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Charles Bruffy is one of my favorite conductors (and people). I’ve known Charles since 2008 when I attended the Westminster Conducting Institute and sang Duruflé’s Requiem with him. Since then, I’ve observed him conduct professional groups, collegiate groups, church choirs, and high school festivals, and watched him work with conductors in masterclass settings. I’m proud […]
Wellness
Midweek Meditation: Visiting Professor of Impermanence
The concept of impermanence is one of the foundational principles of Buddhism. The idea of impermanence can be summarized in the statement, “Everything changes, and nothing lasts forever.” Acceptance of this premise may lead one to enlightenment, while denying it is considered one of the primary causes of human suffering. In my academic career, for […]
Midweek Meditation: Five Minutes to Focus
Midweek Meditation: Five Minutes to Focus by Steve Grives In this entry, I’ll take you through a guided meditation that I’ve developed for use with choral ensembles. While my meditation practice is a spiritual practice, one designed to cultivate both wisdom and compassion, the basic tenets of mindfulness meditation can be used to build life […]
Midweek Meditation: Letting Go of Perfectionism
With this post, we welcome choral conductor and certified meditation teacher Steve Grives in his first post for a bi-weekly blog entitled Midweek Meditation. This blog will address issues pertinent to choral professionals through the lens of mindfulness and meditation. He will write about his own meditation practice, share some stories from his professional life, […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Lighten-ing Ways
As I write this, it is 5:47 AM on a Saturday morning. It is light outside and has been for a while. While I prefer sleeping in a little later, there is something about these longer spring days of earlier sunrises and later sunsets that creates an expanded sense of space and time. We can […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Living Ahimsa
Early on as a blogger, I posted “Living Your Namaste” in the wake of violence that escalated on a national level in late spring of 2020. It was a way to reflect on the moment and bring something from the yoga practice to inform our thinking so we might move toward a better life in […]