Latest Blog Posts

This week, Dr. Anthony Trecek-King joins the Choralosophy conversation by joining me to discuss two related topics. The teaching of musical fundamentals in our classrooms AND how we can have better and more productive conversations about social justice and the inequities in our society. We range from concrete, in class activities to try with a […]

I’m rerunning some Choral Ethics blogs from years past with a few modifications when needed. Two of my MOST REQUESTED December Blogs will be making their yearly appearances, including today’s. Happy December! ~MLGA  I love “Messiah”. Truth be told, it is probably one of my favorite large choral works.  There’s a little something for everyone–from […]

We are looking back at the October 2021 issue of Choral Journal in this week’s post. That issue was a focus on mental health, and it featured several articles related to mental health and choral music, including “Remember You: Mental Health in a Life Dedicated to Choral Music” by Stephanie and Troy Robertson. You can […]

Charles Grass (Dad) left, and Bob Fosse, right. They were about 12 years old. “If you think you can do better, then do better. Don’t compete with anyone; just yourself.” Bob Fosse Today is my father’s 96th birthday. He is still with us, still as sharp as a tack, still very independent and still telling us what to do. We know […]

Daily sight-reading in the choral classroom is a beneficial instructional practice that promotes music literacy skills.  However, this pedagogical approach is, at times, disinteresting to students due to the repetitive use of exercises from a methods book.  While consistency is important when teaching music literacy, variety is also beneficial, providing students with a new and […]

ACDA’s annual free summer workshop and festival listing will appear in the March/April issue of Choral Journal for events taking place May 1 – Sept 1, 2024.  Submissions are due by January 15, 2024, to . Please format your submission as follows:  Date of Event Event Title Location (specify if Virtual) 1-2 sentence description of the event Contact name Contact email/phone […]

There are 11 winter concert songs that I repeat every year.   In this blog post, I’m going to share each of them, provide a recording, a link for the sheet music, and most importantly, tell you why each song is repeated. Whether you choose to follow in my footsteps or not is less important […]

Over the last year, I have seen Dr. Thomas present twice on the importance of ensuring that the African American Spiritual is passed on to the next generations through our choral ensembles and music classrooms. In these presentations he also speaks eloquently about the challenges we face in doing so. We have parents, students and […]

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” Plato Why do we love music? And why make it our life’s work? I’ve been pondering this question as I organize some of my ChoralNetters favorite holiday […]

“You are not a meditation failure; you just haven’t been taught yet.” Emily Fletcher A few months ago, I followed up on a book recommendation and read Stress Less, Accomplish More: Meditation for Extraordinary Performance.  I was intrigued by the title but also by the high-profile endorsers (such as Mark Hyman, M.D.) and the fact […]