Latest Blog Posts

This episode is a milestone. The 100th full length episode of the podcast. Since my wife Beth was the FIRST guest on the show, I thought it would be good to go full circle, and bring her on again! Being a music teacher is an important job. It is, or should be about SO MUCH […]

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” Confucius As we head toward the end of the choral year, it’s time to address a few Choral Ethics dilemmas. This week, I’ll share thoughts from a ChoralNetter as well as mine about some universal issues. Today we’ll be talking about Schadenfreude. Jenai* has had one of […]

Margaret Bonds (1913–1972) was an American composer and arranger, notably setting many texts by Langston Hughes (a close friend) and arranging African-American spirituals. When she was growing up, she lived in a home that had visits from Florence Price and Will Marion Cook. She studied piano and composition with Florence Price and William Dawson during […]

With Holy Week and Easter Sunday in the rearview mirror, I’m already starting to wind down for the season and anticipating summer activities. This year has had its share of ups and downs. I’m feeling weary and definitely in the need for vacation and other rejuvenating experiences. Perhaps you feel the same. I was reading […]

ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly online publication, designed for those who work with singers of all levels but specifically K-12 and community choirs. A full annotated ChorTeach index is available online at acda.org/publications/chorteach. Over 160 articles are organized into seventeen categories. For more information, email  or visit acda.org/chorteach. Following is an excerpt from an article in the current Winter 2022 issue titled […]

Part of the Oxford Series on the Choralosophy Podcast Dig into the mind of Gabriel Jackson, one of my FAVORITE composers. His ability to mix the modern with the ancient really makes my “Spidey Sense” tingle! We discuss his music, and journey to composition, as well his feelings about Orchestral musicians seeming to live in […]

“If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. Therefore, respect every musician in his proper place.” Robert Schumann  As we head toward the end of the choral year, it’s time to address a few Choral Ethics dilemmas. Today and next week, I’ll be sharing thoughts from a […]

“Advocacy.” Sometimes it is an intimidating word. It’s not too fancy, not too hard to spell, but it can feel a bit daunting. We’ve all heard situations where colleagues had to advocate to keep to their programs or where larger communities had to find the data to fight for the arts. Those can be intimidating […]

By Robyn Hilger All the best pieces of my life have been connected to music. Music class is where I discovered where I excelled, learned important skills like work ethic and collaboration, and where I first practiced being a leader. And, as a music teacher, I found that I had the opportunity to impact the […]

At least once a year I review my original mission statement for this blog:  “The Conductor as Yogi blog will explore mindfulness, wellness, inspirational writings, and classic yoga philosophy and practice to encourage readers towards greater wholeness in their professional and personal lives.  The Conductor as Yogi is an authentic, conversational approach to finding one’s […]