Latest Blog Posts

Sing a child a song, and you’ve fed her soul for the moment. Teach a child to sing, and her soul will be fed for a lifetime.  (With apologies for the paraphrase.)   At the end of the day, isn’t that what we are, teachers of singing?  With all the respect in the world for […]

This bit of news was surprising to me on a Friday afternoon.  I must have missed the news when it broke over the summer: Tiny Goshen College in Indiana has banned the “The Star Spangled Banner: at all sporting events because the Mennonite school’s president considers the National Anthem’s words to be too violent.   […]

Specialized kinds of choirs have specialized kinds of needs, and Communities are a great way for conductors of those groups to connect with others in the same field. Friends of Joyful Noise is a community dedicated to choirs with therapeutic purposes or whose singers have disabilities. The group Joyful Noise (pictured below) performed at ACDA […]

Do you know about BBC’s “Music?”   I have a choir member who brings me the magazine every month and I always find each issue informative and creative.   The September 2011 issue features some topics of real interest to choral conductors:   1. An interview with Einojuhani Rautavaara: Hilary Finch travels to Finland to […]

I’m doing something different this year before school starts – choir camp.   That’s right, I’m taking a cue from the university marching band and bringing my kids early to campus.  It isn’t costing my budget anything – the school is letting them move in early at no cost.  I’m feeding the students with donated […]

The following list prompts thought-provoking reflection on future educational methods from the viewpoint of current facilities, hardware, and methods. These are not my prophecies, but rather, those of Shelly Blake-Plock in her blog, TeachPaperless. The list made me think, so I am passing it along in the event that it lets you do the same: […]

This is the first in a series of blog posts highlighting various ChoralNet Communities. Communities are a tool for subcultures of the choral world to get together and address their own particular areas of interest.    The first Community to really take off on ChoralNet was Composers of Choral Music. All the discussions of rehearsal […]

I’m not sure how I missed this story but I found out about it at lunch today: A minister of music at a church in the St. Elmo community Tased the pastor who had just fired him Sunday, touching off a fight and various knife slashings, according to the Sheriff’s Office.  The mayhem erupted when […]

Forgive me for being Captain Obvious, but it’s true: first impressions count.   Whether it’s dressing for the job interview, meeting the future in-laws, or the first hit in a football game, the initial moments of any new experience create a long-lasting ripple effect (perhaps far longer than we want it to).   For the […]