Latest Blog Posts

I imagine that if you are a church musician you have Holy Week and Easter planned already.  (It is next week, after all.)  But in the spirit of the season, as it is indeed the inspiration for some of the most beautiful music ever written, I thought it would be fitting to share some very […]

“Autism is part of who I am.” Temple Grandin “Mrs. Amenta, we have to be kind to those poor parents. They have children with autism and have no hope.” For some reason, Dr. Marguerite’s* comment just ticked me off. This was about 18 years ago and I was the president of a local chapter of […]

This week on Going Beyond Words and ACDA Radio, Host Stan Schmidt continues the serious listening for the Lenten Season. Taking the texts Libera Nos, How Long O Lord? And De Profundis you will encounter music by John Sheppard, an unaccompanied gem by Johann Michael Haydn, Antonio Vivaldi’s Crucifixus, the stunning cry for help from Egil Hovland plus the Agnus dei by Samuel Barber.

Choral Clarity Blog Presents: In recent years, rubrics have become a popular trend for assessing student achievement; they have been the common grading tool at most choral and solo festivals for as long as any of us can remember. While rubrics can be useful, they also present several pitfalls thats can severely impact the long-term growth and motivation of students at […]

The latest issue of Choral Journal is available online! ACDA members can log in with their username and password to view and download the newest edition. You can also read our electronic version. Below is a preview of the articles you will find in this issue. If you are not already a member of ACDA, join today to start receiving your […]

The benefits of using a comprehensive database specialized in choral music such as Musica are great when one conceives of a themed concert program. One discovers unexpected jewels and many more options than can be found with other search engines. Musica is a database of only choral music with 172,000 records monitored by choral conductors […]

By Brandon Moss There is no shortage of stellar choral programs in this country. Like many of you, I was privileged to attend this year’s ACDA National Conference in Minneapolis, where we witnessed at least a couple dozen of the country’s most gifted ensembles from K-12 schools, universities, and churches. Think of how many other […]

“Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.” Mark Twain Donald* tells me most people would not think he has a problem. In fact, most people would believe he’s the problem. Not me; I think he has a point. What’s all this about? Donald attended an arts event […]

This week on Going Beyond Words and ACDA Radio, Host Stan Schmidt continues with some interesting listening with two versions of Ave Verum Corpus, one by Francis Poulenc and the other by Mozart. Then for the first time, music from a new CD titled “Far In the Heavens – The Choral Music of Stephen Paulus” offered by the True Concord Voices and Orchestra from Arizona led by Eric Holton.

Choral Clarity Presents: It’s so easy to allow daily rehearsals to become repetitive and automatic. When we become repetitive, our choir tends to move into automatic pilot; students learn to anticipate exactly what is going to happen and end up focusing less and less. This then leads to decreased retention from rehearsal to rehearsal. Here are 12 Tricks to Re-gain Rehearsal Focus   […]