A conducting colleague said to me once, “I never listen to choral music. That’s too much like work.” I certainly hope I never reach that point. Yes, our craft is indescribably demanding, and the day-to-day grind can be wearing and wearying (especially at this time of the season). Yes, we do need to cleanse […]
Stick Time: Conducting Study 8
Sometimes in a concert we want (desperately) for one selection to flow into another seamlessly, without the knife of applause that severing performance energy and sonic cohesion. Surely ALL of us have had an elegant transition diminished by a well-intentioned audience member who just HAD to clap their hands. In today's conducting study, we […]
Add 300 Choral Pieces to Your Playlist!
The chance to hear great choral performance – both brilliantly-performed gems of the standard repertoire and new cutting-edge compositions – is one of the main reasons people attend ACDA Conferences. Now you can put the music from ACDA's most recent National Conference in your favorite digital listening device. A thumbdrive containing 300 selections (MP3 Format) […]
Demystifying Score Study
(From the interest session, “Process to Product: Demystifying Score Study,” by David Rayl. Presented during the 2012 North Central Division Conference) Score study need not be daunting or excessively time consuming or drudgework. Each of us has the skills and the imagination to do it. We have the time to do this. And […]
Saturday Respite: Precision and Honor
As is so often the case, we tend to look at a long holiday weekend in the summer months and think, "Barbeque" without a thought for the reason we have a day off. Pause to remember the sacrifice of the fallen.
Saturday Respite: This Song Will be Stuck in Your Head All Day
Now, I’m gonna go make a sandwich . . .