Scott Dorsey

Choral Caffeine is here weekly to motivate, stimulate, and educate.   But that’s NOT what is important this Wednesday.   If I may opine.  Take a couple days away from frenetic 21st-century digital madness.  Look at the smile on the face of a family member, not a tiny glowing screen.  Listen to the sound of […]

National Council on the Arts Meeting Friday, October 28, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. EDT   Meeting to be webcast live at arts.gov   Washington, DC — The National Council on the Arts, the advisory body for the National Endowment for the Arts, convenes in public session on Friday, October 28, 2011 from 9:00 – 11:00 […]

In trying to find a little something spooky for Halloween, I occurred that scariest piece of music I ever conducted (on a Halloween, oddly enough) was the Thomas Tallis “Spem in Alium,” a monolithic 40-voice “motet” scored for eight choirs of five voices each set in a score that stands two feet tall.  Don’t misunderstand […]

The piece starts.  The choir is singing in G major.  All is well.    Somewhere in the B section you feel your back stiffen as the key slides down to the key of G-‘not-quite-flat-but-it-sure-ain’t-G-anymore.’  Then comes the modulation to the dominant, which is supposed to be D.  But because the choir is well below G […]

Every conductor has a bag full of audience horror stories . . . ringing cell phones, screaming kids, and clueless folks who think they’re at the local basketball game.  Oh, sure, we may laugh about it when we’re together at a conference, but truth be told it is a pretty big irritation for most of […]

Today we consider a little Vocal Jazz (and no, to answer the question I ask in today's Choral Caffeine, 'Jazz' is NOT a dirty word).  Listen to this recording and consider just a couple things. How carefully must the singers LISTEN to tune those challenging 7th, 9th and 11th chords?  How exactly must singers match […]