If you've clicked on my profile lately, you might have noticed I've set up a pile of new blogs for future use.
Podium Speak will still be my home base for choral music thoughts, and from time to time, general nonsense. However, I've created blogs for the choirs I conduct and courses I'll teach next year (none of which have posts yet - but I'll link to them when they become active).
One blog which will be active through the summer when choral music tends to be quiet for me is my new golf blog!
So, if you want to read in more detail about my quest to break 80. You are welcome to read about it here.
Showing posts with label Golf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golf. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Pardon the interuption
Unrelated to choral music - but hey, it's my blog, I'll blog about what I want!
I mentioned in my last blog post that my summer holiday goal is to break 80 (we're talking golf scores here folks). Well, Yesterday, even though I shot 87, it was in some ways the closest I've been in a while. I've been as low as 82 in years past, but yesterday was the first time that my goal seemed viable.
Breaking 80 means shooting +7 or less on eighteen holes. Yesterday, I was +5 on the last thirteen holes (Yes, that means I was +10 on the first five). I had eleven pars (including seven in a row), and three bogies. I missed at least five legitimate birdie tries, and then had one double, and three "blow up holes" consisting of two triples and a quad. So - sink a few birdies and eliminate the blow ups, and I should be in the 70s right? Heck, just get rid of the three bad holes and I shoot 77!
In principle, that should work right?
Ok - back to choral music.
I mentioned in my last blog post that my summer holiday goal is to break 80 (we're talking golf scores here folks). Well, Yesterday, even though I shot 87, it was in some ways the closest I've been in a while. I've been as low as 82 in years past, but yesterday was the first time that my goal seemed viable.
Breaking 80 means shooting +7 or less on eighteen holes. Yesterday, I was +5 on the last thirteen holes (Yes, that means I was +10 on the first five). I had eleven pars (including seven in a row), and three bogies. I missed at least five legitimate birdie tries, and then had one double, and three "blow up holes" consisting of two triples and a quad. So - sink a few birdies and eliminate the blow ups, and I should be in the 70s right? Heck, just get rid of the three bad holes and I shoot 77!
In principle, that should work right?
Ok - back to choral music.
Update - to follow my golfing activities, you are welcome to hang out at my golf blog.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Back from Podium 2010
We just walked in the door to our house after a five and a half hour drive from Saskatoon, and the annual conference of the Association of Canadian Choral Communities (ACCC) known as Podium. The drive was a little longer than usual as we decided to take a different route involving mostly a two lane highway. We visited the Ribstones near Viking Alberta (another blogger posts about their experience visiting the Ribstones, we had a similar experience, including missing the turnoff due to lack of signage - there is very little else to find online about the historic site, but it was a very interesting, and a somewhat moving experience. I did find this video that someone took of the site). We were also pulled over for speeding - but that (as the narrator of Hammy Hampster would say) ... is another story.
The Podium conference was fantastic - four days, eighteen choirs featured in ten concerts. Great sessions (including a reprise of the Technology for Choirs in the 21st century seminar by ChoralNet's chief blogger Philip Copeland as seen at ACDA in Oklahoma. The session has inspired me to get back on the blogging train again).
The comments from most of the delegates have been that despite the unseasonably cold and wet weather, it was one of the best Podiums in recent memory. I've been to four of the last five Podium conferences (Edmonton, Toronto, Victoria and now Saskatoon), and I have to agree; it was one of the most memorable.
Perhaps, for me, the reason it was the most memorable is that it represented a sort of "coming out" party for me as a professional conductor, and not a student. My chamber choir, Da Camera Singers, joined together with my friend and colleague Tim Shantz and his Chamber Choir, Spiritus from Calgary, to perform at the conference this year. It was enthusiastically received by the delegates, including colleagues who probably still think of me as a young student who left Ottawa some thirteen years ago. I was extremely proud of the choir, and also flattered by the accolades we received.
Our recent CD was also nominated for "outstanding choral CD" at the awards ceremony. Unfortunately, we didn't win, but still the recognition was a great thrill for me, and the choir.
Now that the conference is over, and with only Da Camera's AGM scheduled this weekend, I can start to enjoy the summer holidays. I do vow, however, to be productive this summer. I'm teaching two new courses next year, starting a new men's choir at Concordia University College, and have to plan an anniversary year for Da Camera, who is celebrating their 50th year in 2011-12.
On top of all this, I have to start to think about Podium 2012, which is in my home town of Ottawa, and find a way to make a personal and professional impact on the conference.
My other goal this summer is to break 80. Perhaps completely unrelated, and maybe unreachable, but why live if you don't set goals!
The Podium conference was fantastic - four days, eighteen choirs featured in ten concerts. Great sessions (including a reprise of the Technology for Choirs in the 21st century seminar by ChoralNet's chief blogger Philip Copeland as seen at ACDA in Oklahoma. The session has inspired me to get back on the blogging train again).
The comments from most of the delegates have been that despite the unseasonably cold and wet weather, it was one of the best Podiums in recent memory. I've been to four of the last five Podium conferences (Edmonton, Toronto, Victoria and now Saskatoon), and I have to agree; it was one of the most memorable.
Perhaps, for me, the reason it was the most memorable is that it represented a sort of "coming out" party for me as a professional conductor, and not a student. My chamber choir, Da Camera Singers, joined together with my friend and colleague Tim Shantz and his Chamber Choir, Spiritus from Calgary, to perform at the conference this year. It was enthusiastically received by the delegates, including colleagues who probably still think of me as a young student who left Ottawa some thirteen years ago. I was extremely proud of the choir, and also flattered by the accolades we received.
Our recent CD was also nominated for "outstanding choral CD" at the awards ceremony. Unfortunately, we didn't win, but still the recognition was a great thrill for me, and the choir.
Now that the conference is over, and with only Da Camera's AGM scheduled this weekend, I can start to enjoy the summer holidays. I do vow, however, to be productive this summer. I'm teaching two new courses next year, starting a new men's choir at Concordia University College, and have to plan an anniversary year for Da Camera, who is celebrating their 50th year in 2011-12.
On top of all this, I have to start to think about Podium 2012, which is in my home town of Ottawa, and find a way to make a personal and professional impact on the conference.
My other goal this summer is to break 80. Perhaps completely unrelated, and maybe unreachable, but why live if you don't set goals!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Examining trip one complete
I've just reached the conclusion of my examining trip to Ottawa.
I've heard approximately fifty pianists and singers of all levels and ages.
Two casual observations about my week:
Then on Monday we do the final inspection on our NEW HOUSE and sign off on all our conditions. Very exciting indeed. After a week at home, I fly to Vancouver for another week of examining. Then once I am home, we have about two weeks to pack up for our move. I get the feeling that the summer is going to go by pretty quickly.
Today I was supposed to play golf on my last day in Ottawa with a good friend. Unfortunately on the way over to my parent's place to pick me up, he was t-boned at an intersection by a driver going the wrong way on a one way street. Luckily, he is OK. Sore, but OK.
Now I am at home finishing up some marking of history exams for the same conservatory that I was examining for - then on to the airport for my flight.
See you on the other side!
I've heard approximately fifty pianists and singers of all levels and ages.
Two casual observations about my week:
- Examining with my laptop in front of me has proven to completely solve any issues of tendinitis from writting out examination reports by hand. The other plus side to this is students will get a legible account of their exam, and I was able to stay on time, or even ahead of schedule for the most part.
- Why is it that students who tend not to do so well on their pieces, tend to excel at their ear training sight-reading? Is it because they sight-read well enough to think they don't have to practice? That's my guess anyway.
Then on Monday we do the final inspection on our NEW HOUSE and sign off on all our conditions. Very exciting indeed. After a week at home, I fly to Vancouver for another week of examining. Then once I am home, we have about two weeks to pack up for our move. I get the feeling that the summer is going to go by pretty quickly.
Today I was supposed to play golf on my last day in Ottawa with a good friend. Unfortunately on the way over to my parent's place to pick me up, he was t-boned at an intersection by a driver going the wrong way on a one way street. Luckily, he is OK. Sore, but OK.
Now I am at home finishing up some marking of history exams for the same conservatory that I was examining for - then on to the airport for my flight.
See you on the other side!
Friday, May 2, 2008
The Perfect Swing and the Pefect Gesture?
I always thought that a great choral conducting doctoral dissertation would be "The Correlation Between Good Conducting Technique, and the Perfect Golf Swing". Ok, it probably wouldn't be up for the Julius Herford Prize, but nevertheless, it is one that I would probably put on my required reading list for my conducting courses.
About ten years ago, nearly eleven now, when I first moved to Edmonton to begin graduate studies in choral conducting, I was what you'd call a "weekend hacker" in the golf world. I thought I played OK, averaged about 108 strokes a round, parred a few holes, even birdied one or two. I then found out that both my supervisor and a new friend, also a choral conductor, were avid golfers. I was very happy about this - until I played with them for the first time. Not realizing that one was a mid-teen handicap, and the other nearly a scratch (zero) handicap. I felt completely useless, and at time utterly embarrassed to be playing with them.
Over the next few years, I found that they were very patient people, and also
good teachers of the game, and I steadily improved over time. I also started to find some comparisons between the golf swing, and conducting gesture. Things like foot positioning, weight transfer, using gravity to your advantage and tempo. I even discovered an "ictus" in golf (ball striking). Since that time I've had a few lessons, joined a club, and have been as low as a 14 handicap. I've had a hole in one, and have seen the low 80s on my card a number of times. I have also beat my supervisor in a game or two (I don't recommend you do this prior to your defense date), and now I play upwards to sixty round a year. Up here, our golf season starts early May, and ends late November. Today was day one!
Every once in a while, when I am coaching a conducting student I catch myself saying something like "it's just like timing a perfect golf swing" and then I look to see a blank face and realize "oh ya, that dissertation hasn't been written yet ... someday, you'll understand ..."
Over the next few years, I found that they were very patient people, and also
good teachers of the game, and I steadily improved over time. I also started to find some comparisons between the golf swing, and conducting gesture. Things like foot positioning, weight transfer, using gravity to your advantage and tempo. I even discovered an "ictus" in golf (ball striking). Since that time I've had a few lessons, joined a club, and have been as low as a 14 handicap. I've had a hole in one, and have seen the low 80s on my card a number of times. I have also beat my supervisor in a game or two (I don't recommend you do this prior to your defense date), and now I play upwards to sixty round a year. Up here, our golf season starts early May, and ends late November. Today was day one!
Every once in a while, when I am coaching a conducting student I catch myself saying something like "it's just like timing a perfect golf swing" and then I look to see a blank face and realize "oh ya, that dissertation hasn't been written yet ... someday, you'll understand ..."
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