Choralosophy

What happens when a choral piece becomes so wildly popular that choir directors start refusing to program it? We like to tell ourselves that our repertoire choices are based on objective artistic standards… …but all too often, artists fall into a familiar trap: the moment a piece captures the public imagination or goes viral on … Continue reading "Episode 305: An Invitation to Connection with Jennifer Lucy Cook"

What if we’ve been approaching Music Ed and Conducting backwards? Dr. Jordan suggests, that “the first course in music ed shouldn’t be methods. It should be a semester of learning who you are—because that’s what actually reaches students.” Why is it that two conductors can give the exact same technical pattern to the same choir, … Continue reading "Episode 304: You Are the Thing That Teaches with James Jordan"

This week, I am sharing an excerpt from a live webinar I recently hosted breaking down how I actually use Sight Reading Factory in the classroom every day to build confident, independent musicians. If you have spent any time around this show, you know I believe deeply in getting the piano out of the way … Continue reading "Episode 303: The Tool to Build the Tools-“The Workbench”"

Back in episode 146, Dr. Jennaya Robison and I had a great discussion about the tension (pun intended) around vibrato vs. non vibrato aesthetics, physiology and acoustics in choral music. Recently, we posted a clip from that show and it blew up. Let’s just say, the algorithm anointed it with oil and now its cup … Continue reading "Episode 302: Revisiting the Vibrato Question"

An episode born from comment section of one of my social media videos. I was sharing my perspective on finding a middle ground when it comes to competition in music education, and my guest today left a comment that caught my eye, mentioning that her own views on artistic competition had recently undergone a total … Continue reading "Episode 301: Is it Competition? Or Comparison? with Dr. Francis Cathlina"