By Robyn Hilger All the best pieces of my life have been connected to music. Music class is where I discovered where I excelled, learned important skills like work ethic and collaboration, and where I first practiced being a leader. And, as a music teacher, I found that I had the opportunity to impact the […]
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Songs of (re)Imagining: Amy Gordon
Amy Gordon, an LA-based composer, has a catalog of almost 40 choral works, including pieces for treble choirs and online performance. In addition to her compositional activity, she teaches theory and has created a theory-themed Escape Room game (called Escape Tone), available in both Easy and Intermediate for purchase on her website. This blog […]
What’s Hot and What’s Not? Tell Us What YOU Think!
By Rebecca Lord What music is being programmed for our nation’s choirs and why? What issues or criteria weigh most heavily in the minds of those choosing repertoire and where are conductors turning for ideas and inspiration? Are there solid trends or are our choirs all over the map? Become part of the answer to […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Rest in Goodness
Rest—real rest—can be elusive. With our ever-thinking minds, busy schedules, and life’s shifting terrain, we can find ourselves unable to really settle into a fully relaxed state. To release physical, emotional, psychological holding. To sleep well. To feel restored rather than just OK. In many ways, experiencing a state of deep rest is our greatest […]
Observing Ramadan in the Music Classroom
By Bobbi Elkamely Twenty years ago, I experienced my first Ramadan. It was one of the most difficult experiences in my life. I had only recently converted to Islam and was struggling to find the balance in my life as a new Muslim post 9/11. While the Muslim community was supportive, my friends and family […]
Performing the Bach Passions as a Jew
By Ayana Haviv Tomorrow I begin rehearsals on Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, as I have done with countless Passions over the years, and as always I am steeling myself for the isolation and alienation I feel as a Jew singing this intrinsically and unquestionably anti-Semitic text of an equally unquestionable masterpiece. In the great classic […]