Latest Blog Posts

After 10 years of using Smart Music for weekly sight-singing homework assignments, I have officially moved on. I have slowly transitioned fully into Sight Reading Factory over the past 5 years but UNEXPECTEDLY decided to fully abandoned the Smart Music ship in late September. This was not planned, but it became a necessity. And once I did, […]

Dr. Weber, in my mind, is one of the legends of the choral profession due to the contribution of her body of work over many years and at all levels of teaching. I find the combination of her high level of music making, along with her experience in classrooms with young kids and everything in […]

“Lots of colors appear when you’re working with other people.” Jean Stapleton Throughout the month of October, we’re revisiting some of the staple issues of Choral Ethics. I’ve written a BUNCH about each of these subjects during the last few years. While most of us now rehearse and perform in a much different way, these […]

By Ramona M. Wis “People actually feel happiest and most fulfilled when meeting the challenge of their dharma in the world, when bringing highly concentrated effort to some compelling activity  for which they have a true calling.”  Stephen Cope One of the best books I have ever read is Stephen Cope’s The Great Work of Your Life.  Subtitled, “A […]

ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly online publication, designed for those who work with singers of all levels. A full annotated ChorTeach index is available online at acda.org/chorteach. Over 160 articles are organized into seventeen categories. For submission information, to view the index, or to read the latest issue, visit acda.org/chorteach. Following is a list of the articles in the Fall 2020 […]

At the end of the year the students should be better singers. Not better CHORAL singers. Better SINGERS. Dr. Jami Rhodes This special episode is a tag team. Dr. Andrew Crane of Brigham Young University and Dr. Jami Rhodes of East Carolina University join me to discuss some common myths, misconceptions and vocal pedagogy practices […]

“No mind is thoroughly well organized that is deficient in a sense of humor.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge Throughout the month of October, we’re revisiting some of the staple issues of Choral Ethics. I’ve written a BUNCH about each of these subjects during the last few years. While most of us now rehearse and perform in […]

Learning Outcomes and Our Ability to Pivot It seems like every month there is a new term or phrase that surfaces as we journey through the COVID-19 educational landscape – Hybrid Learning, the Digital Choral Classroom, Synchronous and Asynchronous Instruction.  Now here in Central New York, we have another new phrase going around called “the […]

This article is a companion to my article  Wholehearted Attention. It’s generally accepted that one of the goals of education – beyond the attainment of specific content objectives – is to instill in the child a love for learning.  It has been my experience however, that a love for learning is part of a child’s […]

November Choral Journal Feature Articles
–A Pedagogy for Living: Applying Restorative, Anti-Racist Pedagogy in the Choral Classroom
–Unaccompanied Non-Idiomatic Choral Music of Black Composers
–Black in the Baroque: Racism in the Spanish Villancico de negros
–Choral Reviews