Latest Blog Posts

This week on “Going Beyond Words” we will take a look at the subject of romance, but with a twist as we investigate choral music by Liszt, Christine De Pizan; Valdas Jakubénas, Gary Carpenter & John Rutter. Plus two creations written for ballet, within the last seventy years by Paul Moravec and Bohuslave Martinù.

Anyone that has had the opportunity to see, hear, or work with Boston Philharmonic conductor Benjamin Zander knows him to be a person of great energy and optimism. I recently prepared the chorus for him in his conducting of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection. The shear magnitude of learning a score the size of this […]

Occasionally I will browse the forums on ChoralNet looking for interesting discussion. A question in a recent forum caught my attention as one that is likely very applicable to many of our members: How do you organize your repertoire? How do you keep track of pieces you have recently performed? Click the link in the […]

Why Won’t My Middle School Choir Sing? Part 3 This is the third post in a five-part series from “In the Middle With Mr D” called “Why Won’t My Middle School Choir Sing?” Link to Reason #1 of “Why Won’t My Middle School Choir Sing?” Here is Reason #3 We don’t publicly celebrate and recognize […]

“You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.” Abraham Lincoln Like many of you, I’ve been cleaning out my rehearsal briefcase and assorted rehearsal bags during the last few weeks. The centerpiece of each rehearsal bag, besides my folder of music, is a legal pad folio with a pen […]

Join host Stan Schmidt this week on “Going Beyond Words” to celebrate the birth of our country with an hour of some great patriotic music just right for flag waving. Along with some memorable words from President Lincoln, spoken by Walter Cronkite, to music by Aaron Copland.

In my previous blog, I suggested that to live and work with a mindset of innovation is a POETIC way to approach life. POETIC is my acronym for People (empathy), Optimism, Experimentation, Tension, Idea, and Collaboration. This blog explores the People part of innovation, which is about empathy. All educators recognize the name Maria Montessori. […]

In 2014, the United States celebrated the bicentennial of our great anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” As you are more than likely aware, the song was named the official national anthem by act of Congress in 1931. The Choral Journal featured two articles on Francis Scott Key’s great work that readers of ChoralNet might be interested […]

This is a five-part series designed to help other middle school choir teachers determine why their middle school beginning singers are unmotivated to sing in their classrooms. Click here to go to blog post #1 in which I state the first reason I believe causes students not to sing in our classrooms. Reason #2: They don’t […]

“Etiquette means behaving yourself a little better than is absolutely essential.” Will Cuppy I get so many emails from people wanting to complain or wanting me to weigh in on someone else’s behavior or to come up with a solution. Often, it is singers complaining about their choir directors. Sometimes, it’s choir directors complaining about […]