Marie Grass Amenta

“My singing voice is somewhere between a drunken apology and a plumbing problem.” Colin Firth I am in the midst of my audition cycle. I hold auditions for both my fall and spring concert cycles, so this is the second go-around for me during our concert season. So far, so good. I recently recalled an […]

“I do not agree with Thomas Wolfe… about anything. You can go home again as long as you don’t expect home to be what it was when you left it. Or you don’t expect yourself to be what you were when you left home.” Raymond Burr Beginning this week and throughout February, I will be […]

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” Henry David Thoreau I’ve written about the “Creative Class” here on ChoralNet a few times and have said, more than once, I […]

“Being an accompanist is very selfless in many ways because you’re really just trying to elevate the singer and help them shine, ultimately.” Simon Helberg Last week, I shared stories from a few ChoralNetters about their holidays. This week, I have ChoralNetters chiming in about relationships between choral directors and their accompanists. If you noticed […]

“Be careful what you wish for because you will get it. Be even more careful what you work for because you will get it even more quickly.” Colin Cunningham Today’s blog is a little advice and some musings. I’ve received emails in the past few weeks from young choral musicians– singers, pianists, organists and directors—who […]

“Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.” Casey Stengel Happy New Year ChoralNet! I hope you all had wonderful holidays. And I also hope you spent some time recharging and refreshing before your next batch of rehearsals and classes begin. January’s Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics Blogs will be […]

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”Leonard Bernstein Have you ever noticed the best holiday stories portray some sort of dream? From the ballet, “The Nutcracker” to all of the many incarnations of Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” someone is always sleeping and having […]

“Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.” Leonard Bernstein We all know music’s ability to heal and sooth. We know how it comforts the ill and the despondent. Music can help both the dying on their trip “home” and the woman giving birth as she brings new life into the world. It teaches […]

“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein If you are anything like me, your December concert and worship music for this year was planned during the summer or before. Your plans are coming to fruition or close to it. You are calm, knowing things are […]

I love Messiah.  Truth be told, it is probably my favorite large choral work.  There’s a little something for everyone–from show piece arias to choruses that are both difficult and poignant to recitatives that move the story along while being musically interesting. The story that is told, using scriptures from both the Old and New […]