As you approach your spring concert season: Do you feel the PRESSURE starting to mount? Do you feel the STRESS of making your concert successful. Does this tension impact your demeanor in rehearsals? Do you feel like YOU care more about the concert than your singers? Well, if any of […]
Others
Values and Purpose in Choir
Recently I went on a vacation to Seattle and Vancouver for 10 days and returned at the end of last week. It was wonderful to relax and explore two cities I had not previously traveled to. Although it was cloudy and rainy for much of my time in the Pacific Northwest, I enjoyed exploring the […]
The Conductor as Yogi: The To-Be List
“To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.” Eckhart Tolle It’s concert day. My to-do list has been updated regularly and I check it once, then twice (OK, more than that), to be sure all is in […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: A Silent Wood
(April is National Autism Acceptance Month) “Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” — Henry Van Dyke We all assume certain things about others. Those assumptions are usually based on something we know about them–whether they’re up bringing or professions or […]
Innovation, Hope, and Other Important Concepts/Lessons
This year, I decided to take a vacation after Holy Week and Easter, so I have more mental bandwidth than the past 2 – 3 weeks. As I learned from 2020, if I go too long without time off, stress builds up. With all the activity this calendar year such as The Secret Garden and […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Timely Intersections
“The study of asana is not about mastering posture. It’s about using posture to understand and transform yourself.” B.K.S Iyengar A few weeks ago, I received an exciting message in my inbox from Yoga Alliance, the primary professional organization for yoga advocacy, standards, and research. YA regularly tracks legislation or regulations that can have an […]