Rich Kirby, the GRAMMY Foundation The GRAMMY Foundation ® and The Recording Academy ® have just announced 25 semi-finalists for the 2017 Music Educator Award™, and we are delighted to note that 5 ACDA members are among them! The Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college, public, and private schools) […]
From Our Readers
Reflections on a Lifetime of Music Making – Peter Tiboris
I began looking back on my 60-plus years of music study and performance, which began in 1952 when I first took piano lessons from Mrs. Meyer at age 5, and then, two years later, when I became church organist at the St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Sheboygan, Wisconsin (my father, a dentist, was […]
For Singers: Don’t Relax, Worry
“If you’re nervous, that means you care and you want to give your best.” – Adriana Lima Whether you’ve been singing since Beethoven figured out which end of the pen the ink went on or this is your first performance ever, concert night can (will) bring on the nerves. It’s natural; for months, you’ve been […]
The Four Functions of a Church Choir
Since starting at my current church, the choir has rallied behind four “functions” of a church choir and has been central in helping the church become what song-enliveners affectionately call a “singing congregation.” As the director of a church choir I use four functions to explain why the church choir exists. Those priorities help determine […]
For Singers: The Concert is WHEN?
“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” – Robert H. Schuller There are two answers to the question, “What’s happening tomorrow?” if it’s posed to a member of a chorus the night before a concert: “We have a concert tomorrow night, I can’t wait.” “We have a concert tomorrow night…what do I do? AUGH!!!” […]
The Challenges…and Joys…of Traveling with an Older Choir
I’ve got the travel bug…and, luckily, I conduct an adult community choir filled with plenty of women who feel the same way I do about seeing the world. So many countries, so little time. In the four years since I founded the Bucks County Women’s Chorus we’ve embarked on two international tours. The first took […]