Latest Blog Posts

Jocelyn Lavin (on Second Altos Like the Bottom Parts) points us to an article on Science News about why some people are better at sight-reading than others: Any piano player who practices sight-reading for thousands of hours will get pretty good at it, say study coauthors Elizabeth Meinz of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and David […]

A different sort of blog today – Leonard Ratzlaff uses FileMaker Pro to assist him in all facets of auditioning and he created a short presentation for ChoralNet users.   I uploaded the presentation to FileShare to show you:   Auditions with file maker pro View more presentations from philipco.

Paul Carey is a fantastic composer.   But he’s much more than that.   Paul is working with the NC Governor’s School and he has a plan to make a direct and personal connection with Haiti.  He is blogging about this effort and reaching out to others for help – and it sounds like a […]

John Womeldorff tipped me off about the US premier of The Choir.   It looks like a program we would love and it starts tonight: It could be said singing is everywhere, but where are the choirs? Classically trained Malone embarks on a groundbreaking journey to save the choir and prove it’s cool to sing […]

The second strategic imperative I recently suggested to the membership of the American Choral Directors Association toward reshaping our work in the 21st century is the imperative of generativity, or mentoring in the choral profession. We must transmit not only the “how” of what we do, but most importantly, the “why”. Scholarship over the last […]

As I continue to think about the strategic imperative of the work of the American Choral Directors Association as we reach out and respond collaboratively, there are two critical underlying factors I am mindful of if we want to achieve creative collaboration: 1. Sharing   Each partner in the collaboration is responsible for 100 percent of […]

Last week I blogged about the need for collaboration as a strategic imperative for our work as choral directors as we seek to equip and inspire choral directors and choral music education and performance. This week I want to address one “why” of collaboration. Collaboration can provide an “insurance policy” against the real threat and […]

At the recent Leadership Conference of the American Choral Directors Association held in Chicago, the officers of our State and Division chapters explored ways we could collaborate with each other and with other organizations toward the working out of our mission and purposes that revolve around the themes of equipping and inspiring the choral director. […]

The varying approaches to conducting by big-name orchestra leaders:     The clips of Leonard Bernstein conducting with his facial muscles are priceless.   h/t Thoughtful Gestures.