I am not one to make a new year’s resolution – the idea of self-regulation only once every 365 days is somewhat unsettling. If you think that needs to happen only once every 8,760 hours, you might have some personal issues that no amount of blogging can ever fix – sorry to drop the hammer, just a personal view. That being said and out of the way, I hope to present an idea for consideration more than one day a year, and hopefully will be used more than 17 out of the 365. It’s not so much about giving some answers or explaining a solution, it’s about finding better questions… Read more…
Categories: Concerts/Performances, Conductors, Expression in music, Feeling, leadership, Listening, Motivation, Music Education, Musical Role Models, National Standards, Professional Responsibility, Rehearsal Ideas, Rehearsal Strategy Tags: Director Resource, leadership, Music Education, Rehearsal Ideas
The end of October to now has been a bit of a blur – football playoffs, honors band auditions, KSU work, finishing up two new pieces and digging in on a third one, and the big news the birth of my son. He joins me awash in a sea of estrogen – but if you have met my daughters and my wife there really is no greater ocean to be around. My apologies for being gone so long. A big thank you again to all who participated in the Blog Carnival last month.
One of the more interesting conversations I had over the past month was in regards to who is in fact next? ESPN’s The Magazine asks this same question each year as they look for the next greatest thing to come along in sports. Dr. Pisano and I had this conversation a little over two weeks ago. There is always a passing of the torch that occurs in any profession. Sometimes it is graceful, and sometimes it is not. Sometimes leaders make awesome exits at the top of their game (take James Keane last year at the Midwest Clinic with the Illinois Wind Ensemble), and sometimes they hold on too long (not to mention any names like Al Davis and the glorious debacle that is the Raiders). Is there another Alfred Reed or Clifton Williams? What about a Kenneth Bloomquist or John Bourgeois? And I say that with realization that there will never be another, but will there be someone that will accept the mantle and has earned the respect of our profession to follow in their legacy?
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Categories: Clinicians, Composers, Conductors, leadership, Music, Music Conferences, Music Education, Professional Responsibility Tags: Clinicians, Composers, Conductors, leadership, Music Education
A friend from a distant school emailed me the other day asking my (along with several others) for some input about a scheduling/curriculum issue. I read through the email, and decided to give it some thought during my 44 minute red light of study hall duty. Later that night I returned to my email to find another colleague had responded to my friend and the other dozen or so of us he contacted…
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