Broken Toys is a collection of 76 lyrics drawn from Donald Nally’s 45 years of conducting, teaching, and leading in professional music. Presented as observations on the choral art and the human experience, these reflections constitute both a memoir and a Tao to living, listening, and comprehending—with broad appeal to students, musicians, music lovers, and business professionals. Arranged thematically into ten chapters (“What listening teaches me,” “What singers teach me,” “What conducting teaches me”), these brief aphorisms are accompanied by illustrations from Donald’s long-time collaborator, artist Steven Bradshaw, inviting the reader to explore a unique worldview through words and images.

A four-time Grammy Award winner (with eleven nominations) and Emeritus Professor at Northwestern University, DONALD NALLY is an internationally renowned conductor specializing in professional choirs and contemporary music. He conducts The Crossing, hailed by The New York Times as “America’s most astonishing choir.

Musician and visual artist STEVEN BRADSHAW regularly tours and records with acclaimed ensembles Roomful of Teeth, Variant 6, Ekmeles, The Crossing, and many others. His art, which alternates between surreal and figurative drawing, has been featured on albums, films, and in galleries across the United States.