Perform To Win
Latest Episodes
Givers and takers: which kind of performer are you? 031
I'm making a massive assumption that people don't get tired of you. But if you do identify one or two variances that might possibly suggest that this could be, take heart that I'd be stunned if NONE of this applied! We all experience little moments like t
Letting down the whole team by staying in our comfort zones – 030
Playing or singing in a musical ensemble is the epitome of team activities. But many musicians let their teams down far more often than they realize, thinking they are doing good. Get stuck taking the lead or the bottomLetting the team and the whole en
How our health really affects our ability to unleash spectacular performances – 029
Our health may not be the most invigorating topic, and you might be as tired as I am of hearing about diets and exercise and obesity and... As always, clichés are born from grains of truth, no matter how much we don't want them to be.
How musicians are being held hostage by their limiting beliefs – 028
Attention-grabbing headlines turn heads and sensationalize what might otherwise be just a strong, solid response to a problem, not an actual hostage situation.
Your uniqueness grows one feature at a time – 027
The way you play or sing, your posture, your sound quality, your sight-reading ability, your smile when you perform... Whatever you identify, pick one that makes your heart leap a little bit... that one thing you do in which you find joy, or that makes y
No-one has experienced your life – 026
It remains by far the most thrilling part of my job as a conductor - seeing an ensemble accomplish far more than they thought possible, not because they were copying anyone else, but because they found their own way, individually AND collectively, to be b
Cloning our heroes – 025
mes we start life by replicating others. Your master or role model hasn't lived the life you have, and therefore you should not expect to live their life, either.
Exploring one thing at a time – 024
Probably two of the biggest problems we have in society are the need to appear busy, and multi-tasking. Perhaps the worst of society's social wannabes are those who do both!
We only know what we’re exposed to – 023
Our teachers have their own interests, and many times if we like that teacher or that had a strong impact on us, then we follow just what we have experienced from that perspective. Exposing our students to multiple styles and genres of music is a rare th
We choose what we study – 022
Because musicians focus so much on the technical aspect of performing, many of them get labelled and boxed into believing they are only good at that one thing.