(From the Choral Journal article A Choral Director’s Rehearsal Checkup [p.33] by Charlene Archibeque) Do you begin each rehearsal on time or even early? ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER Do you have a thought for the day, goals for the day, or illustration on the front board? ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER Do your singers know […]
CJ Replay: A Rehearsal Quiz
CJ Replay: Sight-Singing Suggestions
(From the Choral Journal article Sight-Singing in the Choral Rehearsal by Nancy Telfer) 1) Sight-singing sessions should be short and concentrated. Exercises should progress sequentially, with each short example designed to teach and reinforce a separate skill and to build on previously learned skills. 2) Since sight-singing vocal music involves reading words […]
CJ Replay: Instant Tone in a Warm-Up
(From the Choral Journal column, “Musica Pratica” [p.41] by Nina Gilbert) Don Neuen, Director of Choral Activities at the Eastman School of Music, uses a warm-up early in the fall that inspires instant, compelling choral tone. “Imagine that a long-lost friend has just appeared at the door to our rehearsal room,” he suggests […]
CJ Replay: Choral/Orchestral Balance
(From the Choral Journal article “Choral/Orchestral Balance: An Old Problem Reviewed” by James Fankhauser ) Can anyone imagine a choral director who would not choose to have his choir within eight feet of the podium for choral-orchestral works? Does anyone really like placing the choir at the back of the stage, behind the […]
Scholarly Abstractions: Sven-David Sandström
Reno, Timothy. A Messiah for Our Time: An Analysis of Sven-David Sandström’s New Oratorio. Doctor of Musical Arts dissertation, University of Maryland, 2010. In honor of Handel’s anniversary year in 2009, German conductor Helmuth Rilling commissioned Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström to create a new oratorio using the full text of Messiah, by Charles Jennens. […]