Competitions and Contests Another Solo and Ensemble Contest season has come and gone. All of my middle school and high school flute students participated this year. I feel that competitions
Nothing ever goes as planned. He takes a deep breath, blows, and only air comes out. She practiced hundreds of hours and spent weeks preparing only to have her performance
Auditions offer life lessons Auditions are like job interviews for musicians. We prepare for hours but have one shot in front of the judges. It’s frightening, thrilling, and weird. My
Banishing Negative Self-Talk For the first several years after I started my job as music director, I had a lot of anxiety about the job. I often came home on
The Studio Recital for my students is this week and we’ve been talking about recital preparation. Mental preparation in the two weeks leading up to a performance is critical. By this stage, you should
What do marching bands, music competitions, and playing classical music in the dark have in common? Memorization. Performing musicians are asked to memorize music from time to time. Memorization is often required for