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“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.” Albert Camus As I sit to write, I am struck by the sun streaming across the table where I have my laptop; it feels so good! It’s a bright day, with no snow and the grass looks incredibly green. The green grass and […]

Going Beyond Words host, Stan Schmidt takes the time to present another Choral Concert Live for ACDA Radio and Choral Net.   Several weeks ago the administrators for Polonia Cantat sent me nine mp3 files of some of the winning choirs that sang in Polish festivals 2011 to 2013.  As part of this broadcast you will […]

  Performance Assessments are necessary in most secondary-level ensembles but these assessments do not need to evoke fear in our singers, nor should they feel punitive in their nature.   Here are 8 tips to make your performance assessments rewarding for you and your students:  8 Tips for Giving Performance Assessments in Choir I hope you […]

ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly online magazine for choral directors and music educators. The articles in each issue are gleaned from ACDA state and division newsletters and from submissions. ChorTeach is specifically designed for those who work with amateur singers and are looking for practical material to apply to classrooms and rehearsals. Below is a preview of the articles […]

Our choir is made up of individuals. Do you want a practical and powerful way to reach all of your singers individually, AT ONCE? 12 Reasons To Give Every Choir Member A Solo! Find out this secret, and the 12 reasons why it works.

“Come, gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness.” William Shakespeare As I plotted out the subject and theme for January’s Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics blogs, I had a certain expectation of what I would write for each installment. Today’s Try for my Try Method was inspired by a simple spontaneous remark I made to […]

Going Beyond Words host, Stan Schmidt, goes back into his archives to bring listeners of ACDA Radio and ChoralNet an hour of stunning musical sounds by Coro Cervantes, a choir from England that specializes in music of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America.  You will hear choral music of the highest quality created by composers […]

*The following article was written by Ernst’s wife, Ellen Bacon. In the mid-20th century, American composer Ernst Bacon (1898-1990) was well known. His Symphony in D Minor was awarded a Pulitzer Scholarship in 1932. In the ’30s, he was appointed head of the WPA Federal Music Project in San Francisco and founded the Carmel Bach […]

“Ring out the false, ring in the true.” Alfred Lord Tennyson Today is the third in our January series here at Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics discussing the Try Method. To refresh your memory; instead of New Year’s resolutions, I am trying various small, specific things to change my life for the better. This week it’s all […]

Going Beyond Words host, Stan Schmidt invites you to return to your aural senses and enjoy a great masterpiece by Ralph Vaughan Williams,  “Dona nobis pacem” and “Five Songs of the Spirit” by another grand composer from England, Sir Edward Bairstow.  Sir Edward completed his composition in 1944 on the urging of the Dean who […]