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S
TION
CHORAL CON
CHORAL CONVERSATIONS
VERSA

How have you been able to balance your various my everyday life as a mom with a disabled child. To-
professional endeavors, especially considering gether with my husband, I plan for the details of our
the different professional skillsets they each re- son’s daily life—his schedule and activities, his restric-
quire? tive diet, and for nearly a decade, his struggle with a
rare blood disorder. I have learned during the harder
It makes for a crazy schedule for sure and constant days to be able to set the worries aside when I step on
juggling! Time management is key. I must know my the podium. I’ve been strengthened and nourished by
different roles clearly—as conductor, as chorus direc- the music even as I conduct and always have that at the
tor preparing for another conductor, as editor, etc., and back of my mind when I program, hoping that it may
plan and execute accordingly. Whichever choir I stand be so for the audience as well, especially during difficult
in front of, I want them to feel that they have my full times for them as individuals.
attention and that I have prepared as best as I can to
provide them with a good artistic experience. Can you share a few artistic memories over
Intentionally balancing the active side of things your career that especially fill your heart?
(teaching, conducting, presenting) with silence and sol-
itude (time to think, plan, reflect, and study) is a must. • The long silence that lingered for minutes at the end
I do most of my score study while on flights, traveling of conducting the Grand Rapids Symphony and Cho-
with different scores that I need to learn for different rus on Requiem for the Living by Dan Forrest in spring
concerts. Being at 30,000 feet can give one a great sense 2024. It was a collective, long moment of silent reflec-
of clarity, a different perspective about the essence of tion that I’ll cherish for a long time to come. The most
the music and about one’s work and life. I truly enjoy poignant kind of response!
the variety of repertoire of the different choirs, both
my own and for guest engagements: sacred and secular, • Conducting the 300-strong ACDA National SSAA
treble to SATB chamber, large multi-movement works Honor Choir in Cincinnati in 2023… unforgettable!
and premiering new works. The joy of having composers featured in the program
at the rehearsals to interact with the singers.
“ Intentionally balancing the • Performing with Dan Forrest, festival chorus and or-

chestra, at Winchester Cathedral in England, the in-
active side of things (teaching,
conducting, presenting) with credibly beautiful space, hearing the reverberation at
the end of each phrase.
silence and solitude (time to
think, plan, reflect, and study) • Performing Prayer of St. Francis (among many other
works) at the Cathedral of St. Francis in Assisi, where
is a must. he is buried, with the composer Allen Pote in atten-
dance.

I also enjoy the challenge of figuring out how best • Each time I conduct at Carnegie Hall.
to teach whatever level of singers I’m working with
for a particular engagement. To get them from point • While conducting at mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the
A to point B as efficiently and effectively as possible Vatican, the sense of awe that hit me felt like a physical
(especially with guest engagements where the schedule sensation.
is very compressed from the time of arrival to perfor-
mance) is the goal.
My professional endeavors always go in tandem with

38 CHORAL JOURNAL March/April 2025 Volume 65 Number 7