How to Live Long and Prosper as a Choral Music Educator

The September 2022 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “How to Live Long and Prosper as a Choral Music Educator” by J. Edmund Hughes. You can read it in its entirety at acda.org/choraljournal. Following is a portion from the introduction.
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As a junior in college, my conducting career began in 1968 directing a church choir. My teaching career began in February 1971 at Tucson High School as a permanent substitute for a teacher who resigned due to illness. Today, I feel blessed to still have the opportunity to remain involved in a profession I dearly love and respect.

I “officially” retired from Phoenix College in 2003 and transferred to Chandler-Gilbert Community College (AZ). My “retirement” consisted of basically working full time teaching choir, music theory, aural perception, conducting, organizing two choral festivals per year, and doing over 100 high school clinics in each of my eight years there. When we moved to Washington State, I was asked to direct Chorale (non-auditioned ensemble) at the University of Puget Sound. After a wonderful seven and a half years at UPS, my wife and I moved to Eugene, OR, in January 2022. I am currently seventy-four years old and hope to continue my involvement in our choral profession as long as I have the passion, persistence, patience…and ability to do so.

So far, retirement has been wonderful, and I can still do what I love to do: teach. I have been able to continue with the musical aspects of teaching, and for the administrative, faculty meetings, committees, etc… “See ya later!” Thankfully, we are in a field where our careers are not necessarily limited by age nor length. As it is with our students, I realize that “one size” does not fit all, and that we are not all the same. You may not agree with some of the following statements or ideas. If that is the case, I hope it may lead you on a path to what does work for you.

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Read the rest of this article in the September 2022 issue of Choral Journal.