Choralosophy

My personal view is that Black History in the US is American History, and I long for the day when we don’t have to carve out the shortest month of the year for such an important aspect of our national identity. Instead, we will have learned to weave it all into one NATIONAL story. That […]

Episode 29: Part 2 of Choral Music: a HUMAN art Form with Maria Ellis“Carving out a place for a Girl Conductor.”In this episode Maria Ellis and I discuss the practical aspects of recruiting across cultural lines for our choirs through the telling of her own story. Maria grew up not knowing that a career as […]

In this first installment, I address the question “Why Does Representation in Classical Music matter?” My answer to this question, and subsequent defense of that answer got me kicked off of a Facebook page. So in this episode, I tell that story. It’s a doozy. My answer was “Representation matters because music is for ALL. […]

This is a FASCINATING discussion with Donald Brinegar, author of the recently published “Pitch Perfect: a Theory and Practice of Choral Intonation.” Donald and I discuss the sometimes misunderstood concepts related to intonation and what makes something “in tune” or “out of tune.” Is it possible that we our education related to this topic has been […]

Seven important concepts to master to keep your choir moving forward for an ENTIRE academic year. Sometimes we fall into ruts. Sometimes the singers do… Ultimately, both scenarios are bad and are OUR fault as the director. I have had wildly successful school years and seasons with churches and pro choir. And some that fell […]

In this episode I asked the expert, Dr. Amanda Quist to chat with me about teaching the concept of vowels, resonance and intonation. Is it possible to measure a vowel scientifically? Or is the purity of a vowel subject to the opinion of the conductor? We discuss what I believe to be a new frontier […]