There’s this guy. Like many of my friends, he is a gifted musician. He is a bass-baritone with real pipes and can sing and act at an amazing professional level. He has done leading roles in regional opera, oratorio and community theatre productions across the country—I’ve seen him on stage […] Read more »
The Top 10 Gawthrop Tunes You Should Know
This really ought to be a “guest blog” so that someone else could rave about these pieces. As it is, I’m going to have to take the risk that some folks will find this list rather…um…self aggrandizing. What can I say? The plain truth is that lots of choral […] Read more »
The Second Great Creative Period
Birthdays, especially as they begin to mount up, can make you a bit introspective. That can be a good thing if your life has been one of steady progress toward success and happiness. However, if you’ve spent forty of your years wandering in the wilderness, it can be a […] Read more »
Where Do Composers Find Texts? Part Two
In Part One of this series we examined some of the requirements of a singable text or lyric and lamented the fact that such verses were rare and difficult to find. At the end of that little essay I cleverly set up this second entry in the series by posing […] Read more »
Juggling Watermelons
Over the many years during which I have been associated with choir directors I can recall numerous occasions when I have cheerfully encouraged someone to form a new group. “Start a new choir!” I said. “It will be fun!” I said. Starting a new choir can be a fine way […] Read more »
Where Do Composers Find Texts? Part One
One of the questions most frequently posed to those of us who work at attaching notes to words is, “Where do you get your texts?” When I am feeling impish I sometimes answer with a perfectly straight face, “Walmart.” I don’t think anyone has ever believed me on that, but […] Read more »
Five Things Your Choir Director Doesn’t Want You To Know!
Number 2 will change your sound forever! Choir directors, like nearly all musicians, suffer from perpetual job insecurity. They know full well that choral music programs in public schools are being cut every day, churches are dropping choirs in favor of praise bands and music listeners are wandering away […] Read more »
Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming
I recently posted on my FaceBook newsfeed a little meme (see illustration) about the piece of mine which is surely better known than any other, Sing Me to Heaven. Indeed, it may be better known than all of the others combined. I am profoundly grateful on a daily basis for […] Read more »
Why Composers Love the Altos
If you’re walking down the street and some nosy reporter sticks a camera in your face and asks you to sing your favorite song, chances are good that you won’t sing the alto part–you’ll sing the melody. For most people, the melody is the song and all the other parts […] Read more »
Great Music Begets More Great Music
Recently I spent some time on the phone chatting with a young composer whose name, I predict, you will be seeing frequently. Jacob Hasler, who is beginning a master’s degree, has just had a piece accepted for publication by Hinshaw. Watch for it. I’ve seen a selection of his work […] Read more »