Richard and Eric try to locate the intersection point of emotion and performance.  They not only attempt to differentiate the difference between how emotion works for the audience versus performer, but also debate the value and perception ...

Richard and Eric wonder about the goings-on of music and performance in dreams.  What piece is heard there?  Who wrote that piece?  What ensemble performed the piece you heard in the dream?  Is there anything to be learned f...

Richard and Eric gather round the old fireplace to chat about a variety of things, including reading a wonderful note from Swedish composer Mattias Sjöberg.  High-back chairs and a roaring fire is a wonderful time to reminisce and celebrat...

Eric and Richard ask the question no one is asking (and maybe for good reason): Is there an intersection between the concept of liminal space and choral music?  They discuss this fairly defined aesthetic phenomena and posit if any aspect o...

Richard and Eric dive deep into an article in The Critic, entitled "Have I Seen the Future of Music; On a performance in three dimensions for all five sense...

Richard and Eric, after struggling to come up with topics for the pocast, resort to asking ChatGPT for help.  They review and analyze what offerings AI provides, which leads to a much larger discussion of how AI might intersect the fine ar...

Richard and Eric look into a quote about art and music that has been making the rounds of social media recently.  Formally attributed to postmodernist/neo expressionist artist  Jean-Michel Basquiat, it reads: “Art is how we decorate s...

Richard and Eric have returned from the proverbial grave!They catch up a bit and then briefly tackle the difficult task of creating a discernible ethic an ensemble can utilize and rally around on a practical level.  They look specific...

Richard and Eric take a look at perfection within the context of our choral experiences.  What actually is perfection as it relates to choral rehearsal and performance?  Is it an attainable goal, or is it actually a shadowy, distant m...

Richard and Eric make a grand (well, not-so-grand) return to the airwaves after a long hiatus!  They once again, effortlessly, reach the pinnacles of podcasting mediocrity as they catch up a bit and discuss some of the challenges and victo...

With churchwarden pipe in hand, Richard joins Eric in the library by a tended fire to discuss the year and perhaps what the future may hold for those in the choral profession.

Eric and Richard are like or as a couple of professors talking about using words in a way that is like or as similes and metaphors are used.  How can a conductor use similes and metaphors in the context of a rehearsal setting?  Is it ...

Richard and Eric discuss the slippery subject of transcendence through music and art.  Often referenced throughout their discussions, they take the time to dive more deeply into this difficult concept, deciding if it is something one can g...

Richard and Eric tackle a juicy quote about Herbert Howells from a 1950s Musical Times article composed by Gerald Finzi.  “To some the idiom will appear ‘dated,’ and poorer critical minds attach much greater significance to this word than ...

Richard and Eric are joined by returning guest Dr. Jeremiah Cawley to discuss a special and controversial quote from Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground."  The thought process of the examined quote is guided by a YouTuber "

Irish composer Michael McGlynn once again joins Eric on the podcast, this time to wander deep into all things composing.  Having an extensive international career as a celebrated choral composer, Michael shares stories and thoughts on the ...

Richard and Eric take a look at a 2017 Australian research paper that correlates openness to experience and binocular rivalry.  The researchers found some very interesting perceptual outcomes, including a connection to inattentional blindn...

Richard and Eric venture out to tip over a most beautiful sacred cow: choral blend.  What are people actually talking about when they ask for "blend?"  Though being slightly more ambiguous than conductors would like to admit, it remai...

Eric sits down to chat with one of Ireland's preeminent composers and musicians: Michael McGlynn.  They speak about the early days of Anúna, what the group has grown into, and its global influence over the course of its illustrious 33 year...

Richard and Eric dig into listener emails to answer some questions and comments.The short-form topics and questions covered are 1) CPDL (Choral Public Domain Library) and attribution, 2) publishing houses and their domination of reading ses...

Richard and Eric discuss the moment and some psychological ramifications that have developed over the recent months, both individually and collectively within the choral arena.  They land on a word not often used, but perhaps necessary for...

Do you constantly feel like an imposter, just waiting to be found out to be the fraud that you think you are?  For their first episode of Season 3, Richard and Eric take a peek at the real-life phenomenon known as "imposter syndrome," as w...

Richard and Eric take a dive into the concept of profession scalability articulated by essayist and scholar Nassim Taleb.  After defining terms, they ask whether the current conductor/music-teacher profession model is changing rapidly into...

Richard and Eric essentially live out the Dunning-Kruger effect by talking about the Dunning-Kruger effect.  They introduce the concept and land on an important question: To what degree do we recognize incompetence — not just in others, bu...

Richard and Eric dive into the deep end of the pool in seeing how T.S. Eliot's "Tradition and the Individual Talent" may intersect with music.  This surprisingly short essay (which is hailed as perhaps the best essay of the 20th Century) s...