PA Shorts: Working the System
We musicians are creative people. We are used to pushing boundaries and thinking for ourselves. We generally object to rules and regulations on principle. So, I decided to share some…
Duty or Joy?
A gonga post by John Terrauds of Musical Toronto made me sit up and take notice last week. In it, he wrote about his experiences taking on a group of…
PA Shorts: Ye Olde Rules
Whew! All the end of term and holiday recital craziness is past us. Years ago I read a group of entertaining rules of performance etiquette in the style of Jolly…
Guest Post: Teaching Students From Different Backgrounds, Neeki Bey
Those of you who know me, know that I am totally against, what my friend calls, "drive by arts experiences". These experiences can encompass a range of genres; the Chopin…
PA Shorts: Then And Now
In the beginning of the school year when I was nine, all eighty or so of us in the 4th grade were shepherded into the cafeteria of our Northern California…
Creativity, Luck, and Inventional Wisdom
There was a super post on creativity by Wendy Stevens at Compose Create this week. In it, she linked to the article, 10 Creativity Tips by Donald Miller and highlighted the…
Mind Your Manners
A couple of years ago our Fine Arts Department hosted a series of piano masterclasses and an evening recital. Our school is located in a rural area about hours away…