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Ask Tim Anything

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What have you been wanting to ask Tim Sharp? Limber up your fingers and start typing, because it’s time to Ask Tim Anything.

 

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If you’re a fan of musical theatre, you’ve most likely heard about “Hamilton.” I’ve been following its success through the eyes of New York friends and reading reviews, and finally I’ve been able to hear it for myself, streaming on NPR. If you wish, take a listen. (Be ready for hip-hop and some explicit language.)

 

“‘Hamilton’ and the end of irony” on the Washington Post website caught my attention recently. Many of my most favorite musicals are steeped in snark (see “Urinetown” for an example of excellent writing and delivering a deep message through sarcasm). Yet, there is something extremely refreshing about this new musical, with a theme of take-me-as-I-am authenticity without trying so hard to prove itself. Even though hip-hop is not my bag, I am addicted to this score and this story.

 

Ms. Petri's discussion of the show's theme of not worrying what people will think, how you will be perceived by others, hit me hard. So many of the conversations I have with choral professionals about programming revolve around how to make the audience feel x. More on that in another post; my immediate next thought when reading was of Tim Sharp, for he is the embodiment of absolute authenticity.

 

If you have had any interaction with the Executive Director of ACDA, you have experienced firsthand the authentic, genuine passion and excitement Tim possesses for ACDA. It is infectious. You cannot walk away from a conversation with him feeling anything but jazzed about the organization he serves. He wants to know its members and their needs, and to steer the organization in ways that best serves its membership. That smile, that energy is 100% real. He loves what he does, and does what he does for the good of us all.

 

Tim and I would like to embark on an experiment: to open the floor for questions. In the spirit of a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), this is your opportunity to ask. Questions about ACDA, its future, its policies, Tim's vision…ask. Add your questions here until October 6. I'll help curate them, and Tim will give as many responses as he can. We will post the questions and Tim's answers in a ChoralBlog post in a couple of weeks.

 

This is truly an ACDA experiment. It is a risk, and one that might not work the way we anticipate. But, Tim and I believe it's an experiment worth trying and a risk worth taking. So…go ahead…click REPLY below and ask Tim anything.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    First, I really like your word “hybridization”, Miguel. I will indeed borrow that one!
    Thank you for your kind words regarding “Come Away to the Skies: A High Lonesome Bluegrass Mass“. It has been a great tool for me to advance the “hybridization” concept you have identified, and to shed light on one of the rich areas of American choral/vocal composition. The Sacred Harp and Southern Harmony hymns and tunes Wes Ramsay and I use as the “cantus firmus” for the individual elements of the ordinary in the work are a great USA contribution to world music. The fusion of these pieces into a mass form, set in bluegrass style, brings three worlds together. Other works I know that attempt a similar “hybridization” are the following:
     
    Gospel Mass by Robert Ray
    The Here and Now by Christopher Theofanidis
     
    I look foward to more experiments in this sort of fusion in the days ahead as composers work through an increasing number of influences and styles.
     

  2. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    Thank you Philip for this question. You have to know we are so excited about March 8-11, 2017! Minneapolis has rolled out the red carpet to us, and we anticipate one of the best conferences ever in “Choral Country.”
     
    I just returned from the Hawaii ACDA state chapter meeting, and we set a goal for Hawaii to see at least 30 of their state members in attendance at the Minneapolis National ACDA Conference in 2017. This will be a record attendance from Hawaii for a National Conference. They are very excited about 2017 in Minneapolis, and one of their greatest hopes is that it might snow while they are there! They are thrilled with the thought of seeing snow. So, the Hawaiians may opt to walk outside during the Conference, while the rest of us enjoy the coats-off experience of the worlds largest skyway system.
     
    In addition, we had over 250 international choral directors in attendance at our Salt Lake City Conference this year. So very many people remember the World Choral Symposium hosted by Minneapolis as one of the best ever. All of that great buzz will come back to reward our experience in Minneapolis as even more of our colleagues from around the world plan to attend the 2017 conference. Your excellent work in producing the WCMS years ago will come back to reward us in 2017 as we welcome a record number of international choral colleagues and choirs.
     
    Our growing membership in ACDA will bring a greater number to our National Conference, and not only will the attendance be robust, but the student attendance promises to be our highest number ever. This is a thrilling thought for me, because I know how motivational a National Conference can be to first-time attendees such as students. I can’t think of a better choral environment for our rising leaders to experience than Minneapolis.
     
    Thank YOU for what you are doing to make it a great conference.

  3. Tim, I don’t want to be greedy, but I’m tossing out another question!
     
    I’ve been seeing clips of your “High, Lonesome Bluegrass Mass” on social media (and, of course, you performed it here in Honolulu in September!). I think the piece was a fantastic success, in part, because it blended striking and beautiful musical/historical traditions: Bluegrass, Sacred Harp–style hymnody, and the Latin Mass. It’s an example of using music to prove that differences and contrasts can fit together (quite literally) in harmony. With so many forces pulling people apart, things like this are moving reminders that our diversity is an asset and something to celebrate.
     
    So, here’s the question: do you know of other works that bring together various musical traditions in successful works of hybridization? 
     
    Thanks!
    Miguel Felipe
    HI-ACDA

  4. Tim:  You are coming to my home town and state – “Choral Country” as we call it.  Do folks know that Minneapolis has the largest skyway system in the world – so, if you don’t want to experience snow…you don’t have to?  Everything is possible indoors – from building to building!  How are you sharing this news so that no one misses out on visiting this amazing city?
     
    Philip Brunelle
    Minneapolis, MN

  5. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    Great question, Robin, and thank you for what you are doing to bring great choral music to publication and recording. Your work with emerging great talent is an inspiration to me.
     
    In terms of what is “next” out there that I would like to see our North American membership in ACDA here more about, I am very attracted to the music of our southern neighbors in Central and South America. Even though Cuba is only 90 miles from the USA, they have produced an incredible amount of choral music that is absolutely wonderful but hardly known in the USA. The same is true throughout Central and South America, and we are moving quickly to try to create bridges with these countries and their music. We have had a conductor exchange program with Cuba, and have featured Cuban choirs at our most recent ACDA Conferences. We are also projecting a conductor exchange with Central and South American conductors in the next three years. Our hosting of America Cantat VIII is a concrete move in this direction as we immerse ourselves in the music of South America.
     
    In perhaps a more exotic reach, I am fascinated by the contemporary choral music coming from Turkey, Iran, India, and other eastern regions. We have heard these sounds emerging through popular artists such as Sting, and in films such as Slumdog Millionaire, and I think we will hear more and more of this music. I am currently performing Christopher Theofanidis’ choral/orchestral work The Here and Now, based on poems by Rumi, and Theofanadis shows these influences in this composition. I find this fresh and full of choral possibilities.
     

  6. Hello Julie, and thanks for opening up this page, the questions and answers have already demonstrated what a good idea it has been to Ask Tim Anything.   My question to Tim is to ask which parts of the world he would like to explore further to seek out as yet unknown choral singing culture, music, composers etc to the ACDA membership?  We’ve seen some amazing performers from far-flung countries singing music which none of us has ever heard before.  Maybe its right on the doorstep in North America? What is out there that Tim, or anyone else, knows about and would love to share with us all?
    Robin Tyson, London

  7. Tim, thanks for your thoughtful reply.  I agree with you that supply and demand are a driving factor in current policies, and I understand the overarching process of these decisions.  Yes, I am advocating for potential growth in outcomes.  The non-auditioned choral experience is unique at the collegiate level as our majors are beginning to understand process.  It will never replace, nor compete with, the auditioned ensembles.  These remain critical in the development of refined choral excellence.  Other choral ensembles can become a teaching tool for the department.  The majors bring a wealth of knowledge into the ensemble, provide leadership, and have the opportunity to observe process. Instrumentalists should be included in this discussion, exploring a semester of choral experience as part of their degree track.
     
    It is exciting to read about your conversation with NATS to initiate a dialogue with NASM and music administrators.  I encourage your collaborative engagement between ACDA and NATS.  Choral directors and teachers of singing so often stand in opposition.   Together you can identify effective shared values that build community in support of our students. The potential influence of this relationship will color departmental activity and hopefully result in NASM response. 
     
    Thank you for all you are doing for choral arts. 

  8. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    Thanks, Ryan, for this forward-looking question. Thanks, too, for the shout-out today on Find Your Forte. I enjoy your podcasts and interviews as well as your focus on innovation.
    Thanks for asking your question on your podcast today…Innovative! Thanks, too, for the shout-out regarding our interview on Find Your Forte.
     
    The first part of your question is about the qualifications for the successful 21st century choral director. Here is my short list:
    1. The successful director must be passionate about the choral art, confident in their conducting ability, and thoroughly trained in the choral art;
    2. The successful director must be innovative, which includes a daily mindset of improvement, a collaborative work ethic, and the willingness to take risks;
    3. The successful director must be a charismatic, informed teacher;
    4. And in my opinion, the successful director must embrace their role as a mentor.
    The second part of the question is VERY exciting to me.  You ask “How will ACDA provide resources, support, and guidance in an effort to embrace a choral director’s ever-expanding job description.” Here is how we are going to do it:
    1. ACDA is establishing new working/standing committees that will focus on issues such as advocacy, diversity, internationalism, education, communication, research, performance, and resources. All of these areas must be a part of the 21st century choral directors tool box;
    2. Through ACDA’s Fund for Tomorrow, and through our collaboration with other organizations such as the Barbershop Harmony Society, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Chorus America, and others, we will work innovatively to stimulate grassroots activity in all of the areas of preparation we have identified as significant in the 21st century;
    3. ACDA will continue to model the very best in performance, and the very best practices in process and pedagogy in all of our programs, conferences, and publications;
    4. ACDA will continue to expand its publications to include attention to our expanding areas of interest, or as you put it, our “ever-expanding job description”;
    5. ACDA will remain attached “at the hip” to the best practices in choral music education and performance with our institutions of higher education, and throughout the world as a founder and leader in the International Federation for Choral Music.

  9. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    Thank you, Ginger, and of course, I completely agree with you. My experience and outlook is similar to yours related to the value of the ensemble experience for voice majors. I think the evidence is on our side in terms of pedagogy. All that could get in the way of this evidence is departmental polices and something motivating the social engineering of degree requirements (possibly related to supply and demand?).
     
    Your question regarding NASM and department administrators could be read as a overwhelming challenge,  but knowing you, I read it more as an opportunity for advocacy that could lead to a better outcome. I recently had a conversation with Dr. Allen Henderson, Executive Director of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and we are eager to join together, and join with other collaborators, to start building some lines of conversation and talking points for NASM and others in influential areas of college music administration related to our common themes. There is no doubt at all that the leaders of NATS are with us in our common theme of the value of choral singing and working together between studio and rehearsal room. We have a healthy collaboration at work right now, and I think we can take that model into conversations channeled into NASM.

  10. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    Aloha Miguel, and congratulations on the great work you are doing with Hawaii ACDA! 57% growth in membership over the last year is beyond awesome.
    Thanks for this question. I am not sure if I am framing the response correctly, so if not, please send it back at me and phrase it in a little different manner. These aren’t questions, but rather my recruitment considerations. I should also preface this short list with the thought that I am addressing recruitment “in general”, and not for any specific situation:
     
    1) There is only one season when you are in a recruiting mindset–“always”. With that in mind, your method of audition should be flexible and open-minded;
    2) There is no single magic bullet for recruitment–we have to work on multiple approaches to a divergent population.
    3) There are no bad choirs, only bad literature choices;
    4) Balance is overwhelmingly the conductor’s responsibility; blend is a responsibility shared with the ensemble;
    5) It is easier to recruit right after a performance than it is at the beginning of a rehearsal cycle.

  11. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    Thanks, John, for this question. This would be a great topic for several of us to discuss around a table.
    Reflecting on my conducting experience, it would have been nice to start my conducting career with the confidence of the following three lessons I have learned:
     
    1) Standing in front of a choir and motivating them and teaching them to accomplish the challenge of a musical score requires passion, authority, and expertise. These three characteristics are what a singer is looking for in me as their conductor. I now know that those three elements are essential in all leadership positions;
     
    2) Accomplishing a musical score requires a conductor to take many risks, right from the beginning of the rehearsal process. The audacity to even stand on the podium and think we can accomplish anything at all is an example of such a risk, and risks get even bigger from that point. I now know, as a result of working through projects that seem unatainable, that this is the approach to a life of innovation, discovery, and growth;
     
    3) Choral music making is the only art form in the world that can combine a community of singers, individually using only their air and body as an instrument, to convey a text in harmony. No other instrument can do that, and no other instrument is as compelling because of these factors. I now know that this is a powerful force in the world, and we are the arbiters of this divine force.

  12. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    Great dreaming, Cristian ! Frankly, the biggest stumbling block to date for me regarding ACDA’s involvement in becoming a resource for this incredible wealth of world literature you identify is any perception created by commercial publishers that ACDA was going into the publishing business. Many will scoff at that notion, but I would remind everyone that publishers have done us a great service over the years, and, publishers are strong members of ACDA. However, if publishers would NOT perceive us as going into the music publishing business, ACDA could help be a conduit for this music. We don’t want to participate, however, in the financial exchange of such an operation nor the manufacturing of any materials. This financial caveat would also include any resources dedicated to warehousing, distribution, and other infrastructure needs for material publications. However, if the only need is a digital space to store PDF’s for downloading, and no financial transaction including royalties is involved, then ACDA could indeed help (again with the caveat that we do not want to compete with commercial publishers). This could be accomplished through ChoralNet now (or soon), particularly if it is a matter of digital exchange for public domain material.
     
    If what is needed is a commercial enterprise, then it would be best for someone in the profit sector to take on this project.
     
    Another idea I am working on is a site called ChoralPedia. ACDA owns this domain name, and I am working right now on creating a mirror site for IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library. ACDA would not maintain the work of IMSLP, but rather, create a portal to that material. At the time of this writing, IMSLP has over 329,000 music scores available for download–whoa!!  In addition, I have attempted to see if ACDA could collaborate or acquire CPDL, but to no avail. The difference here is that these resources are open source, not profit driven. I am aware of the challenges of both of these sites, but without reinventing the wheel, these resources seem to me to be great places to advance your idea.
     
    Speaking to your point of a centralized world choral library, I think we are making strides at this through our new offering of the Musica International Database FREE to all ACDA members. This international database has over 140,000 scores listed with a wealth of information about those scores, a fine search engine, and a growing list of scores being added to the database. This resource has a membership fee to non-ACDA members, but is available free from the ACDA website to logged in members. Musica, coupled with the IMSLP library, begins to resemble this one-stop location we would all love to have.

  13. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    Thank you Patricia for giving me the opportunity to talk about Choral Journal and our other ACDA publications. For 60 years Choral Journal has been ACDA’s flagship publication. As I like to joke when talking about the subject of history, the overwhelming thing about history is that it contains everything ! The same is true for Choral Journal, but that is the mission of the publication. It is my hope that three scholarly articles in each publication do not negate the six or more “How To” and practical information that is also there, not to speak of the choral reviews, book reviews, recording reviews, news and announcements for the profession, advertisement of resources, and other non-scholarly material.
     
    The three featured articles in Choral Journal will generally be scholarly articles, providing the best research on a variety of choral topics. This is part of ACDA’s mission. While the scholarly articles are vetted, footnoted, and lengthy, that should not overshadow the practical information contained in our Repertoire and Resources articles and other columns dedicated to recordings, choral reviews, and specific areas of choral education and performance such as children’s choirs, choral jazz, music for the church and synagogue, etc. I have to say, though, the following articles found in the last six months of Choral Journal are focused pretty heavily toward the trenches. Take a look at…
     
    • New Ways to Make Sound, October 2015
    • Ten Keys to Unlocking Artistic Choral Performance, October 2015
    • A Guide to Recruiting for High School Choirs, September 2015
    • Advice for the First-Year Choral Teacher, September 2015
    • Technology and the Choral Art, August, 2015
    • Notes for Success, August 2015
    • Improvisation in the Choral Setting, August 2015
    • The Choral Music Teacher as Artist, June-July 2015
    • Starting a Vocal Jazz Ensemble, June-July 2015
    If you are needing more of those “how-to’s” and other quick-fixes for “the trenches”, you will want to supplement your reading with ACDA’s quarterly online publication ChorTeach. ACDA has been publishing ChorTeach digitally since 2008, and I dare say most of our members don't know of this quarterly resource. This magazine was created for choral directors/music educators who are searching for answers and need fresh ideas or techniques to meet practical needs. The articles in ChorTeach have been “cherry picked” from our state and division ACDA newsletters around the United States with a focus on practicality. For example, the latest publication of ChorTeach contains these practical articles:
    • Choir Member Placement and Its Acoustic Effects
    • Going Global: World Music in the Choral Classroom
    • Guiding Music Interns: What it entails for Cooperating Teachers
    • Keeping the “Community” in Community Choirs
    • Planning Productive, Efficient Choral Rehearsals: Young Conductors, Take Note
    And for those who want even more scholarship than what Choral Journal publishes monthly, you will be interested in ACDA’s scientific journal, the International Journal for Research in Choral Singing. IJRCS offers refereed research reports that advance knowledge and practice in choral music.
     
    Of course, ChoralNet, also an ACDA media service, and ACDA’s Facebook page offer years of practical information and current forums and news.

  14. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
     
    Thanks, Wes, for lobbing me a “softball”! This is a fun question to address:
    My Top 5 Professional Bucket List Items
    1. For the choral profession—I want to see words to the effect of “The Choral Culture in the United States” on the cover of Time magazine or in a feature article in The New York Times in the next ten years. My professional goal is for choral music singing and ensembles to be so present in the US that we are known for having a “choral culture.”
    2. For ACDA—I want to see us live into the structure created for ACDA that will be put to a vote in January 2016, which will create 7 standing committees for ACDA to move us “outward” as an organization, and will give our grassroots the power and responsibility to energize the above “choral culture” in their home state and community.
    3. Toward a vision for “Tomorrow”—I want to accomplish the strategic planning, structural requirements, and programming necessary to secure ACDA’s financial security for decades to come.
    4. For my own research—I want to complete the book I am working on related to teaching music performance through sacred music literature. I have completed the historical aspect of the book, and I am now working through the analytical and pedagogical component.
    5. For my own choral performance—I have chosen NOT to perform Brahms’ A German Requiem until this point in my life, due to my personal awe for this work. While I am also in awe of other masterpieces, that has not stopped me from programming them, and some even multiple times (Mass in B Minor, Hodie, Messiah). Brahms’ Requiem has always been different for me. I am now looking forward to programming this monument.
     
    To your follow up question regarding social media, here are the benefits that I immediately see of social media toward choral music:
     
    • Readily available and viewable examples of a wealth of choral literature;
    • Sharing of “best practices” across all levels of performance;
    • Inexpensive communication of information for rehearsals and performances, both to performers and audiences;
    • Instant networking, “drive-by” mentoring, and searchable banks of information.
    On the “not so beneficial” side of the coin, I have observed these potential  setbacks:
     
    • Search engines, Google, and “ask anything” negates the wealth of information discovered when rabbits are chased and browsing can lead to discoveries in the potential of “stumbling upon”;
    • Keyword searches and direct answers often mean getting the punch line without the benefit of hearing the joke; in other words, answers in our field have a rich context, which can be overlooked in a surgical search.

  15. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
    Thanks, Paul, for touching on one of the major international initiatives ACDA has embraced over the last five years. We have expanded our relationship with Cuba, China, Sweden, South Korea, and soon we wil be working closely with Central and South America. As I evaluate our International Conductor Exchange Program, here are the plusses:
    • In 2016, ICEP will boast nearly 90 alumni worldwide who have promoted the objectives of ACDA and have strengthened our relationship with choral communities through international music exchange and cross-cultural collaboration;
    • ICEP Choral Conducting Fellows are in essence goodwill ambassadors for the choral profession whose primary focus is simultaneously artistic and humanistic. On behalf of all of us in ACDA, these USA conductors are connecting every member of their own singing communities with their international partners. The influence of this program becomes exponential.
    • As a result of these ACDA initial international residencies, ICEP alumni are creating new opportunities for collaboration and meaningful dialogue beyond the borders of the original exchange.
    In regard to challenges that still need "tweaking", these are the areas I am working on:
    • Originally we thought that we would operate this program by using our seven Divisions, which is how we are currently operating. However, this may not be the best model going forward. It may be that we connect our exchange conductors to interested institutions, state chapters, or some other host idea unrelated to a Division distribution;
    • I continue to look for "scalability" with the ICEP program, with the desire that ICEP serve an ever-increasing number of ACDA members. Moving forward, it is the hope of ICEP that we will continue to open doors for a broader cross section of our profession to participate in this program.
    To answer your question about things that have happened which may have been totally unexpected as a result of the ICEP program, the attendance by our past and present host countries at our own ACDA National Conference has resulted in a palpable presence. I'm sure that anyone attending our Dallas National Conference in 2013 or our Salt Lake City National Conference in 2015 felt the presence of over 250 conductors from Cuba, China, Sweden, South Korea, and South America. This attendance is a direct result of our ICEP program. Another "unexpected" is the number of countries that are approaching us now to be a part of future conductor exchange efforts. The MOST exciting result of this program, combined with other international efforts, is the decision by our National Board this summer to accept new chapters into ACDA from other countries throughout the Americas. Soon, ACDA will likely have chapters from North, Central, and South America that will have full membership in our association. We will then fully realize our name as the "American" Choral Directors Association, not only the "USA" Choral Directors Association.

  16. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
    Thanks for this question, John, and thank you for your podcasts on Choir Chat—very informative!
     
    A composer that went out of fashion that I would like to see return to the repertoire is the late 19th, early 20th century USA composer Dudley Buck. His anthem Rock of Ages, published in 1873 and catalogued as his Opus 65, No. 3 composition, is part of a lovely collection of hymn settings by the composer. Buck was the best known church musician at the turn of the 20th century. Born in Hartford, CT, he was the son of a merchant who gave him every opportunity to cultivate his musical talents. After attending Trinity College (CT) for four years (1858–1862) he studied at Leipzig Conservatory. He then studied in Dresden and Paris, and on returning to the US he held organ/choral positions in Hartford, Chicago (1869), Boston (1871) and New York City (1877-1902). In 1875 Buck went to NYC to assist Theodore Thomas. When Buck died, newspapers as far away from him as the Pacific Northwest printed his obituary. Today his music is relatively unknown, and I would like to see more of it performed. Most organists are familiar with his Concert Variations on ‘The Star Spangled Banner’.
     
    In the area of contemporary composition, I am excited about the choral writing of USA composer Christopher Theofanidis. I am performing his composition The Here and Now with the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus and Tulsa Symphony Orchestra in two weeks. In this choral/orchestral work, Theofanidis has compiled thirteen short poems by the poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi in an expression of joy, love, and gratitude, and mingled these ideas together with an underlying sense of longing and restlessness to return to the divine. Theofanidis blends elements of Asian music, minimalism, high chromaticism, and brightly colored impressionism in what I find to be a very lyrical, enjoyable, and soul-searching work. Theofanidis has several expanded choral works in his catalog.

  17. RESPONSE FROM TIM SHARP:
    First, thank you Ian for the great social media work you are doing. Your posts are inspiring and informative. Keep up the great work!
    Thanks for this proactive question as we look ahead to winter. I will list some of my “snow day” church anthems below, but first, let me mention how I think about “snow days” when they fall on a Sunday morning.
    I have always noticed those “snow routes” in Oklahoma, designating streets that will be cleared when inclement weather comes around, providing a clear path to navigate. I have noticed the same thing in coastal areas where there is a “hurricane route” to designate the easiest and best route away from the storm. I suggest that church musicians have the same thing: a “snow route”, in addition to the “snow day” anthem. By this I mean a complete plan of action for those days when snow brings chaos to your original planning. For example, alternative service music, alternative responses, alternative approach to congregational singing, as well as that “snow day” anthem.  Here are some of my favorites:
     
    Show Me Thy Ways by Walter L. Pelz, Augsburg Publishing House Catalog # 0800645421
    Stay With Us by Egil Hovland, Augsburg Publishing House Catalog # 0800658825
    This Child, This King by Daniel E. Gawthrop, Dunstan House Catalog # DH9401 (seasonal)
    Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal arr. by Alice Parker, Alfred Catalog # LG51331
    Create in Me, O God by Johannes Brahms, G. Schirmer Catalog # 7504
    Dona Nobis Pacem by Giulio Caccini, arr. by Litz/Hay, Colla Voce Catalog # 20-96410
    Mass in G Major by Franz Schubert (any/all movements of the ordinary)  Public Domain
     

  18. While I enjoy browsing through the Choral Journal, I find that it is not very pertinent to a conductor like me, who is “in the trenches” with non-auditioned community and church choirs made up of singers of all ages and skill levels. For example, the 14-page spreads on a particularly difficult choral work will never be of use to me yet they make up the bulk of your offerings. Has ACDA thought about any steps that will allow them to offer more useful resources or become more relatable to choral conductors like me?

  19. Hi Julie-
     
    This is great—I’m glad you’re doing this. I totally agree about the contagious effect of Tim’s energy—we actually hosted him in Hawai‘i recently and are still abuzz!
     
    My question is related to recruiting and although my perspective is collegiate, I know folks in the church, community, school, etc. worlds all need to recruit. So, for Tim, what are the five most important questions one needs to address when trying to recruit for their program? I’d be happy to see a universal set of questions, or maybe different sets based on different areas of our broad choral world.
     
    Thanks!
    Miguel
    HI-ACDA

  20. In my experience directing non-auditioned university choirs vocal music majors are discouraged from participating and typically do not receive ensemble credit if they choose to sing.  I think this is a great loss for the ensemble and the student.  The voice students provide valuable leadership as section leaders, mentors, and vocal models throughout the ensemble.  They also experience the teaching process with new eyes and ears as they explore theory, history, pedagogy, and education methods classes in relation to ensemble building.  How can we convince NASM and department administrators the value of the non-auditioned choir for the traditional music major?
     

  22. Dr. Sharp,
     
    As you well know the weather here in Oklahoma can always be unpredictable in the winter time.  Can you recommend some of your favorite snow day church anthems?
     
    Ian Gill

  24. Listen to this question tomorrow on the Find Your Forte podcast at http://www.ryanguth.com/026:
    “Times have changed and learned choral directors can no longer be purely scholars. ​What qualifications do you believe a 21st century choral director must posess in order to be successful in their own career, and how will ACDA provide resources, support, and guidance in an effort to embrace a choral director’s ever-expanding job description?”
    –Ryan Guth
     

  25. Thank you, Julie, for this opportunity to talk about things that ChoralNet readers and others are interested in. I spend a lot of time writing and speaking about what ACDA is doing, and what we want to do, so it is really exciting for me to talk about the things that others are interested in related to our shared mission. Bring it on!!

  26. What are the top five items on your professional bucket list?
     
    What have been the beneficial (or not so beneficial) effects of social media upon the choral music world?
     
     
     
     

  27. Hi Julie. I love this initiative. Perhaps I can start the conversation.
     
    As you know, my passion revolves around Latin American music. There is much to do in that area, and one of the questions I ask myself is how to be able to make the extensive catalog of Latin American choral/vocal works available to all colleagues in our field. Some progress has been made with Earthsongs, Gentry, etc., but there is great music published already by local Latin American companies that is difficult to access. Is there any way that ACDA could serve as a platform for this? Could we eventually have a “branch” of ACDA that deals with publications from around the world? It would be huge, and I am just fascinated only by dreaming about it.
     
    Also, and kind of related, I have always asked myself what would happen if we had a centralized Choral Music Library. I am not sure if this is something similar to the effort done with the Library of Congress. Wouldn’t it be great to have all choral music from the entire world in a central repository, perhaps a digital repository, that could be accessed by everybody for research?
     
    Cristian Grases

  28. Hi Julie!
     
    Ask Me Anything–great idea! I’d like you to ask Tim to give his current evaluation of the international conductors exchange that has been happening now for a couple years, I believe. What have been the plusses and what still need tweaking? What awesome things have happened which may have been totally unexpected?
     
    Paul Carey
    Oak Park, IL

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