Latest Blog Posts

“Real” instruments are too dangerous: Andrew DiMarzio loves to play his tenor sax at home and at school, but the bus company said the case for his saxophone is a safety hazard aboard a crowded school bus. Hope they never learn that singers carry their instruments with them, or whole choirs might be banned. But […]

A friend pointed me to these thoughts about how the physical body can service – or sabotage – genius: When I'm in writing mode for a novel, I get up at 4:00 a.m. and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for ten kilometers or swim for fifteen hundred meters (or […]

This looks like something I might have choreographed:    

Ever listen to a choir and wonder what language they were singing only to be shocked to realize they were singing in English?  (Having taught in seven states across all four time zones in the continetal U.S. I’ve faced that more often that I would want.)  Here’s a choir from Norway singing English and frankly […]

In my October 18 ChoralBlog "Innovation is 'In'", one of the points I stressed was   *Innovators are connected–they know where to find and get help, and they flourish in cultures that encourage collaboration. In a recent Harvard Business Review "Management Tip of the Day", the editors do a little unpacking of the old adage, […]

We celebrate creativity here and this Alec Baldwin anti-fundraising effort for NPR is quite funny.   There is even a hint of choral music in the background, although it is probably a synthesizer.  See what you think:    

“The most effective choral conductors are music educators in the broadest and best sense. They are constantly bringing people and music together in such a way that the members of the choral ensemble experience aesthetic ‘highs’ as well as an enjoyment from participation as group members, and that they learn more and more about music […]

     “To any music educator who is actively involved in the training of adolescent singers in today’s public schools, it becomes evident that there is a definite need for a renaissance in the musical training of boys between the ages of ten and fourteen. A real problem exists in recruiting, maintaining, and improving musically the […]

It's one of the major reasons we go to ACDA conferences: to hear astounding concerts.  Here's a taste of one of those incredible choral moments from the 2011 ACDA National Conference.  Note the stunned silence in the audience at the end.  

“I didn’t know I could sing because I didn’t sing around anyone until junior high when this new choir teacher heard me in the hallway.  My mother was a teacher and I was helping move books into classrooms. I was singing along when the choir teacher said I should join. I said no. I was […]