“We don’t want nobody that nobody sent.” Timothy O’Sullivan, Chicago Ward Committeeman, 1948 It’s that time of year; we are finishing the academic year or our concert cycles and by rights, we should be able to relax. You and I know that isn’t the case at all. If we are in an academic setting, we […]
The Choral Life
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Let’s Be Nice
“Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down.” Jimmy Durante We’ve been busy, email-wise, here at Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics during the last few weeks as the choir year ends. Academic programs are finished when school ends. And community programs, with all sorts of different types of choral […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Sumer Is Icumen In
“What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.” Gertrude Jekyll It is SUMMER! Or will be tomorrow. It is the time of year I […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Kindness is NOT for Wimps
“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” Jean-Jacques Rousseau It is easy to forget we need to work regularly with others. Unless you are a soloist all the time, you must work with other musicians. Unless you conduct exactly the sort of ensemble you wish, with the musicians you wish, you must […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Concert Week
“A concert is always like a feast day to me.” James Taylor Our spring concert is this coming Sunday. It’s been a wild and wooly rehearsal cycle this spring, with new and unexpected developments nearly every week. On the morning of our first rehearsal in March, we learned our concert venue had just been sold, […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Women Conductors
“Nobody would comment on what clothes male conductors wear. Or if they kind of put on some weight or something like that, and maybe their jacket is a little bit too tight. But if that happens to me as a female, then that’s immediately pointed out.” Ruth Reinhardt Several years ago, I was at a […]