This weekend, on February 27th, I will be conducting my first concert in four years. Not from lack of trying, not from lack of experience, and not from lack of competency. It’s because becoming a conductor is hard. Leaving out the fact that we’re still dealing with the tail end of basically two years without the ability to host regular… Read More »Being a conductor is hard, becoming a conductor is harder
Derek Sivers is one of my favorite authors, though I’ve never actually finished one of his books. It’s incredible how well you can come to know somebody through listening to a few interviews or their podcast. Thomas Frank is another writer that I like. Though he doesn’t actually write much, I’ve learned a lot from his videos, podcasts, and interviews.… Read More »NOW Page
Warning! Controversial movie opinions are below. Crisara and I watch a lot of movies. Like, a lot of movies. In 2020 we watched 205 movies. That’s up from the 104 we watched in 2019. Plus we watched through all of Schitt’s Creek, Mandalorian, Clone Wars, (most of) Rebels, Dead to Me, and The Office (again). I guess we found ourselves… Read More »2020 Movie Reviews
I’ve been following Shane Parrish and Farnam Street for a while now. He does a fantastic job of collecting the ideas and lessons from books and thinkers across the world. This book is no exception. Some of these concepts are simple, some are not. Some I’d read about elsewhere, and others I’d never heard of. But what this book absolutely… Read More »10 Lessons from “The Great Mental Models, Volume 1,” By Shane Parrish
I actively avoided this book for 2 years because I was under the impression that High Performance Habits would be a shallow, “life-hack” sort of personal development book. This was a mistake. When I finally gave it a chance last year, I realized almost immediately that there was a depth to the lessons that Brendon teaches. I’ve now read it… Read More »10 Lessons from “High Performance Habits” by Brendon Burchard
I’ve been following Michael Hyatt for about 3 years now and using his planners for just as long, so I’ve been exposed to his ideas and his philosophy (and many of the lessons in this book) for a good chunk of my short life as a professional. It was nice to see the full picture and the reasoning and research… Read More »10 Lessons from “Free to Focus” by Michael Hyatt
This was one book that I didn’t expect to like that much or learn too much from, but it very quickly became one of my favorites and absolutely at the top of my list. Of course, once I started reading it I realized just how entrenched and invisible my ego was…to the point that it was telling me that I didn’t need… Read More »10 Lessons from “Ego is the Enemy” by Ryan Holiday
Hello, and welcome to the first installment of a new series that I’m running (hehe) about what I’m learning from the books I’m reading. This is partly to help give me some accountability on reading, partly to share what I’m reading and learning, but mostly to force me to define what I’ve actually learned from a book, to ensure that… Read More »10 lessons from “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running,” by Haruki Murakami
If you are hearing a piece for the first time you are primarily appreciating the composition: the composer, the notes that you hear, and your reactions to them. There’s a difference between the composition and the performance of that composition. Some argue that the “perfect” performance exists in idea only. Each performer has dedicated their entire life to performing, and… Read More »Hear the Performer
No matter what function you are serving as a musician, put the larger picture before yourself. If you’re a soloist with an orchestra, play the concerto towards the goal of creating the best experience for the audience and heightening the entire evening, not by focusing on how you can look the best or promote yourself. If you’re a music director,… Read More »Be of Service to the Bigger Picture