Marie Grass Amenta

“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain About half of all emails I get are from folks who want my opinion about the right thing to do. I’ve written about this before; many choral directors don’t trust their instincts any longer and

“Nothing is a greater impediment to being on good terms with others than being ill at ease with yourself.” Honore de Balzac We are almost finished with another Lenten, Holy Week and Easter season. Church musicians are rounding the corner, heading toward the end of the finish line of their

“There is no harm in repeating a good thing.” Plato Last week, I wrote about recently getting emails concerning three problems I know I have addressed before in this Blog. I wrote about one of those re-occurring problems—tardiness. This week, we will tackle the other two. Absences  Like the tardiness

“There is no harm in repeating a good thing.” Plato I have been regularly writing the Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics ChoralNet Blog since the fall of 2015. During the last two and a half years, I have received one or two emails every week. There are times which are busier than

“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Madeleine K. Albright  March is Women’s History Month, so forgive me if I rant a bit this week. This is a month when we in the arts feature women composers on concerts, ballet companies feature women

“If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality.” Benjamin Franklin I am ticked this week for a number of reasons. My chamber choir is in the midst of their spring audition cycle and I have had two singers who wanted to audition

“My work today is perceived as being classic, but when I first started out, it was a break from the norm. Since then, I have continued to reinvent myself. I don’t change my style, but I allow it to evolve.” Giorgio Armani The courage to be yourself, looking at things

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.” Albert Einstein Like many of you, I conduct a choral organization in a community with several other choral groups besides mine. And like you, I often wonder if members of my audience are also members of theirs. One of

“Ethics and equity and the principles of justice do not change with the calendar.” D. H. Lawrence Last week, I mentioned getting over 30 emails about one choral conductor during the last few years. My contacts were from past and present singers and even one of his former accompanists. There

“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.” Albert Camus As I sit to write, I am struck by the sun streaming across the table where I have my laptop; it feels so good! It’s a bright day, with no snow and the grass looks incredibly