Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees, takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries. Elizabeth Barrett Browning I recently came across this quote and had an immediate, visceral response. Brilliant! So insightful. Leave it to Elizabeth to knock it out of […]
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Car Thoughts: Student Led Sectionals
“Whoever is doing the talking is doing the learning.” Jen York-Barr In this special car thoughts I will not only DESCRIBE how I use sectionals in rehearsal, I will show you! (Video recommended) I am a big believer in student ownership, and there are few better ways to accomplish this than building a culture of […]
Raise Your Voice: January Shivers
This is the seventh post in a series: https://choralnet.org/archives/665964 Happy New Year! I hope everyone was able to get some rest after the holiday concert season and enjoy some time with friends and family. Personally, I’m just regrouping after the break and continuing to work on our choral pieces for our March concert. So let’s […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Do One Thing
The beginning of the calendar year—ahhh! . . . Resolutions. Big plans. Massive change! And how long do those resolutions last? We know the statistics, that resolutions set on January 1st are often abandoned within the first month, depending on whose reporting you read. There are countless guides for determining and keeping resolutions to create […]
The Conductor as Yogi: May You Know
We’ve made it through another calendar year. Some combination of joyous, fatigued, inspired, bruised, cautious, or hopeful, on any given day. Stories to tell and plans still in the making. Intersections of work life and “real life” (can they be the same thing?). And though I have no idea how many read this blog, I […]
Advocacy & Collaboration: Turn Your Community Outward (Part 2 of 2)
By Dr. Tim Westerhaus Are you burned-out? Exhausted? Feeling behind or inadequate as our choral programs are smaller in numbers or skills in this year of emerging-from-the-pandemic? How can we intentionally rebuild our programs, and where can we find the energy to do so? How can we honor this stage of our journey (for ourselves […]