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An Unconventional Approach to the Urban Chorus Classroom for the New Choral Director

November 20, 2021 by From Our Readers Leave a Comment

By Odell Zeigler

New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common. – John Locke

Have you ever gone along with the majority or followed a script and felt it was not something you should continue to do? Well, let me begin by saying that this blog isn’t about comparing non-urban to urban chorus programs, criticizing scripts, or rejecting conventional approaches to choral pedagogy because I subscribe to foundational principles, and have learned at great institutions like you, but I want to share my unconventional approach in the urban choral setting. This blog is intended for the new high school choral director in the urban setting.

I know some of you may be silently saying to yourself, “Children are children,” or similar. While this statement is true, I want to encourage each of you to think about the population you serve, and ask yourself, “What is best for this group or for my program?” Only you will know this answer. My post is based on my experience in urban education, so feel free to take what is helpful and discard the rest as you know what is truly appropriate for your program.

In graduate school I spent quality time in various chorus classrooms across the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. I went above the allotted full-time credit hours so I could formulate independent studies to get a taste of what leading choruses in various communities looked like and felt like. I was able to observe and teach in each of these school districts. I learned and gained a lot, but I learned that no program operates exactly like another, and that some choral programs might operate completely in an unconventional manner. Rather than point to the overall barriers within urban education, I instead want to share a few issues for the new choral director that may be permeating through their urban choral program. Here are a few issues that choral leaders may face (these are not indicative of all urban chorus spaces and may apply to some who teach outside the urban space):

Solfège (they may have always sung on words)
Sheet music (they may have always been taught by rote without a score)
Sight-reading (May be completely foreign)
Maintaining an arched soft-palate (It feels weird to sing like this)
Tongue placement (what is this?!)
Classical literature (unfamiliar with the style overall)

These are just a few of the potential issues, but hopefully they will challenge us to reflect on our approach to the choral space in the urban setting. I know you have learned from a great institution; you may have attended several conferences, you have great books in your care written by choral legends, and so on. Fundamentally, however, you need to figure out how to handle situations when your singers come to choir with one or more of these challenges. You could jump right in and follow your script, your notes from your choral methods course, or utilize other conventional resources and approaches, but I want to encourage you to try the following:

Build relationships (make it personal and not general)
Music literacy (find fun ways to teach music literacy skills)
Begin with rote teaching, if that is the method they are most familiar with
Creative programing (collaborating with orchestra, band, dance, or theater)
Ask for song suggestions (be careful here, you may choose one selection)

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? We know that buy-in is of utmost importance; definitely the new choral director entering into this environment.

As cliché as it sounds, relationship building would be number one on my list. As you know, students will always try their best to succeed in a space where they feel valued and connected. I do not want to give you a script (no pun intended) but I would suggest focusing on individual relationships, and being intentional about getting around to speak to different students before the bell rings, during breaks, after the closure of the lesson. Personally, I do not view general greetings such as “Good morning everyone,” or general questions such as, “How is everyone doing?” as being an impactful way to build solid relationships. Try to ask these questions to each student independently when you get a chance, and think of a few more casual conversation starters.

Secondly, I would suggest finding fun and creative ways to teach music literacy skills. If students were never taught to read music or challenged from a musical notation standpoint, then teaching it straight up may not yield the best results. As you are introducing a piece, you may not want to have them sing on solfège or a neutral syllable. Why? If they do not have strong reading skills, then they will not be successful. And, students will become bored and feel defeated because they are tasked to demonstrate a set of skills they still need to learn. There are many ways to incorporate the music literacy piece. It would be best if you had a dedicated segment focusing on music literacy (make it fun like a general music class). Let’s call it like it is: chorus is considered an elective at most high schools even though we do not like to view it as such. Students do not want to feel like they are in a music theory class. In essence, creating fun and energizing ways to teach music literacy will get them there eventually.

Briefly, rote teaching is a good thing. I think we often forget about “sound before symbols, rote before notes, ear before eye, etc.” We all know the pros and cons of rote teaching, so I won’t go down that street. If music literacy levels across the ensemble are low, then rote teaching is a good start.

Next, I would suggest thinking about creative programming. Students love collaborating with other students on the campus, and if you can find a piece that your chorus and orchestra or chorus and band can perform together, then that would be great and will get students more interested. I have done pieces where we used our school’s dance team and theater team at the same time, which was something unconventional to say the least, and it was electrifying, and students still talk about it till this day.

Lastly, and this is a bit tricky, I ask for song suggestions so that my students have some buy-in and feel they have a voice. If you ask, you should choose at least one. Here’s what I do: I look at the list of songs suggested and choose between three and five songs that I feel are appropriate and doable. Then I have the class vote to select ONE of those.

As I travel to different colleges or conferences to speak on this unconventional approach to teaching and learning, the question always arises, “What if the unconventional way does not work?” I typically chuckle before responding and explain that this approach is not supposed to replace the conventional or foundational way of teaching chorus, but it can be a jump-start to the conventional approach. Buy-in is important before we try to introduce something that may be completely foreign. Once students have bought in, they are ready to learn anything from you! They will certainly try their best!

Odell Zeigler, IV, is currently the choral director at Booker T. Washington High School (Academy of Visual & Performing Arts) in Norfolk, Virginia. He conducts the Concert Choir, Women’s Chorale, Men’s Chorus, and Mixed Chorus. An active clinician, and public speaker, Odell has presented music education workshops in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, and South Dakota. Odell has also written for the Teaching Music Magazine (NAfME) and the Massachusetts Music Educator Journal. Odell is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Association for Music Education. Odell holds a B.A. (music & psychology) from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, and holds an M.A.Ed. from the University of Rhode Island.

Seasonal Reminders: Living into Gratitude

November 9, 2021 by From Our Readers Leave a Comment

By Matt Harrison

In this season of change, how often have you taken the time to meaningfully meditate on why we do what we do? Perhaps, we must first examine exactly what it is that we do.

We connect and engage with our singers. We cultivate powerful, lasting, and transformative relationships. As my good friend and choral rock star, Anne Guess (Texas MS educator), would say: “love the children.” This is the most important thing we can do. We must always lead with love.
We advocate for our singers and our colleagues. We unabashedly care. We care that every person we encounter is validated, seen, heard, uplifted, and supported. Through our inherent empathy, we forge communities built on equality and compassion.
We teach humanity through choral music. Or, choral music teaches us about our shared humanity. We cannot have these authentic experiences if we are not vulnerable in our classrooms. Asking that in return from our students requires tremendous trust, which is built over time in the safe havens that we provide for our students. We patiently create that meaningful and unique space.
We struggle. In our binary society, reconciling our vision for an egalitarian choral community can be confusing and fraught with missteps along the way. We set an example for our students by engaging with past and present history responsibly and honestly. This work can be messy, but we must ask ourselves what we are doing if we are not willing to consistently stand against injustice – not by proselytizing, but through our actions.
We give back. We invest our time, our treasure, and our emotional capital to help others to walk in love. We volunteer. As members of the American Choral Directors Association, we engage with a more global community that exists to support all of us as professional educators. Truly, our organization is made rich through the tireless, selfless, and generous emotional investments of our membership.

This is what we do. This is who we are. Sometimes it is difficult to appreciate the profound nature of what we do because we are focused on the mundane (yet tremendously vast) expectations of our vocation:

Arm waver, voice coach, diction expert, linguist, ethnomusicologist, business manager, therapist, music historian, volunteer coordinator, music theorist, professional development participant, test proctor, accompanist, librarian, travel coordinator, equipment manager, paperwork gatherer, bank teller, cheerleader, chauffeur, chaperone, uniform curator, arranger, composer, video editor, music critic, audio engineer, curriculum builder, grade giver, etc.

This brings us back to my initial question. Why do we do what we do? I believe that we engage with all of these responsibilities because our love resonates most strongly through the power of music.

Choral music offers our communities intergenerational connections to celebrate the best of who we are, heal us when we are weary, and inspire us to put one foot in front of the other every day. We do this work because we know the world is a better place when we can find ways to love one another. In all of our endless activities, don’t forget to notice the people walking alongside you and say thank you. That spirit of gratitude will be that little voice that encourages you to persevere even in the most trying times. So my friends, thank you for walking with me on the path to make our music resound with love.

Matthew Harrison is the Connecticut ACDA chapter president. He is the Director of Choirs at Hamden Hall Country Day School, choirmaster and organist at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Cheshire, CT, and a graduate assistant (pursuing a doctorate in musical arts in choral conducting) at the University of Connecticut.

Separating Achievement from Self-Worth

October 20, 2021 by From Our Readers 4 Comments

By John C. Hughes

A few years ago, a colleague told me about the Enneagram, a personality classification system that groups people into nine broad types.¹ I took an online quiz and discovered that I am a Type Three: The Achiever. My friend told me that a lot of conductors are Threes. This makes sense; we like to lead, are organized, and find fulfillment in setting and meeting goals. Sounds admirable, right? Vaguely familiar to the so-called Protestant work ethic and American dream?

What began as a fun conversation with a friend set me off on a journey of self-discovery. Each Enneagram type has its strengths and areas of growth, and I have since learned about the challenges of being a Three. Namely, Threes may equate success with their worth as a human being. Our biggest fear is not succeeding in some aspect of our lives, because we interpret this to mean that we, as individuals, would be a failure. We will therefore work tirelessly to avoid this.

It is seemingly impossible for me to introduce myself without mentioning what I do or have done. I often allow my achievements to define me, and I pursue them like trophies—degrees, performances, positions. Before I have even had time to enjoy one success, a small voice in my mind starts to beckon, “What’s next?” Left unchecked, ambition can become an idol. Perhaps these feelings resonate with some readers.

Separating Achievement from Self-Worth

For better and for worse, competition and ambition are prized traits in the choral field. You audition for every job, graduate school, and masterclass you are interested in and are not selected for most. It is akin to baseball—a 30 percent success rate is about the most anyone can hope for. If you are going to survive in this field, you have to develop a thick skin and be willing to cast a wide net in pursuit of various opportunities.

One could argue that competition and ambition are part of a larger national identity. Side hustles and passive incomes are increasingly prized within the gig economy. Ambition is a national obsession, and, if you do not take part, you are deemed ignorant, lazy, or both.

Many ambitious conductors aspire to follow a common blueprint for a career in choral music. After graduating with an undergraduate degree, they seek to teach high school for a few years, get a master’s degree, teach at a bigger high school, get a doctorate, get a collegiate director of choral activities job wherever they can, pursue a more desirable DCA job, and eventually work with graduate students. Church jobs and community choirs are often used to supplement repertoire lists and incomes.

Of course, goals and aspirations are essential to personal and professional development, but they become unhealthy when you equate your professional achievements with your personal worth. Issues arise when you view any deviation from this path as a diminishment of your personal worth or value as a choral musician. It is easy to become so set on a plan that you feel unfulfilled, discontent, or even worthless if things do not unfold the way you expected. Those who have worked in higher education know that the academic search process is a brutal, never-ending loop: jobs begin to be posted in September for the following year, searches continue through late spring, and, after a quiet summer, the next round of jobs appear. It is easy to ride this roller coaster of anxiety and to lose sight of what really matters.

Additionally, when you are constantly focusing on the future and how to bring your next goal to fruition, you are not the best leader. You may choose repertoire not because it feeds your singers’ musical development, but because it may impress colleagues or look good on a job application. You may focus on achieving things that signify your status in the field, such as conference performances, contest ratings, or tour venues, instead of what is most beneficial for choir members. You may begin to view your present ensembles as vehicles through which to earn a personal achievement.

The false correlation between your professional achievement and self-worth grows out of elitism in choral music, a phenomenon articulated well by Chris Maunu in a 2018 Choral Journal article.² Maunu observes four common sentiments that reveal elitist attitudes:

“I am better than you because my choir is performing at this level and your choir is not.”
“If you are not as experienced or your choir isn’t performing at a certain level, you aren’t as valuable to the profession.”
“If you aren’t the best, you are nothing.”
“When are you going to ‘move up’ to teaching college?… Somehow we’ve decided that age determines how much value a student has on the choral music education totem pole.”

If taken to heart, these elitist statements can damage conductors’ self-images and motivate them to use ensembles for their own advancement. Certainly, skilled conductors improve an ensemble’s performance; however, a choir’s level of performance is determined by much more than who is standing in front of them. For example, it is not difficult to acknowledge that the teacher serving an entire K–12 district with little funding has a different set of challenges and a different definition of success than the conductor of a graduate-level university chorus. Although these conductors work in different arenas, neither should be viewed as superior. Both are trying their best to provide their students with the most outstanding choral experience possible.

Solutions

I have listed below five ways to combat the conflation of achievement with self-worth. They may at first seem trite or obvious, but, even as I write them, they are much easier said than done, at least for me.

1. Stop comparing yourself.

“Comparison is the thief of joy,” an adage attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, is worth considering. In today’s social media age, it is easy to scroll on your phone and feel envious of others’ successes without realizing that their posts and status updates are more like highlight reels than fact. Acknowledge that everyone’s path is different and that those people whose trajectories seem to be a linear progression upwards also struggle in unseen ways.

2. Live in the present.

Be assured that, at this particular moment, you are making the right choices for your unique circumstances. When you constantly look ahead, you disrespect the people with whom you are currently working. Remember, no matter what kind of choir you are standing in front of or how many letters are after your name, you will never “arrive.” Focus instead on being the best version of yourself every day.

3. Trust in your resourcefulness.

Your path may not lead where you expect; in fact, it likely will not. You will have to pivot at certain points, and success (whatever that means within your current context) is determined less by holding infinite knowledge than by being unintimidated by new tasks. You do not have to have skills in every area—that is impossible for any of us. Rather, success is engendered by having the self-assurance to figure out solutions when you are trying something new. Achievement undoubtedly requires hard work, dedication, and preparation, but it is only attainable when you are confident in your ability to solve problems.

4. Acknowledge nonmusical factors.

To follow the “ideal” career path outlined above, you may be tempted to deny nonmusical factors such as your partner’s career, physical and mental health, where you want to live, the desire to start a family, the need to make a living, or the avoidance of debt. Acknowledging these concerns can feel like weakness, a lack of dedication, or “selling out.” Contrarily, acknowledging the legitimacy of nonmusical factors in your life recognizes that your personal circumstances have no bearing on your validity as a musician.

5. Live your vocation.

The pandemic has demonstrated that people yearn for human connection. Regardless of what your job looks like, if you are making music, you have the opportunity to connect people to each other through the beauty of music. I can think of no more noble calling than this. Keep this at the forefront of all you do.

Conclusion

What would happen if we, as a profession, applied our determination to helping our current ensembles grow rather than advancing our careers? Not only would we become better musical leaders, but we would also find a deeper purpose in our work. Perhaps we would find that elusive feeling of contentment.

In his book, Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation, the twentieth-century philosopher Josef Pieper extolls “the ability to celebrate a feast.”³ He argues that profound joy and beauty is found in celebrating the work and leisure of everyday life. It is possible, though not easy, to pursue our goals while also living in the present. Yes, we are an organization comprised of dedicated choral professionals, but we are each so much more than that. Our individual worth is inherent and independent from our professional achievements.

Notes

1. Reed Michael Spencer explored the implications of the Enneagram on conductors in his dissertation. Reed Michael Spencer, “Mind, Heart, and Body: Conductors Use the Enneagram to Reflect on Musical Practice.” (PhD diss., Boston University, 2018), https://hdl.handle.net/2144/32688.

2. Chris Maunu, “Choral Elitism is Real: What It is and What We Should Do about It,” Choral Journal 58, no. 11, (June/July 2018), 59–64.

3. Josef Pieper, Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation, trans. Lothar Krauth (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990), 26.

John C. Hughes enjoys a multifaceted career as a conductor based in Chicago. He is the music director of Chicago Master Singers and Director of Choral Programs at the Green Lake Festival of Music.

From “Raising the Voices of a Generation: The Role of Choral Directors in Increasingly Complex Times”

August 17, 2021 by From Our Readers Leave a Comment

By Jeff M. Poulin

In February 2019, I published a new framework for the field, through Americans for the Arts, which articulated the aptitudes, practices, skills and commitments, making up the “12 Core Competencies of an Arts Education Leader.” This framework is intended to guide all of us working in the field of arts education toward a new way of leadership and evolved approach towards the work of arts learning in our communities.

From 2016 to 2019, we embarked on a four-year journey to engage the arts education field in a series of research initiatives to determine how to ensure an expanded, well-resourced, and less- barriered pipeline to leadership in the field of arts education. We began by exploring the literature to determine what knowledge was published. Unsurprisingly, there is little in the nexus of leadership development and arts education. What we did find provided us with the undergirding concepts that 1) anyone can be a leader in this field and 2) leadership traits can be learned over time.

Through numerous research inputs from existing and new datasets, we found four themes—aptitudes, skills, practices, and commitments—that served as the guide- posts for the long arc of our work. We also found that a self-predication of mastery usually underpinned leadership competency: one must feel that they already have mastered their individual role within the arts education field (like being a master choral director) on their path to leadership.

As we dove deeper, we identified the individual competencies of leadership, which allow for individuals to reflect, correct, or explore to reach their potential.

Aptitudes—the inherent ways in which we approach our work

Collaboration – Working together within and without the arts field, we recognize that we are stronger together.
Criticality – Seeing beyond how the work currently is and envisioning how it can be.
Creativity – Thinking outside the box to solve problems and imagine the future

Practices—the ongoing processes that sustain our work

Mentoring – Engaging in multi-generational cyclical learning experiences to foster the next (and renew the current) generation of leaders.
Networking – Recognizing our own and fostering community among diverse individuals with different strengths to contribute.
Learning – Continuously engaging in opportunities to attain new knowledge and maintain up-to-date with current trends.

Skills—the developed approaches to interconnect our work

Policy literacy – Understanding the impact of the implicit and explicit policies which impact our work.
Evidence use – Utilizing quantitative and qualitative data to illustrate the impact of our work.
Storytelling – Illuminating the impact of our work through the real-life experiences of individuals and groups.
Advocacy strategy – Formulating the strategies that unify advocacy efforts to effect sustained change.

Commitments—the obligations that run through our work

A love for and joy of working with learners and in the arts
A commitment to social action, cultural equity, and racial justice

Within this framework, I would underscore the importance of utilizing data, understanding policy, partnering with young people, etc. These are all essential components about how we rethink how we talk about music education and how we inform our leadership in the field.

The field must also focus on the four identified skills: policy literacy, evidence use, storytelling, and advocacy strategy. It is these four skills where we fall down and remain stuck in the status quo. As leaders, we must understand the policy landscape which impacts our work – both in the arts and education sectors as well as in adjacent sectors of policymaking. We must use new and innovative evidence to demonstrate the impact of our programs. Alongside this evidence, we must be effective and moving storytellers to illuminate the data. Together, it is essential to craft and adhere to an advocacy strategy; one that moves beyond the age-old tactics and emboldens our reconsidered “why” for music education.

Lastly, I encourage all readers to go back and revisit the two commitments. The words “love” and “joy,” though immeasurable, ground our work in the intrinsic. Similarly, the affirmation of social action, cultural equity, and racial justice, serves as a charge within every action that we take as educators.

I would even go so far as to say that we, as arts education leaders, have a responsibility (beyond just our students or the young people that we serve) to our broader community. Our work is essential in developing young people but also in improving our city, state, or nation. Modeling the type of interaction we hope to see from students as servant leaders must be within our scope of work also. Our professional expectations as choral directors goes beyond music training and performance, instead to community leadership and advocacy.

This post was drawn from an article by Jeff M. Poulin published in Volume 60, Number 2 of the Choral Journal (September 2019), a focus issue on advocacy and collaboration. For the full article, ACDA members may sign-in to the ACDA website and read the entire article at https://acda.org/archives/1169. Thank you to ACDA Advocacy and Communications Committee member Joe Cerutti for preparing the excerpt.

Where My Heart Lives

July 20, 2021 by From Our Readers Leave a Comment

By Kathleen Bhat

The person that we thought we were doesn’t have to be the person that we are. This thought came out of a goal-setting meeting at my gym in a discussion about how we were impacted by the pandemic. This past year has changed our world and it has changed our organization.

In college, it was a course requirement to join ACDA during the semester of conducting. I had not heard of the organization. I was familiar with our Music Educators Association in high school, and attending MMEA as a collegiate student was the best. Or so I thought. My first ACDA conference was in Wichita, Southwestern Region. I was blown away – EVERYTHING was about choral music. Every person I met was involved with something just like what I was doing or at least similar. The choirs and the interest sessions were amazing and from that point, I was committed. Although I maintain membership to NAfME, ACDA is where my heart lives. At an ACDA conference you could easily be standing next to a choral legend or engage in a conversation with someone who two years later was a national headliner (true story!!). Within the membership of Missouri, my state chapter, I found the people who became my closest friends and most trusted colleagues. Throughout the years, the support network has never failed me. Members have offered assistance by clinicing my choirs, suggesting literature, or just listening when I felt like I didn’t know what to do. There has always been someone a phone call or a text away. As technology and social media have become more prevalent, the resources for information have grown exponentially; which has made my state organization all the more valuable. The members of MCDA are a vetted resource.

I have the distinct pleasure of serving as membership chair for our state. It is a role I have loved for more than 20 years. Taking a leadership position made a huge difference in my appreciation of our organization. It has given me the opportunity to welcome new members and help bring them together with others, as someone did for me. I value being a part of the leadership team and the continued growth of Missouri ACDA (MCDA) as we endeavor to improve for both members and the singers that we serve. But those years of experience did not prepare me for being a membership chair during a pandemic. I have been heartbroken for my colleagues who have lost positions, or left positions because it was just too much. I have spoken with those who have temporarily (I hope) left the organization because there is simply no singing going on in their institution. I felt defeated as our membership numbers continued to decrease, and fewer renewals came in.

At the same time, I am amazed at the fortitude and creativity of those who have modified and adapted to choral life during a pandemic. Pre-COVID, it was a normal task to keep our members informed of events, conferences, new music sessions, etc. Since March 2020, my role has been more focused on finding ways to keep our membership connected, when we couldn’t be together in person. We started with little things like celebrating our members’ birthdays in our Facebook group. President Stephen Rew began a weekly Facebook Live, Fridays at 4:00. We tried to make our newsletter more interactive and engaging since there were no events to promote. It might sound silly, but we created a bitmoji choir. Several, actually. We have a traditional choir, a show choir, a jazz choir, and a day at the park.

A year later, the traditional bitmoji choir has become a type of symbol for our chapter. It is our cover picture for our Facebook group and the banner has our hashtag #mcdafamily, which is how we now identify ourselves. We expanded the risers to add more singers. Thank you to Wenger for inventing the 9 step risers. HA! With bitmoji and Facebook avatars, we are able to include anyone who wants to join.

It was hard to be a choir director in 2020-21. My school was seated in-person all year. We sat socially distanced and my students sang masked. New singers were lost without secure voices around them as leaders. Rehearsals were slow as we tried to sing safely amidst emerging science and CDC guidelines. With no live concerts, we muddled through virtual performances, which were entertaining for our community but not a high standard of musicianship. To be honest, I felt like a pretty mediocre teacher this year. Staying connected with my MCDA family is what kept me going and for that I am eternally grateful. This organization has been the rock for my entire career, and it didn’t fail me – even in a pandemic.

Kathleen Bhat teaches grades 6-12 vocal music at the Orchard Farm School District in St. Charles, Missouri. In addition to teaching she also serves as the fine arts curriculum coordinator, directs the musicals, and sponsors the middle school yearbook. She is membership chair for both the Missouri state chapter and Southwestern region of ACDA.

Choirs with Limited Budgets: Top Ten Solutions for Copyright Compliance on a Dime

May 26, 2021 by From Our Readers Leave a Comment

By Rebecca Lord & Nate Wise

Does your choir have a minimal budget or none at all? If so, you know how challenging it can be even to provide sheet music, let alone to pay for copyright licensing for the songs you want to perform! The good news is there are some free or low-cost options for sheet music and performance needs that are also legally risk-free. This article will provide ten solutions for choirs with limited budgets.

COPYRIGHT KNOWLEDGE CRUCIAL

First, it is crucial to have a basic understanding of copyright laws to avoid legal risk. Copyright laws are designed to protect creators and to grant them certain rights. Compliance with those laws is required even of those who are ignorant of them. Risks for infringing, or breaking copyright laws, are now potentially greater than ever due to the recent CASE Act (Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020). This act makes lawsuits for smaller infringements possible. As attorney Erin M. Jacobson, Esq., notes, legal action will be feasible “for infringements that were previously too small for expensive litigation. There will likely be an increase in policing infringements.”

What You Need to Know:

For many works, special licensing is required for public performance, recording (audio or video), posting online, printing lyrics, duplicating sheet music, changing or writing new arrangements, performing with costumes or choreography, and a number of other things. Pathways to obtaining licenses, and associated fees, can vary greatly. There are some cases in which legal exemptions waive licensing requirements. It is important to have a general understanding of copyright laws successfully to navigate the options in this article and keep yourself and your choir risk-free. For a copyright overview and guide, please read our “Copyright 101 for Conductors: The What’s, Why’s, and How-To’s.”

TOP TEN SOLUTIONS

Inexpensive Sheet Music Database: Here is a Low-Budget Sheet-Music Database with sheet-music resources in the $0-$1/copy range. The American Choral Directors Association currently has a list of “Complimentary Music” on their “Resources for Choral Professionals During a Pandemic” page. If you are aware of further resources to add to this list, please fill out this form to contribute.
Public Domain: If a work is officially in the public domain, you can do anything with it that you like without any permissions or licensing, and the sheet music is usually free as well. Just make sure you are not using a copyrighted edition or arrangement. Cornell University has a wonderful guide that defines various categories of Public Domain works and provides helpful resources for determining whether a song (or work) is in the public domain and how to do any needed research. The Choral Public Domain Library (cpdl.org) has an extensive collection of free choral works, although not all selections are in the public domain so it is important to check the copyright notice on each song. The International Music Score Library Project (imslp.org) is another large collection of all public-domain works (as per Canadian copyright laws). Other sites are found on the Free-$1 Sheet-Music Database.
Creative Commons: A Creative Commons (CC) license grants free use of the published material to the public. Depending on the type of CC license (there are six types, explained on CreativeCommons.org), there may be limitations on arranging or using the material for profit without further permission, so it is important to pay attention to the terms of the license.
Self Publishing: Some composers publish their own works and hold onto the rights. Some offer great deals for little or no compensation. For example, Sally DeFord offers all of her sheet music (vocal and instrumental) for free. Her website contains free PDFs of sheet music, instructions for transpositions, accompaniment tracks, and recordings for listening. She has detailed information on her FAQ page regarding permissions and many free options. For example, Sally reports, “I’m easy about YouTube recordings, and I don’t require sync licenses for videos posted there unless they are monetized.”
Write Your Own or Commission: Create your own original works or ask a friend or student to help you out! You can freely write arrangements of any public-domain works and some with CC copyrights. Often university students studying composition either have works they have not yet published, or will write for your choir if they know their piece will be performed. Reach out to university conducting and composition faculty members to find possible student collaborators.
Shop By Publisher, Watch for Special Deals, and Avoid High Rates: Once you ascertain a certain publisher has rates within your budget or special deals (e.g., agreements with social-media platforms), run publisher-specific searches on sheet-music sites. Remember that publishers are not always the copyright holders, so while this is a great place to start, you will want to check with that publisher or look on ASCAP/BMI’s Songview search for individual songs. Along with looking for rates that work for you, be ready to move on if negotiating is not successful. Ben Fales has had success with most choral publishing companies obtaining licensing that will work for his self-funded record label, but when a publisher is unable to meet his budgetary needs, he notes, “we probably have to steer clear of performing music from that publisher.”
Borrow Music: As long as copyrighted sheet music has been purchased, it does not matter who the purchaser was/is. Just make sure you return the music when you are finished!
Keep Licensing Needs to a Minimum: It is possible to perform copyrighted music without paying any licensing fees! First, perform music without changing/arranging it and avoid printing lyrics or making other performance decisions that would require additional licenses. Then perform only in venues that are contracted with the Performance Rights Organizations (PROs): ASCAP, BMI, SESAC & GMR. (Note: most choral repertoire is covered by ASCAP and BMI). Campuses, community performance halls, and established performance venues commonly have these contracts. You can also do one-time streams on social-media platforms that have contracts with the PROs (e.g., YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram). Limiting licensing needs to performance licenses and choosing venues that have those covered should keep your licensing costs at zero.
Skip Sync Licenses and Make Money with WeAreTheHits.com (WATH). If you are interested in performing cover songs (largely of more popular “hits”), you can do so for free and even make money! WATH takes care of licensing, keeping a percentage of the revenue from your video from which they pay the music publisher, and paying you the balance. Ben Fales sometimes uses WATH for his BYU Vocal Point music videos, although he notes the high percentage of revenue they keep (60%) leads them to seek their own permissions when possible. For videos that are not likely to make back the price of licensing, however, this can be a great way to go! Further details can be found here.
Earn More: Sell Your Audio Recordings with Ease: It can also be easy and inexpensive to sell your recordings on iTunes, Spotify, Amazonmusic, Google Play, and other platforms and stores, thanks to the digital-music distribution industry! There are some fabulous companies that will get your music distributed for free or low rates, distribute any required royalties, and send you regular payments from sales. Here are a couple of articles with further information: “Everything Musicians Need to Know about Music Distribution” and “10 Best Music Distribution Services & Companies of 2021.” Try it out with a single or an album and add a new line to your CV!

FUN EXTRAS: FREE & INEXPENSIVE GRAPHICS AND SOUND

Making music videos of your performances or your ensemble can be very rewarding! Just be aware that copyright laws protect images and sound recordings as well! For free photographs or video footage, photograph your own or use unsplash.com, pixabay.com, and pexels.com for commercial or non-commercial use. For other graphics, try clipart-library.com (for non-commercial use only) or vectorstock.com (inexpensive, can be used commercially). And if you are looking for free background music for your video, there are thousands of options on the Free Music Archive. Make sure you pay attention to requirements for attribution and give credit where credit is due!

CELEBRATE YOUR VICTORIES & PAY IT FORWARD

If you are reading this article, chances are you are in some way affiliated (or have been) with a low-budget choir, and you may be aware of resources that are not included in this article. Please share these resources with others walking a similar path. Your suggestions may be just what another conductor needs.

Don’t forget to celebrate your victories. When you are unable to perform the songs you want in the ways you want, in the venues of your choice, know that you are still bringing beauty and richness to your singers and community, beauty that would not be possible without your efforts! We salute you for your heroic efforts to keep your communities alive and vibrant with music.

Rebecca Lord has served on the choral/vocal faculty of Brigham Young University-Idaho and as Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she earned MM and DMA degrees under the tutelage of Donald Neuen. She also served as Chorus Master for Arizona Musicfest and Assistant Conductor for the Hour of Power choir. She has a background as a professional violinist, soprano, dancer, and actress.

Nate Wise serves the BYU-Idaho campus as the director of the Intellectual Property Office as a paralegal working with General Counsel to identify, protect, and administer intellectual property matters for the campus community. He earned a Master’s Degree in Education Technology from Lesley University.

REFERENCES

DeFord, Sally. Email to Rebecca Lord, March 27, 2021.
Fales, Ben. Interview with Rebecca Lord. Personal Interview. Zoom, April 28, 2021.
Jacobson Esq., Erin M. Email to Rebecca Lord, April 30, 2021.
Lord, Rebecca, Nate Wise. “Copyright 101 For Conductors: The What’s, Why’s, and How-To’s.” Choralnet.org. American Choral Directors Association. May 25, 2021. https://choralnet.org/2021/05/copyright-101-for-conductors-the-whats-whys-and-how-tos/.
U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress. Copyright Law of the United States and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code. Circular 92. Washington, D.C.: 2020. https://www.copyright.gov/title17/title17.pdf (accessed April 26, 2021).
WeAreTheHits.com. Email to Rebecca Lord. March 29, 2021.