Latest Blog Posts

It is always a good time for some King’s Singers:    

Mark Schweizer provides some entertaining diversions provided via St. James Music Press. Definitions: Incomplete Cadence – harmonius interruptus.Metronome – small elves which live in the London subway system.Basso Continuo – When the director can’t get them to stop.Score – Sopranos 3, Tenors 0.Polychoral Motet – Six parrots singing “Cantate Domino.”Aleatoric (Chance) Music – Music performed by the random selection of pitches […]

Amelia Nagoski’s new blog starts off with an entertaining riff on the image of conductors in the media: I’ve never seen a fictitious conductor who was a great conductor.  Instead, I have observed, fictitious conductors tend to be jerks who flail.  A number of excellent videos illustrate her point. 

I know some of you are bored with my paranoia about copyrights, but check this out. The Obama administration’s “Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator” has asked for public input on copyright policy, and the recording and movie industries promptly proposed the most ridiculous, industry-slanted rules George Orwell could possible imagine: The RIAA and MPAA want spyware […]

A recent commenter on this blog quoted: “An amateur rehearses until he can do it right.  A professional rehearses until he cannot do it wrong!” At the same time, author Gerald Klickstein challenges the perfectionist mindset: [T]here’s a big difference between precision and perfection. Actually, when it comes to music, the notion of ‘perfection’ seems like an […]

In a move sure to be followed by all savvy composers, John Rutter has created a YouTube channel where he discusses his works.   In the first series of uploads, Rutter discusses his famous Requiem – he gives an overview and then goes movement by movement through the work.   More composers should do this […]

Monday is the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing.   ACDA remembered the event at the recent national conference – here is our memorial to it:    

This blog really nails it.   I really like the part about the gold filter.  Here is #6 on how to make it really big in the music world:   6. Taste: Taste is all-important. Three tenors are better than one. Ten tenors are better than three. And if you’re Irish, better yet – you’ll […]

The Recovering Choir Director brings us this distinction between sacred and secular:     Can you tell the difference?? from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

I missed Rachmaninoff’s birthday earlier this month.  Here’s a video/audio tribute to Rachmaninoff from the recording that introduced me to the haunting brilliance of the composer.