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The June/July 2016 issue of Choral Journal is now available online! This issue was a focus on sacred music and features an article written by Charlotte Kroeker titled “The Church Choral Director: Leader of the Sacred, the Good, the Beautiful.” Below is an excerpt of the article, and you can read it in its entirety in the June/July […]

We live in a social media visibility culture. We compare the best of others to the worst of ourselves. That includes our choirs… In the episode, I talk about this problem and some helpful philosophies related to being HAPPY with your OWN progress. I also discuss, my own health journey since my childhood. It gets […]

“Just as the child is father to the man, so the impressions of one’s youth remain the most vivid in manhood.” Gustav Stresemann My Dad is 91 years old and sharp as a tack. He remembers much of his past, with the occasional “where did I put my glasses?” moments like many of us who […]

This week on Going Beyond Words and ACDA Radio on ChoralNet you will hear four fantastic ensembles presenting music from the Renaissance to our present time. On the table are folk songs and love songs, plus melodies about flowing tears and crows and clusters. First you will enjoy selections from one of the first CDs […]

The June/July issue of Choral Journal is now available online! The Rehearsal Break column features an article written by Emily Ellsworth titled “Concert Programs as Storytelling.” Below is an excerpt of the article, and you can read it in its entirety in the June/July 2019 issue! Go to acda.org/choraljournal and click “Search Archives.” Choose June/July 2019 from the dropdown menu._____________________________ […]

#51: Friday, June 07, 2019 

“Crossing the Bar” by Gwyneth Walker 
Text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 
SSAA, piano or orchestra 

Many of you are likely familiar with the work of iconic American composer Gwyneth Walker, and likely have even heard this particular selection – as vocal solo, SATB, SSAA, or TTBB. However, the piece was such a resounding success on my spring choral-orchestral concert this year, I can’t help but share it!

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” Jean-Jacques Rousseau It is easy to forget we need to work regularly with others.  Unless you are a soloist all the time, you must work with other musicians. Unless you conduct exactly the sort of ensemble you wish, with the musicians you wish, you must […]

The feature on this issue of Going Beyond Words and ACDA ChoralNet Radio is a marvelous piece of Romantic style music written in 1891 by the great Austrian composer Heinrich von Herzogenberg. He like many fine composers began to study a law degree but in the midst of his legal studies was compelled to change […]

ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly publication for choral conductors and teachers at all levels. It is published online, and each issue contains four practical articles. If you are not already a member of ACDA, you can join and receive access to ChorTeach online. Below is an excerpt from an article written by Jerome Upton an appearing in the Spring 2018 issue._____________________________________ […]

“A concert is always like a feast day to me.” James Taylor Our spring concert is this coming Sunday. It’s been a wild and wooly rehearsal cycle this spring, with new and unexpected developments nearly every week. On the morning of our first rehearsal in March, we learned our concert venue had just been sold, […]