Happy 99th Birthday, Ned Rorem! (And doing a bit of catching up) I am a couple of days late with this birthday wish – but I was having a problem with WordPress yesterday. When I was in undergrad, I had to write a paper for theory that linked a composer with an artist in aContinue reading “Happy 99th Birthday, Ned Rorem!”
Category Archives: creativity
The Music Makers
The first time I ever heard the line “We are the music makers – and we are the dreamers of dreams” was in the movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Although the movie came out when I was still a child, I never saw the movie until I was an adult (I can count onContinue reading “The Music Makers”
Color Me Vivid
When I was a little girl, Barbra Streisand did a musical special on TV called “Color me Barbra.” It was filmed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and was a celebration of art and music. Of course I didn’t watch it at that time, because my parents hated Barbra Streisand and wouldn’t let me –Continue reading “Color Me Vivid”
Exploration Plus Exploitation
Recent studies show that tremendous bursts of creativity (or “hot streaks”) are the result of exploration plus exploitation. Teachers often encourage the former – but the latter is such a weighted word these days. How can you use exploitation in a positive way?
Believe In Your Ideas
This morning’s Seth Godin post was timely, because it spoke about how sometimes things take time to catch on, no matter how good they are: I have had a bunch of ideas this past year that I thought were terrific and that people told me were terrific and then I’ve put them out there and …. theyContinue reading “Believe In Your Ideas”
My latest obsession
My latest obsession is a musical that I just discovered this past weekend and I want to share it with all of you. Last week I heard the opening number from My Favorite Year on On Broadway on SiriusXM and I was enchanted. I had to know more, so I added it to my Apple MusicContinue reading “My latest obsession”
Re-Petition rather than Repetition
I am currently reading a book by Eric Maisel called The Power of Daily Practice: How Creative and Performing Artists (and Everyone Else) Can Finally Meet Their Goals. He offers a very specific approach to establishing a routine that is regular and rewarding, and can apply to various ways of self-improvement, career, personal, etc. TheContinue reading “Re-Petition rather than Repetition”
Curiosity Killed the …
Nothing. It kills nothing. Curiosity is a good thing. According to Seth Godin (who I haven’t quoted for a while), curiosity is one of the three foundations of art: Curiosity Generosity Connection These three components allow us to create and to make art, which “is a tool that gives us the ability to make thingsContinue reading “Curiosity Killed the …”
Summer Singers Society for Students 8-11
I have always said that I’m not a teacher of small children. It’s not that I don’t believe that young children should take lessons. I do. I just haven’t been sure that I’ve been the one to teach them. So I’ve focused on reaching students 11 and up. But I did some thinking and realizedContinue reading “Summer Singers Society for Students 8-11”
Session Singing – Being One Voice
A few weeks ago, I put together a few people to sing on a virtual choir video for World Voice Day. The day before WVD, I released a sneak peek of the video but didn’t really talk about it that much. (I had a few other things on my mind.) Putting the video together wasContinue reading “Session Singing – Being One Voice”