […]
Leadership
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 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 as […]
The Conductor as Yogi: A Moment of Peace
It’s Saturday morning as I write this. A few days until a big concert with guest choirs and a full day of auditions and prospective student visits on the holiday sandwiched in between. My “little world” is busy but in the face of the challenges of the “bigger world,” I take a step back. I […]
Choral Ethics: Kindness is NOT for Wimps
“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” Jean-Jacques Rousseau It is easy to forget we need to work regularly with others. Unless you are a soloist all the time, you must work with other musicians. Unless you conduct exactly the sort of ensemble you wish, with the musicians you wish, you must […]
Choral Ethics: Amateur Versus Professional
“Every artist was first an amateur.” Ralph Waldo Emerson The word amateur is taken from Old French and means ‘lover’. Many definitions of the word speak of doing something for pleasure and most of us, I am sure, became choral conductors because we found pleasure in singing or leading singing. Is it the other definition […]