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A Cappella guru, and ACDA Contemporary and Commercial co-chair, Rob Dietz joins me this week to tell his story of passion for the “Pop A Cappella” genre of ensemble vocal music. Rob is well known in this sub-genre of choral music for his work on “The Sing Off” and collaborations with groups as wide ranging as Pentatonix, […]
Education
Creating Laboratories for Friction with Mónica Guzmán
Classrooms have become ground zero for the problem of political polarization. What is being taught, who is teaching it, how it’s being taught, how it is funded, etc. Are we teaching Critical Race Theory, or are we not? Should we be? These and many questions have become a toxic political football. The problem of this […]
“Belonging” Isn’t Top-Down
A hybrid episode! We run the risk of oversimplifying educational concepts, packaging them in seminars and professional development sessions for sale, and actually HARMING students. Or at least not helping them. Educational theories often carry precious little evidence, but we as educators frequently feel ill equipped to question them. Often times these oversimplifications are simply […]
My Favorite Part of the Job
Directing choirs is about the people… well, it’s kind of also about the music… but I’m not supposed to say that out loud, so it’s just about PEOPLE! I grew up captivated by music. It wasn’t until later that I fell in love with the transformative personal power of group singing. Since that time, I […]
All Students DESERVE Music Literacy with Odell Zeigler IV
An Unconventional Approach to the Urban Choral Classroom I believe one of the biggest goals is getting the students interested in singing choral music before we start trying to operate out of formality. How do we get students interested in something they are not familiar with? Odell Zeigler IV Support the Show Read the Blog […]
Culturally Responsive Teaching in Urban Choral Education: Tips on Repertoire, Resources, and Relationship
By Emily Halbert Culturally Responsive Teaching is the buzz phrase for teaching in the 21st century, not just in general education, in choral music education as well. When I entered the choral conducting profession, I knew there would be a disconnect between my education, experiences, and the communities I desired to teach. Thankfully, my teacher […]