I am truly humbled to offer these thoughts today in the context of our national ACDA conference focused on music and diversity. The name of Helen Kemp is known to many of us who have devoted our lives to nurturing and developing the love of singing in children. Helen Kemp was a highly respected vocal […]
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Silver Linings: Commitment and Engagement
By David L. Mennicke At Concordia University, St. Paul, we’ve been fortunate to have been able to meet face-to-face, with distancing, masks, and 30-minute rehearsal times. This has led us to working on less literature and more focus on skill-building. Unable to do live concerts, we’ve engaged in sharing recorded videos of our music. The […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Effort and Ease
Sthira Sukham Asanam “Postures should be stable and comfortable” Yoga Sutra 2.46, Sage Patanjali One of the great things about a yoga practice is bringing what we learn on the mat to the rest of our life. But even if you don’t practice (physical) yoga, you can still benefit from its wisdom. From Patanjali’s ancient […]
Silver Linings: Giving Grace, Growing Closer, and Building Trust
By Hilary Morton Everyone has had a hard year. I think choral directors might have had it a bit worse. We will be dealing with the fallout from this pandemic for the next few years at least, rebuilding our programs from the ground up. We haven’t been teaching “choir” as we have known it to […]
Silver Linings: Cross-Country Collaborative Choral Initiatives
By Tracy Wong “Shared joy is a double joy. Shared sorrow is half a sorrow.” This Swedish proverb rings true as we reach the one-year mark of this pandemic and reflect on how COVID-19 continues to impact the global choral community. In Canada, the changing restrictions for this evolving pandemic have prompted choral leaders to […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Emergence
I am writing this post one year to the day since my last in-person, (unmasked) full choir rehearsal. I am not quite sure how I feel. Sort of unsettled and wondering why, I guess. We are receiving vaccines, seeing more re-openings, and taking steps toward the resumption of “normal” life. I so look forward to seeing my (also […]