This is the last of a three-part series of posts where I argue standards of professional quality are necessary if composers want to be taken seriously as professionals.  Part I addresses the hypocrisy and feeble logic of dismissing the idea of such standards as “elitist”.  

At the core of this argumen...

This post follows Part I of a three-part series where I argue standards of professional quality are necessary if composers want to be taken seriously as professionals.  In so doing, I addressed the hypocrisy and feeble logic of dismissing the idea of such standards as “elitist”.  

Part II here...

A serious question (not hypothetical): Name a professional enterprise outside the creative arts where the idea of developing a solid, versatile technique is met with open disdain from some of its practitioners?  A profession where the desire to cultivate a progressive set of skills enhanced through g...

The avenues of social media where new music reside have been afire the past 24 hours with the sudden notice of a speech given by the composer Kevin Volans (I say "sudden" because it's dated mid-June of this year). Volans speaks to issues that, to me, are at the heart of the creative endeavor: notions...