“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.” Winston Churchill In two days, it will be Christmas Eve and three days until Christmas Day. Your plans have been made for months if you’re anything like me. But this is the Christmas of 2022, so you probably have a “Plan B” if […]
Leadership
The Conductor as Yogi: The Spirit, the Brain, and the Choir
Sounds like the title of a new novel, but today’s post wraps up our fall exploration of brain health and how it intersects with our life as conductors and teachers. We started by looking at how our brain reacts to stress, then unpacked how we can mitigate stress in rehearsals with our breathing and movement […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Singing Her Praises
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 […]
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? […]