Summer Reading 3

I've always been interested in learning/teaching and (being back in academe) spent some time this Spring reading/looking through some books on the study process. By far the most interesting one is by Cal Newport, How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less.

He's impressive himself (currently at MIT doing his doctorate, already publishing research, and writing his third book) and his approach was to talk to straight-A students at Ivy League colleges and universities about their strategies to develop a method that is based on real-life examples, not theory.

The strategies are impressive, sometimes unconventional (his description of finding out-of-the-way places to study/work--where you won't be distracted--is fascinating), and most importantly to me, he's interested in really understanding what you learn, not just collecting facts. He also has great advice about writing papers.

The tone of the book is clearly is aimed at undergrads, with descriptions of how you can still party and do well . . . but, partying or not, I think it IS important to have some balance in your life, at any and all stages. Balance is something that doesn't imply even balance at all times (we all have crunch times), but that you shouldn't neglect other important aspects of life beyond just studying (social life, relationships).

All in all, a terrific book and one I'd recommend to any college/university student, undergraduate or graduate.

Repertoire -- 2001-2002 to present

For another project I'm compiling the repertoire I've conducted. It's not complete information, but close and I'm putting it together in a different way. Interesting to look back to see what I've actually done!

Blogger did interesting things with formatting from MS Word, but I can live with that. I've started with the most recent period, after I left academic life as Director of Choral Activities and conductor of the Choir of the West at Pacific Lutheran University in 2001. More will come later.

Here goes:

2009-2010

October 4, 2009—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton, AB)

Due Corale -- Ildebrando Pizzetti

Three Encounters (World Premiere) -- Trent Worthington

Choruses from ‘The Lark’ -- Leonard Bernstein

Special guests, “The Pre-Tenors”

October 9, 2009 – UNT Collegium Singers and Baroque Orchestra (period instruments)

Beatus Vir --  Antonio Vivaldi

November 10, 2009—UNT Chamber Choir

Jephte --  Carissimi

Figures de Danse -- Lionel Daunais

Five Hebrew Love Songs -- Eric Whitacre

Ave Maris Stella -- Otto Olsson

La-ba-lin-da -- Bruce Sled

November 20, 2009—UNT Collegium Singers and Baroque Orchestra (period instruments)

Missa Brevis in F (K. 192) -- Mozart

December 13, 2009—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton, AB)

Besides carols, we commissioned and premiered a major new piece by Allan Bevan, Fowre Thowsand Wynter, for soprano soloist, narrator, choir, and chamber orchestra (about 35 minutes)

March 23, 2010—UNT Chamber Choir

Missa Quinta -- Orban

(besides these concerts, the UNT Chamber Choir also joined with other UNT choirs for Orff’s Carmina Burana in the fall and the Verdi Requiem in the spring, as well as providing the choir for one of the UNT DMA student’s recital)

April 2, 2010—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton, AB)

Ein Deutsches Requiem -- Johannes Brahms

(in the version for piano four-hands)

(in the Spring I prepared the Collegium Singers for a performance of the Bach Mass in B Minor, conducted by Lyle Nordstrom)

2008-2009

September 29, 2008—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton, AB)

3 Motets (Os justi, Ave Maria, Tota pulchra es Maria) -- Anton Bruckner

Mass in G Minor -- Ralph Vaughan Williams

Harmoniemesse -- F.J. Haydn

November 2, 2008—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton, AB)

Figures de danse -- Lionel Daunais

Liebeslieder Walzer --  Johannes Brahms

An Angel Embraced Me (premiere) -- Trent Worthington

Choral Dances from ‘Gloriana’ -- Benjamin Britten

Liebeslieder Polkas -- P.D.Q. Bach

Nov. 15 & 6, 2008 – Music Director and Conductor for a production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo in Edmonton for the Festival of Ideas (part of the University of Alberta’s centennial) – all period-instrument orchestra from Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, San Francisco, NY, and Ann Arbor – Ellen Hargis, stage director

December 13, 2008—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton, AB)

A variety of carols and Daniel Pinkham’s Christmas Cantata

January 25, 2009—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) --  One World, Many Voices

Music from around the world, both folk and world music

March 27, 2009—Exultate Chamber Choir (Toronto)

Mixed program with several premiere performances

April 10, 2009—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Good Friday Concert

Victoria Requiem

Rutter Requiem

April 14, 2009—Allegro Baroque (Spokane, WA)

Handel Messiah (complete with period instruments)

May 1 & 3—Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati

I shared a program with Brett Scott—repertoire was Bernstein’s Choruses from ‘The Lark’ Daunais’ Figure de danse, and Paul Crabtree’s 5 Romantic Miniatures from “The Simpsons”

May 19, 2009—CCM Chamber Choir, University of Cincinnati

I was guest teaching for 4 weeks at CCM and did a program with the Chamber Choir that included two Mendelssohn motets and Brahms Zigeunerlieder

2007-2008

September 30, 2007—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton)  Haydn Mass Series V

Schöpfungsmesse -- F.J. Haydn

A Schubertiad (solo Lieder, works for women’s, men’s and mixed choir) -- Schubert

Due North -- Stephen Chatman

December 16, 2007—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton)  A Pro Coro Christmas

A variety of carols and other music with guests Pro Coro Brass and members of three University choirs for Rutter’s Gloria

During 2008 I spent two periods of time in Sweden, preparing works for the Swedish Radio Choir and conducting their Spring Concert:

Week of January 21, 2008 – prepare Swedish Radio Choir for a program they will do jointly with the Latvian Radio Choir under Kaspars Putnins: Pizzetti Requiem, Penderecki Stabat Mater and Agnus Dei, Pärt The Beatitudes

Week of January 28 – prepare Radio Choir for Bach St. Matthew Passion for a Good Friday performance with the Radio Orchestra’s Chief Conductor, Daniel Harding

Rachmaninov The Bells and numbers 1 & 3 of Three Russian Songs (op. 41), for a performance conducted by Jukka-Pekka Sarasate

February 24, 2008—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton)                                                                                       One Earth, Many Voices

Biegga Luothe -- Jan Sandström

Songs of the British Isles (arr. Holst, Vaughan Williams, Quick, McGlynn)

Gamelan -- R. Murray Schafer

Set of French Canadian Folk Songs

Past Life Melodies -- Sarah Hopkins

Arrangements of Music by Piazzolla

Set of English Canadian Folk Songs

Three Spirituals (arr. Martin, Luboff)

March 9, 2008—The Seattle Bach Choir

I substituted for an ill friend, taking the last four rehearsals and a performance with the Seattle Bach Choir—mixed program (Brahms motet, Hawley Madrigals, etc.)

March 21, 2008—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Good Friday at the Winspear

3 works with Bass solo -- Pavel Chesnokov

All-Night Vigil -- Sergei Rachmaninov

Back to Sweden:

First week in April – prepare Radio Choir for Verdi Four Sacred Pieces, which they’ll do with their Chief Conductor, Peter Dijkstra in combination with the Netherlands Chamber Choir – also for repertoire the choir will do on their own for their tour in the Netherlands by Werle, Sandström, and Holten

Week of April 21 – begin preparation for the Spring concert and also for Brahms Requiem for a tour with Valeri Gergiev and the Rotterdam Philharmonic

May 9, 2008 – Guest conduct the Radio Choir for their Spring Concert, a lighter program shared with a Swedish jazz duo; Radio Choir sings British music (Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Stanford, etc.), two of John Rutter’s Birthday Madrigals, and some traditional Swedish spring songs

2006-2007

I spent the fall quarter as Guest Professor at the University of Cincinnati, teaching and conducting the CCM Chorale. Most the semester was spent on Karel Husa’s An American Te Deum, which was performed with the Wind Symphony, Rodney Winther conducting. Then we performed on the CCM Feast of Carols program.

October 8, 2006—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Haydn Mass Series IV

Jeux de Cordes -- Lionel Daunais

Figures de Danse

Missa Quinta -- György Orbán

Heiligmesse -- F. J. Haydn

December 17, 2006—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) A Pro Coro Christmas

A variety of carols and other music with guests Jubiloso Handbell Choir and Caesar Zmyslowski, guitar

January 14, 2007—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Moving the Soul

Lobet den Herrn -- J.S. Bach

Four Eulogies -- John Estacio

Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine -- Eric Whitacre

Hymn to the Creator of Light -- John Rutter

Songs and Sonnets -- George Shearing

I was in Sweden from March 5-16, 2007 – prepared the Swedish Radio Choir for Wagner Parsifal (Valeri Gergiev, conductor); a cappella works by Sandström, Jennefelt, Olsson, Hillborg (for a tour with Peter Dijkstra); Beethoven Gloria and Sanctus from the Mass in C and the Choral Fantasy (for the Mostly Mozart Festival in NY); and Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem (for a performance in Norrkoping)

April 6, 2007—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Good Friday at the Winspear

Nou goth sonne under wode -- Allan Bevan

Requiem -- Gabriel Faure

I was the first non-Canadian invited to conduct the National Youth Choir, which is a 40-voice group up to age 25 organized from across Canada. They rehearse intensively, then do a short tour which culminates in a performance at Podium, the every-two-year conference of the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors:

May 8-21, 2006 – Canadian National Youth Choir Tour, British Columbia 
Der Geisthilft -- J.S. Bach 
Mass -- Frank Martin 
Figures de danse -- Lionel Daunais 
Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine -- Eric Whitacre 
The Garden (premiere) -- Allan Bevan 
Alberta Cowboy Songs -- Trent Worthington

2005-2006

October 2, 2005—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Haydn Mass Series III

Veni Sancte Spiritus -- Michael Haydn

Pater Noster -- Jacob Handl

Pater Noster -- Franz Liszt

Os Justi -- Anton Bruckner

Missa Brevis -- Zoltan Kodaly

Maria Theresa Mass -- F.J. Haydn

October 22 & 23, 2005—Choral Arts (Seattle)

Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae -- Mäntyjärvi

All Night Vigil/Vespers -- Sergei Rachmaninoff

November 6, 2005 – Mid-America Productions, Carnegie Hall, NYC

Mass in Time of War -- F.J. Haydn

December 4, 2005—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) A Pro Coro Christmas

A variety of carols and other music with guests Jubiloso Handbell Choir and Cantillon Children’s Choirs

December 16, 17 & 18, 2005—Choral Arts (Seattle)—Christmas Concert                                                                                                                                  

Various, including Clausen’s Magnificat, Paulus’ Pilgrim’s Hymn, Holman’s Deck the Halls, and Walton’s All This Time.

January, 22, 2006—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton)

God is Our Refuge (K. 20) -- Mozart

Canons:  O du eselhafter Peierl, / Ihr süsses Lied singt die Nachtigal

Misera, dove son!/Ah! Non son io che parlo (Soprano and orchestra)

Canons: Bona nox! Bist a rechte Ox / Leck mich / V’amo di core teneramente

Per Questa bella mano (Bass soloist, Double bass, and orchestra)

Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra

Coronation Mass

March 25 & 26, 2006—Choral Arts (Seattle) Farewell Concert

Crucifixus -- Antonio Lotti

Kyrie (from Cantus Missae, Op. 109) -- Gabriel Rheinberger

Warum ist das Licht gegeben? (Op. 74, no. 1) -- Johannes Brahms

Hymn to the Creator of Light -- John Rutter

The Best of Rooms -- Randall Thompson

Felices ter -- Randall Thompson

Antiphon -- Randall Thompson

Concerto for Choir (Movement I) -- Alfred Schnittke

Ave Maria (from Two Motets) -- Gottfrid Berg

Bogoroditse Devo (from the Vespers) -- Sergei Rachmaninoff

April 14, 2006—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Good Friday at the Winspear

Mass in B Minor -- J.S. Bach

2004-2005

September 18 & 19, 2004—Choral Arts (Seattle)  English Cathedral Splendors

Faire is the Heaven -- William Harris

Hymn of St. Columba -- Benjamin Britten

Antiphon

Magnificat, Op. 164 -- Charles Villiers Stanford

Nunc Dimittis -- Gustav Holst

Behold, the tabernacle of God -- Healy Willan

Rise up, My Love

A Hymn to the Mother of God -- John Tavener

Like as the Hart -- Herbert Howells

Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis (Collegium Regale)

Hymn to the Creator of Light -- John Rutter

October 3, 2004—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton)  Haydn Mass Series II

Then Farewell, World -- Allan Bevan

V prirode (5 Songs) -- Antonin Dvorak

Psalm 23 -- Antonin Dvorak

Five Hebrew Love Songs -- Eric Whitacre

Missa in tempore belli -- Franz Joseph Haydn

December 12, 2004—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) A Pro Coro Christmas

A variety of carols and other music with guests the Jubiloso Handbell Choir and Caesar Zmyslowski, guitar

December 17, 18, 19, 2004—Choral Arts (Seattle) Christmas Treasures

O Come, O Come Emmanuel -- arr. Shaw/Parker

Gabriel’s Message -- Eleanor Daley

Joseph, lieber, Joseph mein -- Michael Praetorius

Singet Frisch und Wohlgemuth -- Hugo Distler

The Hills are Bare at Bethlehem -- arr. Ralph Johnson

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day -- John Gardner

The Lamb -- John Tavener

O Magnum Mysterium -- Morten Lauridsen

I Saw Three Ships -- arr. Shaw/Parker

What Sweeter Music -- John Rutter

The Holly and the Ivy --  Jonathan Willcocks

Glory! -- Moses Hogan

March 25, 2005—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Good Friday at the Winspear

Exsultate, Jubilate -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode (World Premiere) -- Allan Bevan

Requiem -- Mozart

April 24, 2005—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Carmina Burana

Svadebka (Les Noces) -- Igor Stravinsky

Carmina Burana -- Carl Orff

May 14 & 15, 2005—Choral Arts (Seattle) American Voices

Concerto for Piano & Chorus, “The Twelve Months” -- Peter Schickele

Let us Move -- Mark O’Connor

Five Hebrew Love Songs -- Eric Whitacre

Five Romantic Miniatures from “The Simpsons” -- Paul Crabtree

Three American Folksongs -- Richard Nance

May 31, 2005—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Northern Connections

(concert shared with the Norwegian Solists Choir, cond. Grete Pedersen, Grete conducted combined choirs in the Nystedt and I conducted the Raminsh—the rest of the repertoire was conducted by me with Pro Coro only)

Canticum calamitatis maritimae -- Jaako Mäntyjärvi

Suite de Lorca, op. 72 -- Einojuhani Rautavaara

Ave Verum Corpus --  Imant Raminsh

Five Hebrew Love Songs -- Eric Whitacre

O Crux -- Knut Nystedt

June 2-5—Pro Coro Canada Northern Voices Festival and Tour in Toronto & Montreal

Independent Concerts, plus Gala Concert with Norwegian Soloists, Latvian Radio Choir, and Elora Festival Singers, Tonu Kaljuste conducting: Schafer Death of Shalana (premiere), Tavener Invocation (premiere), Gorecki Totus tuus, Rachmaninoff Vespers portion of All-Night Vigil

2003-2004

September 13 & 14, 2003—Choral Arts (Seattle) Americana

The Best of Rooms -- Randall Thompson

The Odes of Horace

Reincarnations -- Samuel Barber

Three Spirituals -- Moses Hogan

The Light of Stars -- Randall Thompson

Psalm 36 --Richard Nance

Two Herbert Settings -- Randall Thompson

Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen -- arr. Shaw/Parker

Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair -- arr. Norman Luboff

Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal -- arr. Alice Parker

Alleluia -- Randall Thompson

September 28, 2003—Pro Coro Canada  Haydn Mass Series I

Der Geisthilft -- Bach

In the Night We Shall Go In -- Imant Raminsh

Smile, O Voluptous, Cool-Breathed Earth

Ave Verum Corpus

Nelson Mass -- Franz Josef Haydn

December 14, 2003—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) A Pro Coro Christmas

A variety of carols and other music, including the premiere of a new work by Allan Gilliland

December 19, 20, 21, 2003—Choral Arts (Seattle)  A Choral and Organ Holiday

Various carols and Christmas works

February 1, 2004—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Magic Songs

Warum ist das Licht gegeben -- Johannes Brahms

Magic Songs -- R. Murray Schafer

Ella Sunlight -- John Estacio

Soldier’s Cry -- Trent Worthington

Sept Chansons -- Francis Poulenc

Then Farewell World -- Allan Bevan

Cowboy Songs -- Trent Worthington

February 14 & 15, 2004—Choral Arts (Seattle) Roses in Winter

Sept Chansons -- Francis Poulenc

Alnight by the Rose -- Karen Thomas

Go, Lovely Rose -- Halsey Stevens

Five Hebrew Love Songs -- Eric Whitacre

Six Madrigals -- William Hawley

Liebeslieder Polkas -- P.D.Q. Bach

February 29, 2004 Gala Concert for Canadian Voices Festival in Toronto

Tonu Kaljuste, conducting PC, Elmer Iseler Singers, Elora Festival Singers, Studio de Musique Ancienna de Montreal, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, & Vancouver Chamber Choir in: Nystedt Miserere, and the World Premiere of R. Murray Schafer’s The Fall into Light – Pro Coro also did its own program with works selected from the 2-1 program

April 9, 2004—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Passion & Resurrection

O sacrum convivium! -- Olivier Messiaen

Ubi caritas -- Maurice Duruflé

Passion and Resurrection -- Ivan Moody

2002-2003

September 29, 2002—Pro Coro Canada

Mass for a New Millennium -- Richard Nance

Two Setting from ”In Memoriam Leonard Bernstein” -- Srul Irving Glick

 Chichester Psalms -- Leonard Bernstein

November 11-15, 2002 – Swedish Radio Choir, Stockholm, Sweden

Madrigali -- Morten Lauridsen

Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine -- Eric Whitacre

Le pont mirabeau -- Lionel Daunais

December 8, 2002—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) A Pro Coro Family Christmas

A variety of carols and other music, including Daniel Pinkham’s Christmas Cantata and the premiere of a new work commissioned for Pro Coro by Allan Bevan.

 

January 18 & 19, 2003—Choral Arts (Seattle) Tenth Anniversary Concert

Kyrie (from Cantus Missae) -- Gabriel Rheinberger

Crucifixus -- Antonio Lotti

Ave Maria -- Gottfrid Berg

Bogoroditse Devo (from the All-Night Vigil) -- Sergei Rachmaninoff

Madrigali -- Morten Lauridsen

Movement IV from Concerto for Choir -- Alfred Schnittke

Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine -- Eric Whitacre

Le pont mirabeau -- Lionel Daunais

Londonderry Air -- arr. Percy Grainger

Kung Liljekonvalje -- David Wikander

O jungfrun hon går i ringen -- Hugo Alfvén

Deep River -- arr. Norman Luboff

March 16, 2003 – Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton)

Svyati -- John Tavener

All-Night Vigil -- Sergei Rachmaninoff

April 18, 2003—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Music of Consolation

Phoenix -- Peter Hallock

Lenten Motets -- Francis Poulenc

Organ Concerto (Jeremy Spurgeon, Organist) -- Francis Poulenc

Requiem -- Maurice Duruflé

2001-2002

October 7, 2001—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) From Bach and Brahms to Jazz

Komm, Jesu, Komm -- J.S. Bach

Warum ist das Licht gegeben --  Johannes Brahms

Faire is the Heaven -- William H. Harris

Four Alberta Folksongs -- arr. Trent Worthington (premiere—cond. by arranger)

Raua needmine (The Curse of Iron) -- Veljo Tormis

Songs and Sonnets -- George Shearing

October 20 & 21, 2001—Choral Arts (Seattle) A Tribute to James Holloway

Der Geisthilft unsrer Schwachheit auf -- J.S. Bach

Warum ist das Licht gegeben -- Johannes Brahms

Faire is the Heaven -- William H. Harris

Fancies -- Sven-Eric Johanson

Hymn to the Creator of Light -- John Rutter

Requiem -- Herbert Howells

Two excerpts from ‘Music to Hear’ -- George Shearing

It Was a Lover and His Lass -- P.D.Q. Bach

November 2, 2001 – Alberta University Honour Choir, Edmonton, Alberta 
Come, Mighty Father, Mighty Lord (from Theodora) -- G.F. Handel 
Tristis est anima mea -- Johann Kuhnau 
Nunc Dimittis -- Gustav Holst 
Silverly -- Bruce Ruddell 
Le pont Mirabeau -- Lionel Daunais 
I’m Gonna Sing ‘til the Spirit Moves my Heart -- Moses Hogan

December 9, 2001—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) A Pro Coro Family Christmas

A variety of carols and other music

December 21 & 22, 2001—Choral Arts (Seattle) A Choral Arts Christmas

Lo, How a Rose -- arr. Daniel Gawthrop

O Come, All Ye Faithful -- arr. Jackson Berkey

Sweet was the Song -- arr. René Clausen

Lux Aurumque -- Eric Whitacre

Jing-ga-lye-ya -- Bruce Sled

El Rorro -- arr. Jeffrey Van

Silent Night -- arr. Jeffrey Van

Joseph, lieber Joseph mein! -- Johan Walther

Singet Frisch und Wohlgemuth -- Hugo Distler

Rockin’ Jerusalem -- Robert Morris

Ave Maris Stella -- Bror Samuelson

Jeg er saa glad -- arr. Paul Christiansen

Magnificat -- Richard Nance

Away in A Manger. -- arr. Jeffrey Van

Jul, Jul, Strålande Jul! -- Gustaf Nordqvist

Welcome, Yule! -- C. Hubert Parry

Still, Still, Still -- arr. Norman Luboff

Glory, Glory, Glory to the Newborn King -- Moses Hogan

January 27, 2002—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Carmina Burana

Blessed -- Allan Gilliland (commissioned work—premiere)

Hesperides (choir and 2 harps) Malcolm Forsyth

Carmina Burana (version for 2 pianos & percussion)-- Carl Orff

March 2 & 3, 2002—Choral Arts (Seattle) Schnittke Choir Concerto

Svyati -- John Tavener

Phoenix -- Peter Hallock

Concerto for Choir -- Alfred Schnittke

March 29, 2002—Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton) Music of Consolation

Requiem -- Herbert Howells

Requiem -- John Rutter

Requiem -- Gabriel Fauré

May 4 & 5, 2002—Choral Arts (Seattle) Spring Concert

Leonardo & His Flying Machine -- Eric Whitacre

trees -- Lars Johan Werle

Insalata Italiana -- arr. Genée

Songs & Sonnets -- George Shearing

Michael Jordan: Failure is why I succeed

I'd read this quote from Michael Jordan about how many times he's failed (lost games, missed shots), but never seen this video. Or this one.

Powerful for all of us who rehearse, practice, and struggle every day to do better--and a reminder that our successes come out of our many mistakes and failures. See my post on Carol Dweck's Mindset: The New Psychology of Success about the differences between the "fixed" or "growth" mindset.

Summer Reading II

This recommendation is for two books, both approaching the same topic from a slightly different vantage point: Geoff Colvin's Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else and Daniel Coyle's The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How.

Both deal with the modern science (neurological, psychological) behind how we develop skills (and the nature of world-class talent). Coyle speaks a lot about recent studies of the development of myelin in the brain and how that works in the development of skills: myelin is the substance that forms a sheath around nerves. In the case of disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis, myelin is destroyed and nerve impulses can no longer travel, leading eventually to total loss of muscular control (Jacqueline du Pre is the best known musician who suffered from MS). In the case of skill development, myelin in the brain is deposited around the incredible mass of interconnections in the brain and speeds up the electrical impulses as we repeat tasks over and over. This laying down of more myelin happens because of what scientist Anders Ericsson calls "deliberative practice" (both authors use his work extensively). This is a focused practice of tasks that are challenging, to the edge, but not beyond, what is possible to do (and, much like moving progressively heavier weights will cause or muscles to get stronger and bigger, causes myelin to be laid around nerve fibers with many layers, improving the  conductivity of those nerves, and therefore the speed of impulses). Coyle calls this "deep practice" (a term I rather like). This is connected with other research that shows that extraordinary skill takes many hours (usually estimated at around 10,000 hours) to develop, but which only happens when the practice is of this nature (i.e., challenging, difficult). You can read Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success for more about this. In a way, both authors take up Gladwell's style, which relies on many individual, anecdotal examples from different fields--and all three are superb writers.

Colvin's book was developed from an article he did for Fortune Magazine (he's a senior editor there), "What It Takes to Be Great," which you can find here.

I think both books are superb and have much to offer the musician, conductor, and teacher. Coyle speaks a lot about places where extraordinary numbers of talented people originate (and more importantly, why): soccer players in Brazil, KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) schools, South Korean female golfers, etc. He also looks at teachers and coaches who have had special success, from John Wooden (former UCLA basketball coach) to Linda Septien of Dallas, who's had extraordinary success teaching/coaching pop singers.

These books offer a glance into the world of "genius," which science is now showing is much less of an inborn/genetic thing, and capable of being developed more than we've ever thought before. They're also a guide to developing your own, or others', talent. As with Carol Dweck's Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (written about in an earlier post here), they're well written and, in fact, "easy reads," although both will repay repeated readings and study to translate into just how you will adapt this information to yourself, your students, your teaching, and your choirs.

Summer reading

Philip Copeland, who writes the excellent choralnet blog, has asked what else I've been reading lately, after my post on Carol Dweck's book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

Well, there are a lot more than these, but I'll highlight the books I've found most interesting and important over the next week or so.

First is a little book about practice, focus, meditation and discipline: Thomas M. Sterner's The Practicing Mind: Bringing Discipline and Focus Into Your Life. Sterner is a musician, worked for years as a piano tuner/technician, as well as having an interest in Eastern philosophy. It's one of the best books I've read about developing better habits of discipline and focus. He has a wonderful little section that speaks to our habit of rushing through things and multi-tasking: with a day ahead that included getting two pianos ready (one for the piano soloist with the local symphony), then travel to do other tuning work, then back in the evening to check both pianos before the concert. He notes that he'd done this kind of thing many times and knew very well how much time it took, and that it was about two and a half times the amount considered a day's work in the trade. I'll let him speak from here:

When I started on the first piano, I put all of my effort into "being slow." I opened my tool box very slowly. Instead of grabbing a handful of tools and thinking I was saving time, I took each tool out one at a time. I placed each tool neatly in position. When I began setting up the piano, I performed each process individually, trying to deliberately work slowly.

It's a funny feeling when you try this. At first, your internal dialogue is howling at you to get going and pick up the pace. It is screaming at you, "We'll never get this done, you are wasting time." It is reminding you of the whole day's worth of work you have to get done to meet everyone's approval. You can feel the anxiety start to build and the emotions floating up to the surface. However, your ego quickly loses ground to the simplicity of doing one thing at a time and doing it slowly, on purpose. It has no place to build stress and work up internal chatter. That is because working slowly in today's world goes against every thought system. You can only work slowly if you do it deliberately. Being deliberate requires you to stay in the process, to work in the present moment.

After I finished the first instrument, I even went through the process of packing up my tools with meticulous care, just to walk ten feet away and unpack them slowly, one at a time, to start the second piano. Usually I would grab two handfuls of as much as I could carry and scurry through the orchestra chairs on stage trying to sve time. Not this day, however. I was determined to carry out my goal plan of just trying to work slowly. We spend so much time rushing everything we do. Rushing had become so much of a habit that I was amazed at the concentration it took to work slowly on purpose.

I took off my watch so I wouldn't be tempted to look at the time and let that influence my pace. I told myself, "I am dong this for me and for my health, both physical and mental. I have a cell phone and, if need be, I can call whomever and tell them I am running late, and that's the best I can do."

Into the second piano, I began to realize how wonderful I felt. No nervous stomach, no anticipation of getting through the day, and no tight muscles in my shoulders and neck, just this relaxed, peaceful, what-a-nice-day-it-is feeling. I would even go so far as to describe it as blissful. Anything you can do in a rushing state is surprisingly easy when you deliberately slow it down. The revelation for me came, however, when I finished the second piano. I very slowly put my tools away one by one with my attention to every detail. I continued my effort at slowing down as I walked to my truck in the parking garage a block away. I walked very slowly, paying attention to each step. This may sound nuts at first, but it was an experiment on my part. I was experiencing such an incredible feeling of peacefulness in a situation that usually had every muscle in my body tense that I wanted to see just how far I could intensify the situation with my effort.

When I got to the truck, the clock radio came on with the turn of the key and I was dumbfounded. So little time had passed compared to what I had usually experienced for the same job in the past that I was sure the clock was incorrect. Keep in mind that I was repeating a process that I had done for many years. I have set up these pianos together sometimes five and six times a week. I had a very real concept of the time involved in the project. I pulled my watch out of my pocket as a second check. It agreed with the clock-radio that I had cut over 40 percent off the time. I had tried to work as slowly as possible and I had been sure I was running an hour late. Yet I had either worked faster (which didn't seem possible, given my attention to slowness), or I had slowed time down (an interesting thought, but few would buy it). Either way, I was sufficiently motivated to press on with the experiment throughout the remainder of the day. I got so far ahead of schedule that I was afforded the luxury of a civilized meal in a nice restaurant, instead of the usual sandwich in the truck or no lunch at all.

I have repeated these results consistently every time I have worked at being slow and deliberate. I have used this technique with everything from cleaning up the dishes after dinner to monotonous areas of piano restoration work that I don't particularly enjoy. The only thing that foils the result is when I am particularly lacking in stamina and find myself drifting back and forth between working with slowness and succumbing to my feeling of, "I have to get this work done quickly."

The rest of the book is certainly as good and as interesting as this passage.

How often do we rush our own work? Whether in preparation (score study, prepping for a class), teaching or rehearsal, does rushing (because we know we have so much to cover!) help?

I noted in an earlier post about working with the Swedish Radio Choir, that their ability to work in a slow, concentrated way on intonation, for example, is extraordinary. And I also mentioned how my sense of how much had to get done when I prepared Rachmaninoff's The Bells with them led to a too-fast pace and frustration (and not faster results). We need to think of this in our rehearsals: rushing (and not really mastering a passage in the music) rarely accomplishes much and may in fact build in bad habits or mistakes. It also means we have to build up the ability of our singers to focus, concentrate, and do the patient work necessary to succeed in difficult music. This is perhaps even more true today with all the distractions (cell phones, instant messaging, Facebook, etc.) of the modern world.

Lots to think about, but this is certainly a book that's worthwhile!

Brahms Requiem--Piano Four-Hands

I just got back from Edmonton, where I conducted Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem with Pro Coro Canada in the version with piano four-hands.

This was done by Brahms himself and published not too long after it was premiered (the manuscript is in the Library of Congress) and now reprinted by Carus Verlag. This was common at the time for larger works (symphonies, concertos, oratorios, etc.) as this was a practical way to get to know new music (no recordings in those days!). And, of course, Brahms loved the medium of piano four-hands (his Liebeslieder Walzer were written just the year after than the Requiem). The piano part includes the vocal parts--i.e., could be done purely by two pianos--but was also intended for smaller performances, and was first done that way in England in 1871.

This version fell out of favor until about a decade ago when chamber choirs in Europe (especially some of the professional radio choirs) started performing it.

I decided to do it with Pro Coro for our Good Friday program this year. I'd only heard one performance of that version, which wasn't terrific. There are now several recordings extant: with Accentus, the wonderful French choir; Vasari Singers; The Sixteen; the King's College Choir; and a version just for piano. I decided not to listen to any since I wanted to approach this version with a fresh ear to the differences.

I conducted the Reqiem first in 1993 with the Anchorage Music Festival, substituting for Robert Shaw after he'd had a series of TIAs (mini strokes) and his doctors had told him to cut back on his schedule. Since, I'd prepared with the Seattle Symphony for conductor John Nelson, and then twice (in 2007 and 2008) with the Swedish Radio Choir.

With Pro Coro I had five 3-hour rehearsals and we'd expanded the choir to 33 from our usual 24. We ended up with four and a half rehearsals--one of our pianists was involved in a car accident coming to the dress rehearsal, so we ended up with only the last hour and a half for the run-through. The choir was very well prepared by this point, so it was no problem and I would probably have let them go early anyway. We were also lucky in having the hall for two rehearsals, so we'd already worked in the concert hall (Winspear Centre) for Wednesday's rehearsal, allowing us time to figure out balances with the piano and for the pianists to get used to the instrument.

What a great experience to do this version with a small, excellent choir! I still love the full orchestral version and would do it anytime a performance is offered, but the ease of balancing accompaniment with choir, the ability of the choir to sing pure pianos and pianissimos, plus the extra flexibility with rubato made this a great experience.

Our regular accompanist, Jeremy Spurgeon, was joined by Roger Admiral--both are superb pianists and sensitive musicians, so it was a joy to make music with them.

Soloists came from the chorus, with Janet Smith singing the soprano solo in number five and two different baritones, Michael Kurschat and Jihwan Cho, singing numbers three and six, respectively. All did a great job, Janet singing hers from memory. Jihwan is moving to Vancouver, B.C. to pursue doctoral study there at UBC next year, and we'll miss him with Pro Coro.

For anyone with a skilled, smaller choir (anywhere from 30 to 50 or 60), able to handle the vocal demands (and the Requiem IS vocally demanding!), I'd highly recommend it. It isn't just a cheap alternative for those who can't afford an orchestra, but a version with a different artistic sensibility.

Mindset

I've started reading an interesting book on learning & success: Mindset--The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck (she's a Psychologist at Stanford).

The basic premise is that there are two basic "mindsets" about learning (this came out of her research on how people cope with failure) and these affect profoundly how you lead your life: the fixed mindset sees tests and challenges as measuring your ability (which is fixed), whereas what she calls the growth mindset sees tests and challenges as ways to cultivate growth and change (and are not judgmental of your intelligence or talent). As she notes, Darwin and Tolstoy were considered ordinary children, Ben Hogan (one of the great golfers) was completely uncoordinated as a child, etc. In other words, genius doesn't always show itself early (and we all know many prodigies burn out).

Dweck says, "Everyone is born with an intense drive to learn. Infants stretch their skills daily. Not just walk and talk. They never decide it's too hard or not worth the effort. They walk, they fall, they get up. They just barge forward."

Somewhere along the line, though, some children learn that they are being evaluated and become afraid of challenges (and paradoxically, continual praising children as being smart or supremely talented can lead to the fixed mindset).

She tells of a study where they offered four-year-olds the choice between redoing an easy jigsaw puzzle or trying a harder one. Even at this age, kids who had a fixed mindset--that is, they believed in fixed traits--chose the safe one. They told the researchers, kids who are born smart "don't do mistakes." The other children with a growth mindset--who believed you could get smarter--couldn't imagine doing a puzzle they'd done before. One girl said, "I'm dying to figure them out!"

Again from Dweck, "So children with the fixed mindset want to make sure they succeed. Smart people should always succeed. But for children with the growth mindset, success is about stretching themselves. It's about becoming smarter."

What does this have to do with musicians and conductors?

In another story from the book (it's an easy read) she tells of Nadja Solerno-Sonnenberg (one of the world's great violinists) who was a child prodigy, making her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 10.

Yet when she arrived at Juilliard to study with Dorothy DeLay, the great violin teacher [teacher of Itzhak Perlman, among others], she had a repertoire of awful habits. Her fingerings and bowings were awkward and she held the violin in the wrong position, but she refused to change. After several years, she saw the other students catching up and even surpassing her, and by her late teens she had a crisis of confidence: 'I was used to success, to the prodigy label in newspapers, and now I felt a failure.'

This prodigy was afraid of trying. 'Everything I was going through boiled down to fear. Fear of trying and failing . . . if you go to an audition and don't really try, if you're not really prepared, if you didn't work as hard as you could have and you don't win, you have an excuse . . . Nothing is harder than saying, 'I gave it my all and it wasn't good enough.'

This haunted and paralyzed her. She had even stopped bringing her violin to her lesson!

Then one day, after years of patience and understanding, DeLay told her, 'Listen, if you don't bring your violin next week, I'm throwing you out of my class.' Sonnenberg thought she was joking, but DeLay rose from the couch and calmly informed her, 'I'm not kidding. If you are going to waste your talent, I don't want to be a part of it. This has gone on long enough.'

The upshot was that Sonnenberg, who was terrified of losing DeLay, finally began working again. She says, "This is something I know for a fact: You have to work hardest for the things you love most. And when it's music you love, you're in for the fight of your life."

You might have an idea where I'm headed with this now.

Talking to the grad students at UNT, I said, all of you are talented and have had some success (if you didn't, you wouldn't be here). Some of you have had a lot of success. You've succeeded on the basis of the (gestural) conducting skill you came in with, the rehearsal skills you came in with, the ear and analytical skills you came in with, the vocal skills you came in with, etc.

However, to really succeed, especially long-term, you have to be ready to give up past "successful" habits (like Sonnenberg's way of holding the violin) and go through the struggle of taking away what is comfortable and do something new. This means you will be worse for awhile (a new gesture, new way of rehearsing) and feel awkward and uncomfortable. But unless you're willing to go through that "failure," you will cap how much you can grow and how much you can achieve.

I see this resistance to changing something you like, something you're comfortable with all the time. I understand it. But you have to know that you're hobbling yourself if you aren't willing to struggle with something that is difficult. In a sense, you have to be willing to throw away anything from your past that may be getting in the way of your getting better.

From a personal perspective, I know that when I was an undergraduate, there were many people more "talented" than I am, with much more background. However, I have ended up where I am not because I'm more talented, or even because I worked harder--but because I have kept working and challenging myself in different ways and have been willing to change at any time, no matter how uncomfortable. This is still happening and my coming to UNT (back to academe) has allowed me to see certain things I do in a different light (from conducting technique to rehearsal technique to creating a certain "culture" in a choir) and begin to change them.

And I also know that if I look back at the big career decisions and changes in my life . . . that if I was scared of failure--if failure was a real possibility--that was when I grew most. When I took the position at PLU, Maurice Skones had been there 19 years and was very much a "guru" (and a wonderful musician as well). At the 1982 ACDA national conference, the PLU choir sang and Maury changed the last piece on his program to one of his signature pieces. My friend Bruce Browne, who was sitting with me, turned to me and said, "Maury's leaving PLU--he just announced his swan song." The next night a group of Northwest conductors got together for dinner and everyone was talking about Skones leaving PLU, with the consensus being, "I wouldn't touch that job with a 10-foot pole--no one will succeed immediately following Maury."

Of course, I ended up getting the job at age 33, with exactly three years of college teaching experience (although seven years experience with my Seattle Pro Musica groups, having conducted 40 or so of Bach's cantatas, all of his major works, the Mozart Requiem and C Minor Mass, Beethoven Symphony #1, etc.). Failure was a frightening possibility (in fact, I asked the chair of the department point blank, "Are you looking for the next person to head the program or a sacrificial lamb?"), but the truth was, it resulted in enormous growth for me. I hadn't conducted a choir that toured as this one did. I hadn't done a huge amount of a cappella music (but more than most with orchestra). I hadn't run a large choral program. I wasn't from the Lutheran tradition. The choir had a large alumni base that was very curious (and skeptical!) of this unknown guy who had been chosen to follow Skones. All of this provided challenges where I could have failed. There were, of course, things that didn't go well (especially at first), but what absolutely happened was that I grew enormously as a musician, teacher, and conductor.

It doesn't mean we like failing (in fact, the dislike of it motivates us to work hard), but we're willing to take the chance and also willing to "upset the applecart" over the short run to get better results over the long run.

So, my advice to the UNT grad students, "Please don't take the safe road. Take on challenges of whatever kind you can. If you're asked to change a conducting gesture or long-held (and perhaps cherished!) habit, rather than fighting it, figure out how you can do that, no matter how uncomfortable in the short run. Annoying (and scary) as it is, take video of yourself at every opportunity so you can really see what you look like and whether it helps or hinders. Challenge yourself to dig deeper into the scores you study. Think carefully about your rehearsal technique (or whether you really have one!) and be willing to change the way you do things. Challenge what you know about choral sound. Listen, listen, listen (and listen some more!) to other choirs and recordings, discuss important issues with each other, with me, with Dr. McCoy. Take books out of the library that no one is requiring you to read which stretch your knowledge of choral techniques, performance practice, a particular composer, etc., etc., etc.--and read them!"

An interesting book, indeed!