philip copeland

Slaves, prisoners, and those buried alive – they sing.   My good friend Terre was moved to blog about the impact singing has on the lives of the troubled: These anecdotes demonstrate the deepest purpose of singing. Words are not enough, once the circumstances of life become overwhelming. Whether a heartbroken teenager listening to the […]

Helping you Harmonise gives us a nice discussion on the use of conducting patterns in conducting. See what you think: The Case for Patterns They provide a lingua franca common to musicians across the western art tradition They reflect and articulate the underlying rhythmic structure of the music They provide a clear framework to help […]

Tim Sharp gives us a realistic look at the universality of music when it comes to literacy:   Like it or not, as we work in the 21st century, in every other way, music is NOT a universal language. Accepting that it simply “is” does not cut it any longer. On the subject of style […]

ChoralNet user Tom Lloyd sent me this great news about music returning to earthquake stricken Haiti:   “Amid the desperation and despair in earthquake-ravaged Port-au-prince, musicians from Haiti’s national chorus, jazz band and philharmonic gave their first post-quake concert. The musicians were able to rescue some instruments from the rubble, and they held the concert […]

The Choir Girl is accepted into a graduate program and realizes she won’t be able to make the summer choir tour.  Here is her reaction: I have to admit that when I received my acceptance call from the University, after the initial shock from that message died down, the FIRST thing that popped into my […]

ACDA has a new name for one of the R&S areas and they are talking about it.   Here is Robyn Lana, the National Chair for the newly named “Children’s and Youth Community Choirs” Repertoire and Standards Committee: The committee proposed the title change in an attempt to be inclusive and clearly indicate who is […]