Latest Blog Posts

Show 2308 Listen – Hear… Going Beyond Words On ACDA Radio Theme: Arise Jerusalem and Shepherds More music for the holiday season comes to you on ACDA Radio and Going Beyond Words with host Stan Schmidt.  This episode features music such as Carl Heinrich Graun’s Christmas Oratorio, O Magnum Mysterium by Sviridov, selections by Coro […]

Choral Clarity Presents:  10 Reasons To Retire The Hallelujah Chorus….especially with alumni! I may have just said the unthinkable. No, I won’t retract my statement. We can do better! We should do better! Why did Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus become the selection that choirs choose to repeat year after year? Why did this piece become the one that we invite our […]

The April 2015 issue of Choral Journal was a special focus on the brain. The three feature articles were titled “Exploring the Science of Ensemble: Gestures, Emotion, and Collaboration in Choral Music Making” by Gary B. Seighman, “Monkey See, Monkey Do: The Choral Conductor and the Mirror Neuron System” by Riikka Pietiläinen-Caffrey, and “Effective Conducting […]

America Sings Together on Martin Luther King Day At 11:00 AM in your local time on Martin Luther King Day (Monday, January 16, 2017), we invite you, your families, your church groups, and your school choirs to stop and sing “Amazing Grace” with the people around you.  The 4 verses of John Newton’s longer poem […]

“If you’re nervous, that means you care and you want to give your best.” – Adriana Lima Whether you’ve been singing since Beethoven figured out which end of the pen the ink went on or this is your first performance ever, concert night can (will) bring on the nerves. It’s natural; for months, you’ve been […]

In December especially, choral directors spend their days focused on serving others so much that they often neglect their own needs. Here are some ways to stay charged in the coming weeks until Christmas! THIS IS A PODCAST – PLAY EPISODE FROM RYAN’S WEBSITE HERE or subscribe on iTunes Notes This is a long, but incredibly […]

“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein If you are anything like me, your December concert and worship music for this year was planned during the summer or before. Your plans are coming to fruition or close to it. You are calm, knowing things are […]

Show 2307 Listen – Hear… Going Beyond Words On ACDA Radio Theme: A Light is Coming This week on Going Beyond Words and ACDA Radio host Stan Schmidt invites you to invest some time with two extended works that are part of Advent and holiday listening. One is familiar and the other is perhaps the lesser-known […]

Choral Clarity Presents: We just spent many months learning notes and rhythms, memorizing lyrics, working on balance and blend, shape, and internalizing meaning. But now it is concert season. Our priority needs to shift from how our ensemble sounds to what our audience sees and hears. Believe it or not, most of what the audience members see and hear […]

It’s hard to believe, but it’s almost time for ACDA’s 2017 National Conference! The January issue of Choral Journal features the full conference preview, with names, photos, and bios of all conductors, clinicians, and performing choirs. There are special events, meetings, and concerts happening throughout the week that you won’t want to miss! We are already at […]