(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “Achieving Peak Performance: Rehearsal, Performance Attitudes, and Pre-Concert Routines,” by Daniel Taddie) Singers can raise the level of their performances by keeping in mind, and executing, six performance attitudes, which can be grouped in pairs: “Think!” and “Feel!,” “Watch!” and “Listen!,” “Communicate!” and “Sing with Energy!” […]
CJ Replay: Rehearsing Messiah
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “Messiah 1985: A Practical Approach to Rehearsing,” by Richard A. Smith) One of the greatest challenges as we study and rehearse the choruses from Messiah is to approach the work with a new diligence that will allow us to go beyond our past associations with it: […]
CJ Replay: Are Singers More Aesthetic?
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “Choral and Orchestral Conducting: An Interview with Robert Shaw” by Antonio M. Molina) Molina: Would you now care to comment, based upon your wide range of experiences, upon some ideas or concepts which I have come upon in my comparative study of choral and orchestral conducting? For […]
CJ Replay: Successful Audition Recordings
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “Honor Choir Taped Auditions: Keys to Success” by David Dietz [p. 45]) Student’s successful acceptance to an ACDA Honor Choir begins with an application process that involves recording individual voices. These tapes are sent to a chairperson’s address and subsequently heard by a panel of choral […]
CJ Replay: Developing Church Musicians
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “The Training of Church Choir Leaders” by Russell Hammar) The greatest need in the field of church music today is for vital musicians, who are able to work with people; for persons who can develop the potential musical and spiritual resources in others. The choir director, […]
GUEST BLOG: “My Journey Away from Contemporary Worship Music” by Dan Cogan
MY JOURNEY AWAY FROM CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP MUSIC by Dan Cogan I have been what many would call a “worship leader” for close to two decades. When I first became involved in “worship ministry” in an Assemblies of God youth group we sang such songs as The Name of the Lord Is a Strong Tower, As the Deer, Lord […]