Others

ACDA THROUGH THE INTERN'S EYES by Taylor Jack Conley          I have spent two summers in the ACDA national office, and the time has been profoundly fruitful. Working in the national office of an organization dedicated to the choral art allowed me to grow my knowledge and love of the art. I was able […]

THE MOZART SIDE-EFFECT, by Christopher Härtel          We choral musicians are intimately familiar with language.  Often we hear beauty in words that others miss.  We understand the power of words, but sometimes we don’t appreciate how words can frame a discussion.  Case in point: Recently, a friend of mine who is a very talented […]

Daniel Coyle's The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills Tip #3 is, "Steal without apology." This is something I've long believed—it's one of the best ways to acquire new skills. When you see a fine conductor do something—gesture, rehearsal technique, etc.—that works, follow the advice given in the first post, quoting […]

This next blog series revolves around several books and their perspectives on increasing our skills. Those skills can range from conducting technique to rehearsal technique to score study, if we think of our own skills as conductors. It can also mean the skills we teach our singers, which are equally important.   As you've seen […]

Regardless of the subject matter, those of us in the education profession are constantly seeking creative ways to distill complex structures down to a point where our students can grasp the concept at hand. Look at the clever way students in a public school broke down the multifaceted historical events surrounding the Reformation into a […]