Latest Blog Posts

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.  

This caught my attention – famed conductor Leonard Slatkin publicly criticized for a recent performance.  Tim Smith, music critic from Baltimore, tells us this:   word came that conductor Leonard Slatkin had withdrawn from his remaining scheduled performances of “La Traviata” at the Metropolitan Opera. The rocky opening night had been on Monday.   Slatkin […]

Chris Rowbury deals with the positives and negatives of both approaches, under-rehearsed and over-prepared.   Here’s a bit:   if you worry away at something too much, your intellect gets in the way and stops you from doing it well. Rather like the amateur golfer who is asked to analyse their swing. As soon as […]

Richard Sparks finally returns to the blogosphere with this post on mindsets in learning: The basic premise is that there are two basic “mindsets” about learning (this came out of her research on how people cope with failure) and these affect profoundly how you lead your life: the fixed mindset sees tests and challenges as […]