Latest Blog Posts

Amelia Nagoski describes the power dynamics in choir in terms of the conductor's demeanor: Calm, assertive energy.  My husband has it in spades.  He is the Choir Whisperer.  He’s chill, but he’s authoritative. …His highly-skilled competence and thoughtful artistry are distilled through channels of calm assertion that make him powerful beyond the typical high school […]

Get a feel for Chicago, home of the 2011 ACDA National Conference:    

This post is temporarily delayed; it will appear February 25.

Speaking of music videos, what do you think of this Victoria motet with visuals inspired by rock music videos?     Sung by the group Q. Thank God for the public domain.

Stephen Hough is cheered by BBC Radio 3's decision to broadcast hundreds of live concerts per year: Concerts have a sense of danger about them which a CD can never match. It’s not just a matter of “will she forget, or make a terrible mistake, or walk off the stage?”, but the more subtle and […]

Paul Carey has a TASTY blog previewing Chicago for ACDA conference attendees.     There is much to read – here is a sampling:   So now let’s talk about all the signature (cheap) Chicago food you have drooled over while perusing your Chicago guide book. But just remember, you shouldn’t expect to fit in […]

I would hate to see what my verbal ability would have been like if I hadn’t studied music:  While it is no surprise that the young musicians scored significantly higher than those in the control group on two skills closely related to their music training (auditory discrimination and finger dexterity), the more surprising result was […]

Liberal blogger Kevin Drum comes out against federal funding for the arts: Now, I, Kevin Drum, happen to like classical music but not jazz. I like film but don't really get much of a kick out of theater. I love novels but have never developed an appreciation of poetry. Etc. etc. If it turned out […]

I love Chicago.  And I am happy to say that it is a relationship of mutual admiration—Chicago loves art. You cannot move through Chicago and be unaware of Chicago’s dedication to art, whether through the city’s stunning architecture, Millennium Park’s public space sculpture and landscape design, the world class Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago […]

Liz Garnett dissects a recent ChoralNet discussion in her latest blog entitled Metaphors and Professionalism.   After restating the positions of some of our frequent bloggers (Allen, John, and Anna), she boils the discussion down to this:   It looks, therefore, like there are three variables that may affect how happily advanced musicians respond to […]