Latest Blog Posts

Steven Johnson’s new book Where Good Ideas Come From brings new energy to the notion given by scientist Stuart Kauffman of the “adjacent possible.” In this phrase we get a glimpse of the real nature of the creative potential of change and innovation. This notion is something of the opposite to an epiphany or a […]

Via Jeffrey Tucker, a press release from Eastman illuminating (heh) the history of the Ave Maria text, through musical sources: Michael Alan Anderson, Assistant Professor of Music at the Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester) has discovered that the second half of the prayer—the sinner’s direct plea to Mary—dates considerably earlier than commonly thought […]

Last week I had the opportunity to conduct Vaughan Williams' Hodie for the fifth time. For me, Hodie is the classy version of a lawn full of every illuminated seasonal character, stopping short of Santa and Frosty. The potpourri of English poetry, along with the wide variety of musical styles evoked, make it such a […]

John Neal of Primarily A Cappella pointed me to this article from the BBC about "The Great Choral Study."  Here is a little from the BBC article: Researchers from the Great Choral Study will aim to "investigate the current and future trends, opportunities and challenges facing British choirs". "Major questions are being asked throughout the […]

…and then there’s Singing Christmas Trees with 300 singers, who start rehearsing in September and sing 23 songs memorized.     And it costs up to $60 per ticket to see them. Oh, and they record an annual CD.

We’re all jealous, I’m sure.

But if you like Tom Lehrer, here’s Daniel Radcliffe singing Tom Lehrer’s periodic table of the elements, set to the tune of “I am the very model of a modern major general”:  

The name says it all, don’t you think? But no, there’s more: Create your own Alien Choir using one of the 8 pre-recorded sounds or create your own sound and apply it to any of the 8 aliens. This special Finger Beat unit allows you to record and re-record your own sounds for hours of […]

What happened to the fall semester?   Advent is here:  

A nice series of posts about how to accompany for choir –    Here’s part one.   And here is part two.   And a sampling from the articles: 5. Learn to play all of the voice parts together. Pay special attention to key changes, meter changes, accidentals, and any places where dissonance results between […]