Latest Blog Posts

“Nobody would comment on what clothes male conductors wear. Or if they kind of put on some weight or something like that, and maybe their jacket is a little bit too tight. But if that happens to me as a female, then that’s immediately pointed out.” Ruth Reinhardt Several years ago, I was at a […]

What if the key to running a thriving, stress-free choir classroom came down to just four essential elements?   As a high school or middle school choir director, you’re constantly managing expectations, student engagement, and your own workload. But the most successful directors have mastered a simple but powerful framework—the 4Bs.   What are they? And more importantly, are you in control […]

“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Madeleine K. Albright March is Women’s History Month, and I’ll be blogging about women conductors for a few weeks. But today I’ll begin with a Sarcasm Rant. Women’s History Month is a month when we in the arts feature women composers […]

In episode 39 of ChoralEd, Dr. Robert Jordan discusses a democratic approach to repertoire selection. In a democratic approach, Jordan invites students to search for repertoire and share their discovered works with the class. For younger singers, students select music from a list curated by the director. As students develop their musical skills, they begin […]

NEW BLOG POST! Are you a middle or high school choir director struggling to balance your passion for teaching with a life outside the classroom? It is possible to build a thriving choir program without burning out! My latest blog post dives into what it really takes to be a successful, energized, and fulfilled choir […]

 “Fine manners are the mantle of fair minds.” Louisa May Alcott  Do you ever say “please” to your singers?  Or is it always a command to “turn to page 3, top score, measure 2?”  If you occasionally said, “please turn to page 3….” would the sky fall? When was the last time you said “thank-you” […]

“Always do right.  This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain I believe in Karma.  Oh, I don’t know if I would really call it that, exactly. I feel if you do something good, it usually comes back to you.  If you do something bad, it can come back to you as […]

It’s Saturday morning as I write this.  A few days until a big concert with guest choirs and a full day of auditions and prospective student visits on the holiday sandwiched in between.  My “little world” is busy but in the face of the challenges of the “bigger world,” I take a step back.  I […]

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” Jean-Jacques Rousseau It is easy to forget we need to work regularly with others.  Unless you are a soloist all the time, you must work with other musicians. Unless you conduct exactly the sort of ensemble you wish, with the musicians you wish, you must […]

 “Every artist was first an amateur.” Ralph Waldo Emerson The word amateur is taken from Old French and means ‘lover’.  Many definitions of the word speak of doing something for pleasure and most of us, I am sure, became choral conductors because we found pleasure in singing or leading singing. Is it the other definition […]