Seeing The Great Books of the Western World spread crisply across the upper shelves of the library at CiRCE Institute’s new headquarters triggered powerful memories for me. Indeed, it was precisely this set of books that, long ago, signaled the existence of a world beyond … Read more
Last Friday morning I stood before a very large group of exuberant teachers to tout the priceless value of folk songs. I had been invited to give the keynote address to the Phoenix-area network of Great Hearts Classical Schools. This one-day symposium was serving as … Read more
In banking, when they’re trying to teach you about counterfeit money, they don’t give you counterfeit money. They give you real money, over and over and over again. You learn the feel of it. Then you can identify counterfeit money just from the feel of … Read more
The Awakening of Miss Prim? Was this really the title Andrew Pudewa suggested for a view into the values of Classical education? If so, then maybe I needed to read it. As background, it happens that I and my colleagues are frequently asked to name … Read more
The last thing I expected to hear from the mouth of John Erickson, author of the Hank the Cowdog series, was this question: “Do you know the music of Morten Lauridsen?” Morten Lauridsen? The award-winning American composer whose radiant choral works have been described as … Read more
“Is there any chance you will continue offering On-Line Conferences this year?” We heard versions of this question repeatedly during our first “live & in person” conference back in March in Greenville, S.C. “We loved having you all right there in our living rooms!” And … Read more
After several warm days, we’re back to February’s rain, mush, and slush. That groundhog should have slept in. Nonetheless, several bright spots are keeping me warm include a new webinar in our series What’s So Great About? The spot of honor this time goes to … Read more
Our major conference “The Art of Soulcraft” is tomorrow, August 7, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. EDT. Registration is free. Christopher Perrin came up with the title for this one-day conference—at least I think he did. Such words vibrate with Perrin’s marvelous predilection for quiet, … Read more
Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music. —Sergei Rakhmaninov I first saw these words beaming from a wall at the Meyerson Symphony Center, home of the Dallas Symphony. Despite my lifetime spent studying Russian music, they were new … Read more
Over the past several years I’ve joined a panel of Classical educators who come together at the large regional conferences known as the Great Homeschool Conventions. Originally entitled “Classical Education Unplugged,” our panel found itself renamed “Classical Education Unhinged” in this year’s program. We laughingly … Read more
