As you wrap up your school-year commitments and make plans for those lazy, hazy days of summer, now is the perfect time to start organizing a summer choir.
Here are three unique ways to organize and structure a summer choir at your church, plus some helpful strategies for making the most of your time together each week.
As music teachers, it’s important to think about what motivates us as musicians and what motivates our students, choir members, and ensemble members to play and learn music.
I remember studying the theory of motivation as a grad student and was fascinated by the science behind it. For this reason, I really enjoyed reading Daniel H. Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
I watched an online symposium recently about musical creativity and AI and… I have thoughts.
In one sense, it's incredible how fast the technology is developing, its current capabilities, and its potential in the future.
It's also disconcerting.
There's no denying the powerful capabilities of Generative AI and its potential to support and enable our work as musicians, teachers, thinkers, writers, and creators. But I think it's important for us to consider: Is it helpful or hurtful?
Here we are, five weeks into the New Year.
Maybe you're settled back into your routine or maybe you're still adjusting to the changes this year brought. Maybe you've abandoned your New Year's resolutions (studies indicate that 80% of people have by now) or maybe you're using February as an opportunity to restart.
Wherever you find yourself, here are three things I've been thinking about recently that may inspire or encourage you in this season:
Happy New Year's Eve!
It’s my tradition here on the blog to share a year-in-review post on December 31—a look back on the highlights and the things we learned, made, and experienced during the year.
2023 was a challenging year in a lot of ways, but also a year of personal and professional growth. We are grateful for all that we have, all that we learned, and all that we carry with us into 2024.
Here's a look back on our year:
It’s been my tradition here on the blog to write a brief review of what I read during the year and share my favorites.
If you’re new here, you should know that I tend to alternate between business and entrepreneurship books and novels, with a few memoirs and non-fiction selections added in. This year, I read 29 books (not counting the few I started but didn’t finish).
Here’s the book list I made at the beginning of the year.
Looking for a few new books to read in 2024? In this post, I’m sharing what I read this year, plus the seven best books I read in 2023.
Happy reading!
A few weeks ago, we spent a few days in NYC (our first visit in years!).
The holiday decorations were going up, Central Park was a dreamy late-fall landscape with a distinctly European feel, and I loved noting all the Art Deco details throughout the city (the doors, the signs, the tree grates).
The Holiday Market was in full swing in Bryant Park (side note: have you seen Something From Tiffany's? A great feel-good holiday movie set in NYC) and we saw at least three ice skating rinks and too many hot chocolate stands to count.
There's something magical about New York at Christmas and I found myself caught up in the sights and sounds, the wonder of it all (a little like Buddy and Jovie's date in NYC from my favorite holiday movie Elf).
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the classic TV special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
Synopsis: Peppermint Patty invites herself and a few friends to Charlie Brown's house for Thanksgiving dinner. The only problem is Charlie Brown can't cook. Still wanting to be a good host, Linus and Snoopy step in to help and together, they serve an unconventional feast of jelly beans, popcorn, pretzels, and toast and learn that maybe Thanksgiving is not about the turkey and mashed potatoes after all.
Maybe you grew up reading the Peanuts in the newspaper or watching the animated shows on TV. Maybe you had a favorite character (Snoopy!) or learned Vince Guaraldi's "O Tannenbaum" on the piano to entertain guests at holiday parties.
