Category Archives: the young people

Bearing Witness

So there’s this high school out in Ontario, Canada, in a small city about 135 kilometers east of Toronto. The school has the rather clunky name of Peterborough Collegiate & Vocational School, but what it’s really known for is its … Continue reading

Posted in music education, the young people | 33 Comments

Your Feelgood Story of the Day

The orchestra’s getting ready to fly to New York tomorrow for a performance at Carnegie Hall on Thursday night, and on top of that, I’m so slammed with work and practicing at the moment that I feel like I don’t … Continue reading

Posted in general awesomeness, the young people | 1 Comment

Catharsis.

Well, it’s been a long week on the road, the orchestra is just now settling back into our homes in the Cities after our Common Chords residency up north in Grand Rapids (Sarah wrote about it earlier in the week,) … Continue reading

Posted in Common Chords, audience participation, the young people | 8 Comments

Hands-On Learning?

Since I just wrote a post about teaching, which isn’t actually something I spend a lot of time doing, I thought I’d follow up by writing about an aspect of teaching that I’ve struggled with from time to time, and … Continue reading

Posted in music education, teaching, the young people | 6 Comments

What Kids Can Do

I’ve mentioned before that youth orchestras are nearly always short of violists. Yeah, yeah, go ahead and insert the viola joke of your choice here, but the truth is that string players tend to start studying their instruments at a … Continue reading

Posted in teaching, the young people | 3 Comments

Playing From the Outside In

I’m headed off on a road trip to upstate New York early tomorrow morning to see one of my very favorite cousins get married (and to provide a little musical backdrop as well,) so you likely won’t be hearing much … Continue reading

Posted in fun, the young people | Comments Off

Snow Day

In addition to getting ready for our Inside the Classics concerts (almost sold out, by the way, so if you want a ticket, you’d best get on it) this week, the orchestra is playing a set of Young People’s Concerts … Continue reading

Posted in fun, the young people | 2 Comments

The Truth Hurts (So Good)

I don’t know about you, but I can’t get enough of those XtraNormal videos that are flying around the web these days, purporting to explain everything from grammar to Federal Reserve policy. Even when I strongly disagree with the views … Continue reading

Posted in fun, maybe not so fun, the young people | 1 Comment

Just a number?

Popular wisdom (or anyone in a “spring-autumn” relationship) would have you believe that age is just a number. Recent new music director hiring trends would have it otherwise. Heading a major orchestra was once the bastion of the older guard; … Continue reading

Posted in conductors and conducting, orchestras not named minnesota, the business of music, the young people | 3 Comments

Ending radio silence

Can I just say, it’s been a manic few weeks. I had 11 days away (which included 6 concerts with two orchestras of 3 different programs), a couple of days at home to rehearse and perform with Josh Ritter; meanwhile … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized, contemporary culture, philosophical musings, state of the art, the young people | Comments Off