Latest Blog Posts

                                                                          “We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.” W. H. Auden   What does it mean to be an ethical choral conductor/director? Our own Choral Ethics code should be a model of behaviors for how we treat our singers, but shouldn’t it […]

Stan DeWitt remembers Frank Pooler: Here are the five traits with questions for you to determine how effectively you are mentoring the people in your program. PASSION – Frank was a man of great passion about music.  He had a passion for many things, actually.  But it was in music that his passion shone through […]

COMPOSITION SPOTLIGHT ~ by Jack Senzig   (The Composition Showcase is a unique resource for conductors.   Choral composers are allowed to share only a few of their best works.  Each week we offer you the best of the best on a silver platter.   The Silver Platter Award winners are works that your choirs will love to sing […]

ICEP Spotlight – ICEP Horizons (Swedish ICEP Conducting Fellows in Salt Lake City, UT with ACDA Executive Director, Dr. Tim Sharp, ICEP Director, Dr. T. J. Harper, and SWICCO Director, Fred Sjöberg)   This weekend, the 2015 exchange with Sweden comes to a triumphant close with the last group of ICEP Conducting Fellows convening in […]

What have you been wanting to ask Tim Sharp? Limber up your fingers and start typing, because it’s time to Ask Tim Anything.   ***   If you’re a fan of musical theatre, you’ve most likely heard about “Hamilton.” I’ve been following its success through the eyes of New York friends and reading reviews, and […]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       “Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art.” Claude Debussy   If you read Tim Sharp’s ChoralBlog on Monday, you know the title was, “Collaboration Outside Our Comfort Level.” I meant to write about collaboration as well and his […]

COMPOSITION SPOTLIGHT ~ by Jack Senzig   (The Composition Showcase is a unique resource for conductors.   Choral composers are allowed to share only a few of their best works.  Each week we offer you the best of the best on a silver platter.   The Silver Platter Award winners are works that your choirs will love to sing […]

This week Choral History is in Sweden, as part of ACDA’s International Conductor’s Exchange Program. Last night I sat in Gary Graden’s Kitchen drinking grappa and talking shop. I managed to get some of it on tape, but I’m not sure that most of the conversation is fit for publc consumption. I will sit with Gary this […]

I will pause from time to time in my blogging on the topic of innovation to offer some "bottom lines" and "take homes" from what I am blogging about. Here is a bit of distillation in the form of a list based upon ideas offered to date on ChoralNet regarding innovation: Observe everything, and take […]

” I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.” Lou Holtz   In two weeks, I will begin another series on Choral Ethics here on ChoralBlog. There are a few misconceptions floating around as to what I mean by Choral Ethics, so before the […]