Latest Blog Posts

Choral Clarity Blog Presents: I agree with the criticism about the “award-bearing” adolescent world we live in today. Every student gets a trophy. Students get participation awards just for breathing. Does Every Student Deserve An Award? The answer isn’t as cut and dry as you might think…..  

The February issue of Choral Journal features a special series of articles on the topic of multigenerational choral singing. You can read a preview of all the articles available in that issue in this post. Following is a section from the article by John C. Hughes and Jon Hurty, “A Life of Song: Considerations for the […]

I am always looking for SATB music.  I have a small select ensemble at my high school and a large mixed church choir at a Unitarian Universalist church.  Many times, I am able to use some of the same music for both school and church.  However, for a number of reasons, I struggle with doing […]

“If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.” Abraham Lincoln I don’t know what it is but there is something strange going on this spring. I have had more than my usual number of emails about People Behaving Badly as well as Conductors Being […]

This week on Going Beyond Words and ACDA Radio, Host Stan Schmidt asks this question….What Do you think of these.  You will hear music from India, Germany, Italy and Austria by Composers Monteverdi, Franz Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms and Hans Schanderl.   Artists included The Miami University Men’s Glee Club, The Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Alto – […]

The June/July issue of Choral Journal features a special article for the On the Voice series. Sharon Hansen has been a member of the Choral Journal editorial board and editor of the On the Voice article series for many years and writes about the history of On the Voice in Choral Journal, past practices, and […]

If you have a small choir, you know that it is sometimes necessary to think a little outside the box in order to find pieces that are accessible to your ensemble.  This post will focus on movements from cantatas and other extended works originally written for soloists that you can also “repurpose” for your choir. […]

“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.” Alexander Graham Bell  The choir year is winding down for most of us. The Academic year is just about finished and our concerts have been sung. For church choirs, the Big Holidays (other than […]

This week on Going Beyond Words and ACDA Radio, Host Stan Schmidt invites you to go on a Vocal Vacation.    You can visit choirs from America, Ireland and England, displaying their talents with music by Norman Dello Joio; Thomas Weelkes; Johannes Brahms; George F. Handel; Leonard Bernstein; Johann Sebastian Bach; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart plus a […]

Choral Clarity Presents: We live in a democratic country, but that doesn’t mean our officers should be chosen democratically. When students enter our choir room and/or our rehearsal, they enter our world and our culture. Too many choir directors create and/or allow a ridiculous election process to occur.  But even the well-run election process is inherently […]