How many times have we been confronted with the sentiment that goes something like this: “But that’s the way we have always done it!” Though sometimes that can continue wonderful...

The remarkable twentieth-century cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich said, “You must play for the love of music. Perfect technique is not as important as making music...

One of the first things I do when first rehearsing with a new ensemble is to ask them to raise their stands up, often almost as high as they will go. I...

I was recently part of a question and answer panel discussion at a music teachers conference. The questions were really terrific and thought-provoking....

I once heard someone say that in business there is an expression that states that “we can control the process, we cannot control the product." And for days after hearing those...

Are our students not listening to us, or are we not saying anything they want to hear? Though that sentence is grammatically a mess, it does pose a good question. When my...

Before your next rehearsal or class simply write this wonderful quote by an unknown author on the board: “The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s...

To paraphrase the words of James M. Barrie: We have the gift of memory so that we might have roses in the dead of winter. Though those profound words can be applied to so many...

There is a wonderful old adage that says you know you’re making progress when what once made you mad, now makes you laugh. What once frustrated you now seems easy. What once was...