“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” […]
Self Care
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: Make New Friends
“Friendships begun in this world will be taken up again, never to be broken off.” Saint Francis de Sales I had the privilege of participating in a “Lessons and Carols” service this past holiday season. My son, Dean of a local AGO chapter, got me the gig and both of us played and directed and […]
Choral Ethics: Ring Out the Old, Ring In the New…..
“Ring out the false, ring in the true.” Alfred Lord Tennyson This Holiday Season, I’ve rerun several Choral Ethics blogs from years past with a few modifications where needed. Today will be the last of the reruns; all new blogs will begin again next Thursday. ~MLGA Happy New Year, ChoralNetters! It is 2025, can […]
Choral Ethics: Let There Be Peace on Earth
“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” Leonard Bernstein For the month of December, I’m rerunning some Choral Ethics blogs from years past with a few modifications where needed. Today’s is THE MOST REQUESTED December Blog or ANY Blog. It is especially appropriate […]
The Conductor as Yogi: An Encouragement
As I sat down to write this last CAY blog post of the year, I contemplated various topics but kept coming back to an overriding sense that what we all need right now is Encouragement, capital E. At the root of the word “encourage” is the French “coeur” or heart. Encouragement is a way of […]