I Know...I Think

13 years into teaching and I still question a good deal of what I do pedagogically.  I question whether 17 more years of teaching is in even...

I received an email this morning from a senior in my Beginning Strings class. Thought I'd share.   Hello Mr. Park I thought you mig...

A couple of years ago Yo Yo Ma and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra launched a community service initiative entitled Citizen Musicians' Br...

I love this picture.  It's why I wrote a little something about the power of digital audio synthesis. In most high school mus...

There are regions of the soul which can be illuminated only through music.                                                                ...

I've been away for a bit.  Last Thursday Northside Prep's Music Department traveled to NYC with 74 students to master class at Montc...

First pit stop in ???, Ohio. With bellies full, we trek on. 

Imitate. Assimilate. Innovate.                                                                        - Clark Terry

While perusing the good ole world wide web for performance and interview footage of Seiji Ozawa, I stumbled upon a documentary on Mtislav Ro...

I just received word that the iPad application for Smart Music is now available for download.  The folks at Make Music first announced they...

This past Tuesday evening PBS aired an hour long special entitled TED Talks Education.  From Geoffrey Canada (Founder of the Harlem Children...

Below is a link to adjudicator scores for the 2013, 2011, 2010, and 2009 CPS Band and Orchestra Contests.  We received Honors Superior Ratin...

Here are a few pieces the Chamber Strings ensemble at Northside Prep performed at our Spring Concert on 4.30.13. Csardas -- Michael McLean...

After dozens and dozens of conversations pertaining to team building with my colleagues in the physical/adventure education department over ...

My first encounter with the musicians of Brooklyn Rider was in New York City's Avery Fisher Hall when I attended the debut performance o...

Perhaps you are familiar with the This I Believe series launched by National Public Radio in 2005.   Essentially, it is forum for Ame...

I'm sure many of you heard that Janos Starker, one of the most respected cellists of our time, passed on Sunday, April 28th, 2013.  Here...

Honored and excited to be 1 of 100 educators invited to take part in this year's TED X event at the Harris Theater for the Performing Ar...

Albert Gilbert, music director of the New York Philharmonic, demonstrates and discusses the role of the conductor: Connecting Music and Ge...

Interesting article in the New York Times on the art of conducting: Maestro's Mojo

I just received an email with the following pics attached from one of the the yearbook photographers.  A funny bunch we are. Formal ...

I'm sure many of you have seen this performance piece by Taylor Mali, poet and educator. It is a powerful work and speaks to what I con...

Matt Farmer has emerged as one of the staunchest advocates for fighting the powers that be in the Chicago Public Schools system.  As a paren...

Noticed this blog post in draft form that I started in March of 2012.  For whatever reason, I never got to posting it; so here it is: This...

Interesting article about a Chicago Public Schools ESL teacher's approach to teaching language concepts through music. CPS Teacher to ...

Here's an interesting project by Anthony Tommasini, classical music critic for the New York Times. And here are a handful of his webis...

Lately I've been watching conductors do their thing on the podium.  It's almost cliche to say that Gustavo Dudamel is your favorite ...

I had the great fortune in rehearsing and performing Mahler's 5th Symphony under the tutelage of Maestro Livingston at the Idyllwild Art...

Hey Folks... Did you hear? Muxtape has finally been "snubbed" by the RIAA . What a great resource Muxtape was for resurrecting ...

Hey Folks... I stumbled upon this New York Times blog entitled " Measure for Measure " via Andrew Bird 's website. I'v...

Hey All... Finally got to checking back to see if IMSLP is up and running. Sure enough it is. Up for some score studying??? Enjoy Being.....

Know much about Steve Reich? How relevant is the music of Iceland to the music of today? To what degree of influence did the Pixies have o...

I recently discovered a website, www.surveymonkey.com , that allows users to create, in a very simple, user friendly sort of way, surveys of...

Cab Calloway, Earl Scruggs, Aretha Franklin, Berry Gordy, Itzhak Perlman, Max Roach, and more... I'm willing to guess that a great major...

I consider myself to be an avid National Public Radio listener. Be it driving to work and listening to Morning Edition or lounging at home ...

Is there a dictionary somewhere out there that may facilitate one's ability to write and speak about music with understanding, articulat...