Latest Blog Posts

1985, K-5 General Music As a first-year teacher in 1985, my emotions ran high as I meet with the principal of an elementary school in San Antonio, Texas. She welcomed me to the school and began to inform me of my teaching responsibilities: kindergarten through fifth-grade general music. There was not a music room available, […]

This lovely eighteenth century canon was a staple of my school choirs’ repertoires throughout my entire teaching career. I came across it in a songbook when I first started teaching at Blue Rock School in the early 1990s, and I believe I taught this to every choir I directed until I left teaching in 2014. […]

_____________________________ Choral Journal’s ongoing column called Choral Conversations” features interviews with noted choral conductors and composers. The fourth interview in this series took place with Robert Page in the November 2016 issue. You can read the interview in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Click “Search Archives” and choose November 2016 from the dropdown menu._____________________________ Do you […]

February is a very busy month for my high school choral program and yet we have no choral concerts scheduled for the entire month. Here are: 3 Non-Choral Activities my Choir does in February

In this first installment, I address the question “Why Does Representation in Classical Music matter?” My answer to this question, and subsequent defense of that answer got me kicked off of a Facebook page. So in this episode, I tell that story. It’s a doozy. My answer was “Representation matters because music is for ALL. […]

“Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three alone lead life to sovereign power.” Alfred Lord Tennyson January is such a good month for self-reflection. I hope the quotes of Alfred Lord Tennyson I have used this month for Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics have gotten you thinking and reflecting about your own choral life. I’ve written many a Blog […]

The singer lives or dies on vowels. – Vocal proverb As conductors and artists, it is incumbent upon us to help young or learning performers and students to communicate text, with clarity and expression. That is only possible once the basics of diction, no matter in what language we sing, are mastered agreed upon, so […]

When I read education articles or discussions of education practices on the internet, a theme that I constantly encounter is classroom management and discipline. Current trends in behavior modification theories and practices have promoted a widespread use of reward systems for social (as opposed to anti-social) behavior that is at odds with my own beliefs about education. In […]

_____________________________ Choral Journal’s ongoing column called Choral Conversations” features interviews with noted choral conductors and composers. The third interview in this series took place with William Dehning in the September 2016 issue. You can read the interview in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Click “Search Archives” and choose September 2016 from the dropdown menu._____________________________ You have […]

How well are your students really doing at the midpoint of the school year? If you are curious, this blog post for you.  I hope every high school and middle school choral director uses this exam to evaluate and improve their program. I take this test EVERY YEAR! Here is: Your 10 Question Choir Midterm Exam