- Holding Down The Fort September 3, 2012
I have written here recently about economics and how it influences everything. Politically, I could be described as a screaming ultra-liberal Democrat, which I consider myself to have been since the Vietnam War. The world I would have liked to have seen now absolutely doesn’t look like the world that we have actually created since ...
- Doing What You Said You Would August 27, 2012
We live in a time when people do not really have much interest in “keeping their word”. Not so long ago a handshake was considered a valid legal agreement because it meant that you had “given your word”. Now, because we live in a time when there is no one reliable source of information that ...
- When Economics Drives Everything August 24, 2012
It’s helpful when the people who are in charge of an artistic endeavor have knowledge, experience and skill. It’s helpful if they have developed tastes and a broad perspective. It’s very helpful if they look at their art as an opportunity to make a contribution to the world by shaking things up, by allowing the ...
- Making Trouble August 20, 2012
Some people like to cause a stir. They exist to constantly get underneath other people’s skin. It makes them happy to make other people unhappy. People like this do not do well in organized institutions where “collegial cooperation” is paramount. People who have a strong will and strong opinions are considered overbearing and irritating. People who ...
- Why I Hate Competitions August 20, 2012
I had occasion this evening to attend an amateur singing competition for kids and young adults. They had been selected via video clips and were in a semi-finals to compete for a nice package of prizes and money totaling about $25,000 as the grand prize for the winner. Unfortunately, the range of ability in this competition ...
- Small Time – Big Time August 16, 2012
I’ve heard recently that recording artists have so much done to their recordings that it’s nearly impossible to know what they actually sound like live. They probably don’t know themselves what they sound like live. I don’t view this as a good thing. Yet, sometimes you can find really wonderful music in your local neighborhood “joint”. ...
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough August 9, 2012
What is excellence? Isn’t what we are watching on the Olympics representative of excellence in every way? Of course. Still, the commentators are criticizing the gymnasts, the divers, the runners, pointing out where they have fallen short, lost a tenth of a point, been “slightly off”. It boggles the mind. Yet, in our own profession, not ...
- Music As Magic August 6, 2012
I once looked up the root word for music and found (somewhere) that it had the same origins as the word magic. For those of us who are musicians, that’s not surprising. Music is magical. It can totally change things. The power of music is being studied seriously in many places. It has the power ...
- Followers August 3, 2012
When I was young, I was very sure I did not want to teach anyone anything. Then, at 22, I found myself vocal directing a production of “Finian’s Rainbow” in Connecticut that had, in 1971, a budget of $20,000. I directed the chorus and understudied the lead, Sharon, and I got good feedback about my ...
- The World We Want August 1, 2012
The world we want is not the world we have. The world we want is always in the future, it is perfect, it is constant. The world we have is none of those things. The world we want is one in which all things are balanced and fair. This has never been a reality and ...
- Political Correctness July 30, 2012
Being “politically correct” is very tricky. Many people who depend on university positions in order to support themselves or their families are unable to speak up vigorously about various departmental issues, lest they anger their colleagues and perhaps lose their jobs. This is particularly true of adjuncts, who have no protection, but can also happen ...
- It’s Never Too Late July 26, 2012
Perhaps because of my own vocal fold issues I have lately run into many people who are having similar ones. My own vocal fold is responding quite well to the exercises I am doing to help it get stronger and more able to make louder, clearer sounds. I can’t promise that they would work equally ...
- Empowering Your Own Voice July 10, 2012
Your voice is only as powerful as you allow it to be. You have to look not only at how you sound, but what you do with how you sound, and what you think about that. You have to give some thought to the impact your voice has in the world, in the minds of ...
- Each Individual On His or Her Own July 5, 2012
Wouldn’t it be great if we could really get inside someone’s head and transfer what we know, like a Vulcan mind meld? It surely would save a lot of time! There have been some truly brilliant minds in history and it certainly would have been a great blessing to have been able to transfer the ...
- The Song Is Over But The Melody Lingers On July 3, 2012
We don’t know how the great singers of the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries sounded. There are some writings about them and musicologists think they have figured out what the sounds were like. They have decided that certain things about music from those times are stylistically correct and others are not, based on what ...