Marie Grass Amenta

“Tough times don’t last, tough people do, remember?” Gregory Peck This week we begin a series for the month of October called “When Times are Tough.” I like doing series because I am able to expand on our theme and need not get everything I think is important together in one post. As always, I […]

“The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.” Oscar Wilde You all know “her” but you may not know exactly what she does. She is just there, connected with your ensemble in some way. What she does is invisible to you and everyone else, but I am here today to tell […]

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.” Leo Burnett I first heard the term “creatives” a few years ago and hated it. I was at a meeting of the community arts and business alliance I am involved with and our leader was speaking of […]

“You learn how to be a gracious winner and an outstanding loser.” Joe Namath My late mother would tell us being a gracious winner was just as important as being a gracious loser. In fact, she would scold if we were less than kind to our siblings if we won a game and were being […]

“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” Albert Einstein Well, I’m back! I hoped you enjoyed the Choral Ethics Repeats during the month of August. They were part of the first series I wrote for ChoralNet as a guest blogger […]

“Fine manners are the mantle of fair minds.” Louisa May Alcott  Do you ever say “please” to your singers?  Or is it always a command to “turn to page 3, top score, measure 2?”  If you occasionally said, “please turn to page 3…..” would the sky fall? When was the last time you said “thank-you” […]

  “Always do right.  This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain I believe in Karma.  Oh, I don’t know if I would really call it that, exactly. I feel if you do something good, it usually comes back to you.  If you do something bad, it can come back to you […]

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” Jean-Jacques Rousseau It is easy to forget we need to work regularly with others.  Unless you are a soloist all the time, you must work with other musicians. Unless you conduct exactly the sort of ensemble you wish, with the musicians you wish, you must […]

 “Every artist was first an amateur.” Ralph Waldo Emerson The word amateur is taken from Old French and means ‘lover’.  Many definitions of the word speak of doing something for pleasure and most of us, I am sure, became choral conductors because we found pleasure in singing or leading singing. Is it the other definition […]

In memory of Rose Marie Ditto Grass, November 24, 1927 to July 29, 2014 A few years ago, I decided I would write a book about something I now call “Choral Ethics.” A few things motivated me, including a rather unpleasant encounter at a community arts event with a choral colleague.  Nothing seemed to provoke […]