Summer 2020 ChorTeach Preview

ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly online publication, designed for those who work with singers of all levels. A full annotated ChorTeach index is available online at acda.org/chorteach. Over 160 articles are organized into seventeen categories. For submission information, to view the index, or to read the latest issue, visit acda.org/chorteach.

Volume 12, Issue 4, is now available online and contains the following four articles:

Virtual Rehearsals in the Time of the Pandemic by Darius Polikaitis

“As I write this, the evening news is reporting on the latest government guidance regarding social distancing, and preparations for combating the coronavirus are in full swing. The markets are undergoing precipitous declines, and events are being cancelled left and right. Some grocery staples are sold out, and many of us are feeling apprehensive or, at the very least, uneasy. Yet even in these unsettling times, people are finding innovative ways to share the gift of music with each other.”

Knowing the Score: Where Pedagogy and Classroom Management Meet the Unexpected by Thomas Blue

“Knowing the choral score leads to a better understanding of vocal and choral pedagogy and a more student-centered approach to what is in the music. Knowing the score results in the teacher having to focus less on time-consuming and often energy-draining classroom management. This article will share an approach to score study focusing on vocal and choral pedagogy for adolescent singers and how this focus can improve ones planning, teaching, and performance.”

It Starts with a Dream! by William Bennett

“One summer night about a month before school started, I drove out to the school. The campus was pitch black since the security lights hadn’t been fully installed, and a bright moon lit the grounds of the campus. It was a warm, foggy summer night, and I was the only person on campus. Aside from the occasional car passing, it was almost silent and very still. I drove to the outside of the choir room where there is a window into that room. I stood looking into the room, and I dreamed.”

Planning Ahead: Five Considerations for Future Choral Music Classrooms by Andrew Lusher

“My school has an unwritten rule: When something goes wrong, take four minutes and fifty-nine seconds to be emotional. Then it’s time to move forward. I admit that it’s taken me a bit longer, nearly six weeks, to fully grieve the loss of the end of the school year. When the quarantine mandate was issued, my students and I were two days away from premiering a commissioned work from an internationally-known composer, five days before our annual state assessment, and just over a month until our annual musical production. It felt like the house that we had been designing and building together all year had just disappeared.”