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Amanda Bumgarner

International Journal of Research in Choral Singing: 2021 Volume 9 Overview

January 3, 2022 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (IJRCS)  is ACDA’s scholarly publication that welcomes studies that apply rigorous, systematically-grounded methodologies, either quantitative or qualitative, to investigate phenomena of potential interest to all who sing in, work with, or are otherwise interested in choral ensembles.

Below is an overview of the Volume 9, articles published in 2021.

For more information, to submit an article, or to view the full archives, visit https://acda.org/ijrcs
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 Effects of Vibrato and Pitch-Varied Vocal Models on Acoustic Measures of High School and Undergraduate Singers’ Vocal Performance (by Sandy P. Hinkley)
The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of vibrato and pitch-varied vocal models on high school and undergraduate singers’ intonation and use of vibrato.

 Choral Directors’ Self Report of Accommodations Made for Boys’ Changing Voices: A Twenty Year Replication (by Janice N. Killian, John B. Wayman, Patrick M. Antinone)
To explore possible changes in educators’ self-reported strategies used to accommodate changing voices, we replicated survey data collected between 1998-2000 (Killian, 2003).

 Assessment in the Choral Classroom: A Case Study of a Secondary Choral Program (by Elizabeth R. Hearn)
The study identified external and internal influences that directly affected the use of assessment practices at Allen Thomas High School (ATHS), including the choir’s role in the school curriculum and culture.

 Male Adolescents’ Narratives about Their Choral (Non)participation in Public Secondary Music Schools of Greece (by Antonis Ververis)
The purpose of the present study was to investigate boys’ views about their participation in secondary school music ensembles with emphasis on the factors which influenced their decision whether to join school choirs.

 Real Voices, Virtual Ensemble 2.0: Perceptions of Participation in Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choirs (by Stephen A. Paparo)
The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of participation in Eric Whitacre’s virtual choirs among mostly amateur singers (N = 312) from 31 countries and answer four research questions.

 Facilitating Musical Expression in School Choirs: Honoring Individuality, Seeking Unity (by Andrea Maas)
This study explored how American high school choral directors and singers conceptualized and practiced musical expression. Data were generated through rehearsal observations, video-stimulated recall interviews (SRI), and semi-structured interviews with conductors and student focus groups.

Filed Under: IJRCS Tagged With: ACDA Membership Benefits, ACDA Publications, IJRCS, Research

CJ Replay: Choral Singers “In the Zone”

December 27, 2021 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The December 2016 issue of Choral Journal ifeatures an article titled “Choral Singers ‘In the Zone’: Toward Flow through Score Study and Analysis” by Christopher Walters. You can read it in its entirety at acda.org/choraljournal. Search the December 2016 archives menu in the sidebar. Following is a portion from the article.

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The bell rings abruptly during your Concert Choir rehearsal. One of the basses exclaims: “Class is over already? That was fast!” You suddenly realize that you and your ensemble’s intense concentration has been snapped out of one of your best rehearsals of the year. You immediately register that every chorister appeared particularly engaged and productive, and that the collective music making seemed to achieve an especially high level of artistry, accuracy, and focus. Indeed, an alto adds: “It’s like we were in the zone or something!”

Though perhaps a bit simplified, the above scenario depicts what choral musicians have likely experienced at least once in their musical lives—a type of optimal experience now codified in what is known as the psychological construct flow.(1) Flow has achieved popular familiarity through how athletes commonly describe such moments—namely, as being “in the zone”—and certainly represents the type of experience toward which we all strive as choral conductors. It is the heightened subjective state where we feel at once completely absorbed, highly challenged, and decidedly capable in a given activity; where a distinct period of ostensibly effortless action seems to stretch or even fly by; and upon looking back at such experiencing, we process it as among the best moments in our lives.

A term first coined in 1975 by the noted research psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,(2) flow(3) has garnered significant scholarly attention over the past forty years, informing multiple areas of inquiry, including psychology, sociology, education, sports and leisure, business, medicine, motivation theory, attention theory, and the visual and performing arts.(4) To be sure, music has been dubbed a “quintessential flow activity,”(5) and flow is now an important and relevant area of serious music education research.(6) For the astute choral conductor, then, this begs the following queries: What, if anything, can the choral conductor do to account for flow in rehearsals or performances? Is it possible to intervene in such a manner as to essentially create flow among our singers? And if so, how might we do it?

The purpose of this article is to assist with answering such questions by outlining one viable way in which to incorporate Csikszentmihalyi’s flow concept into the general perspective of the choral conductor. In light of the current literature, conductors can very likely set the conditions prone to foster flow in choral singers. This can be accomplished by way of applying the high challenge-skill balance “dimension” of flow to the conductor’s essential task of score study, which results in the analytical necessity of identifying “salient potential challenges.” This approach can serve as an example for other conductors to emulate and modify in their particular contexts so that our singers may indeed become so capably immersed in their music making that rehearsals seem to fly by.

Notes

1 For the seminal texts, see: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York: Harper and Row, 1990); and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (New York: Basic Books, 1997).
2 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1975).
3 Used interchangeably in the literature with the flow experience, flow theory, the flow concept, the flow model, flow state theory, etc.
4 See, for example: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Isabella Selega Csikszentmihalyi, eds., Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988); and Jeanne Nakamura and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, “The Concept of Flow,” in Handbook of Positive Psychology, ed. C.R. Snyder and Shane J. Lopez (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 89-105.
5 Lori A. Custodero, “Seeking Challenge, Finding Skill: Flow Experience and Music Education,” Arts Education Policy Review 103, no. 3 (January/February 2002): 7.
6 Sarah Sinnamon, Aidan Moran, and Michael O’Connell, “Flow Among Musicians: Measuring Peak Experiences of Student Performers,” Journal of Research in Music Education 60, no. 1 (April 2012): 6-25.

Filed Under: Choral Journal Tagged With: ACDA Membership Benefits, ACDA Publications, Choral Journal, CJ Replay

CJ Replay – Choral Conversation with James Benjamin Kinchen, Jr.

December 20, 2021 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

Choral Journal’s ongoing column called “Choral Conversations” features interviews with noted choral conductors and composers. An interview with James Benjamin Kinchen Jr. is featured in the December 2020 issue.

You can read the interview in its entirety online at acda.org/publications/choral-journal. Click “Search Archives” and choose December 2020 from the dropdown menu.
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What principles and core values guide you in your conducting and your teaching?

Choral music is a vocal art. My work honors the centricity of the human voice and the appreciation of the beautiful range of colors and timbres that the voice can bring. I am excited by the capabilities of the voice. Choral music is also an ensemble art; we are not a group of undisciplined singers singing together. Choral singing is the ultimate experience of a team effort. The composer must speak. I believe very firmly in trying to understand what the composer wanted by studying and knowing the score. I think these are my best moments as a choral artist, as a conductor, as a teacher. I have discovered enough of what the composer wants and how I might achieve it to aid the singers and orchestra in that direction so that the composer speaks to the audience. Choral music is, above all, a human expression. As a conductor, I want a balance of head and heart in the art so that there is this intellectual piece of music-making right alongside this emotional/spiritual component. Most often, the best of what we do is the result of hard work. The sweat has to be there to enable the inspiration to happen.

From where did your interest in the negro spiritual come?

It is a connection that goes back to junior high, where we performed many of the classical arrangements of the “spiritual.” (Negro folksong was the term that Dawson always used.) Growing up, I heard them sung as folk pieces in our church, too. But in junior and senior high school, while we performed the sacred and secular music of Western composers, we also did the “spirituals.” It seemed so natural for us. As we did them more and more, I came to appreciate them more—mainly when I understood where they came from. They were utterances of my ancestors, profound expressions of faith in religion (Christianity). Even though given to my forebears by their subjugators, they were able to turn it upside down to make it become something relevant to them and their situation. So, they knew whose side God was on when they sang, “Go down, Moses.” They understood that they were the people who needed to be let go and be made free.

Read the rest of this interview in the December 2020 issue of Choral Journal.

Filed Under: Choral Journal Tagged With: ACDA Membership Benefits, ACDA Publications, Choral Journal, CJ Replay

IJRCS-Facilitating Musical Expression in School Choirs: Honoring Individuality, Seeking Unity

December 13, 2021 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (IJRCS)  is ACDA’s scholarly publication that welcomes studies that apply rigorous, systematically-grounded methodologies, either quantitative or qualitative, to investigate phenomena of potential interest to all who sing in, work with, or are otherwise interested in choral ensembles. Below is the abstract from this article written by Andrea Maas titled “Facilitating Musical Expression in School Choirs: Honoring Individuality, Seeking Unity.”

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ABSTRACT

Expression is a critical component of musical experiences for many educators and students and some studies show that the most common goal of a musical experience is to infl uence emotion (Juslin & Västfjäll, 2008). However, the role of emotion in musical expression, and effective approaches for developing musical expression, remain unclear (Brenner & Strand, 2013; Juslin & Laukka, 2003; Meissner, 2021; Pavlou, 2013; Reimer, 2009; Woody, 2000). Unique considerations for singers, including facial expressions, vocal timbre, and lyrics, make choral settings rich environments for exploring how conductors and singers work toward an expressive ensemble performance. This study explored how American high school choral directors and singers conceptualized and practiced musical expression. Data were generated through rehearsal observations, video-stimulated recall interviews (SRI), and semi-structured interviews with conductors and student focus groups. A shared conceptualization of musical expression was constructed through data analysis which served as a working definition for the study. Specific approaches for facilitating musical expression are discussed in the following categories: (a) orienting ensembles toward musical expression, (b) approaches for facilitating musical expression that honor the individuality of singers, and (c) approaches toward a unified ensemble musical expression. Implications for choral directors who wish to facilitate musical expression with singers are described.

Visit https://acda.org/publications/international-journal-of-research-in-choral-singing/ to read this article

**The ACDA Symposium on Research in Choral Singing will take place April 29, 2022. Find out more here.**

Filed Under: IJRCS Tagged With: ACDA Membership Benefits, ACDA Publications, IJRCS

January Choral Journal Preview

December 6, 2021 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The newest issue of Choral Journal is available online. This issue is a complete preview of the sessions and performances at all 6 ACDA Region Conferences in February and March 2022.

ACDA members can log in with their username and password to view and download the newest edition. You can also read our electronic version, available at acda.org/choraljournal

Conference information is available at acda.org/region-conferences

Filed Under: Choral Journal Tagged With: ACDA Membership Benefits, ACDA Publications, Choral Journal Preview, conferences

CJ Replay: Building a Foundation: Interviews with International Exchange Program Conducting Fellows

November 29, 2021 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The May 2021 issue of Choral Journal is online and is a focus on international activities. This issue features an article titled “Building a Foundation: Interviews with
International Exchange Program Conducting Fellows” by T. J. Harper with Jeffery Ames, Jihoon Park, Sara Durkin, Rodrigo Faguaga, Julie Yu, and Ken Wakia.
 You can read it in its entirety at acda.org/choraljournal. Following is a portion from the article.

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What insights have you gained about your country of residence through the ACDA International Conductors Exchange Program?

Jihoon Park: Through my interactions with the American choral conductors, I recognized how valuable and powerful Korea’s music, history, and heritage is. I firmly believe that Korean culture has the ability to bring positivity and light to the world. It is a culture that has depth, and once tapped into, my heritage can provide a non-Korean a special kind of experience. Having cultural interactions between the United States and Korea, I am certain both nations can establish meaningful musical relations.

Jeffery Ames: The country of Korea dealt with several tense occupations (Japanese, Russian, American, and a civil war). The Korean culture knows what it means to experience the joy and pain of the human experience. This can be heard in its music. It’s passionate. It’s filled with emotion. It’s filled with ecstasy. In many ways, I see and hear a correlation between the folk music of Korea and the Negro spiritual. In the same manner of some purely American music, we know how to sing and play about joy and pain. American music is passionate and filled with emotion. It’s amazing to see the connectivity from one culture to others.

Julie Yu: I remember driving by one of the largest slums in Nairobi (the largest urban slum in Africa). My host explained that there are government projects in place to provide support for these people and get them out (some websites estimate the Kibera could have 500,000 to 1 million people living there). I asked why wouldn’t people leave there if they could. He said, they have a complete social structure inside this community. Some don’t want to leave. Many have been born there, raised children, and died there.

I had a major epiphany in that moment. My privilege makes me assume that they would want to leave and are suffering so much, and my god complex makes me immediately want to help and fix. That’s what has stuck with me coming back to the States. I want to make a difference in the world, but it is not my privilege or my wealth that will help me. It is instead understanding that no matter what the circumstances of a community, they will create a social structure to survive, and it is not my job to “fi x it” but to understand it, appreciate it, and learn from it. And through relationships we share musical and artistic experiences that go both ways.

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Read the full article in the May 2021 issue of Choral Journal at acda.org/choraljournal

Filed Under: Choral Journal Tagged With: ACDA Membership Benefits, ACDA Publications, Choral Journal, CJ Replay, icep, International Activities, International Initiatives

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On This Day
May 27

French composer and conductor Maurice Ravel made his conducting debut at the Société Nationale de Musique with a performance from the manuscript of his overture “Shéhérazade” on this day in 1899.

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