We are busy people. We have full lives; we live at the center of a wheel that turns constantly, with professional, family, health, spiritual, and personal spokes of responsibilities, challenges, and joys. We bounce between feeling full and satisfied and just plain busy with lots of activities that don’t seem to be organized into anything […]
The Choral Life
The Conductor as Yogi: Regaining Sense-Ability
Our first brisk fall morning. Do I really want to go for a walk when it’s 43 degrees? (Pause) Well, want isn’t the right word, but I know I’ll benefit so I dig out the thermal running gear and as Grandma Nike says, “just do it.” Cold air hits my face, my breath feels thankfully […]
Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining
We are very pleased to introduce a new voice to ChoralNet blogging today. Shannon Gravelle posts today and beginning next Wednesday, will be posting every other week sharing interviews with a variety of choral professionals about their experiences during the pandemic and their plans as we look forward. In March 2020, choral professionals made massive […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Three Things
It’s been almost a year that I have been blogging from the perspective of wellness, inspirational writings, and yoga practice and principles, connecting to our lives as conductors and humans living in a wider world. As I prepare to take a bit of a break this summer for recalibration and to focus on some other writing, […]
The Conductor as Yogi: How Human of You
Even in a “normal year” (have we ever actually had one of those?), it’s natural to take time as the season ends to think about how the year has gone—what we did and didn’t do, what we might have done “if we had only known,” what worked and maybe didn’t, and though it usually falls […]
Silver Linings: Resilience and New Beginnings
By Marc Taylor This past year has been difficult for most everybody in one way or another. For music teachers it has been quite challenging. For families that have lost loved ones it has been devastating. Personally, I haven’t had a desire to dwell on or rehash the negative aspects of this period of time. […]