Latest Blog Posts

The February 2016 issue of Choral Journal featured an article by Nicole Becker and Jeanne Goffi-Fynn titled “Discovering Voices: Expanding Students’ Musical and Vocal Ideals in an Urban Community Children’s Choir.” This article offers readers “an approach to choral training that seeks to broaden children’s musical ideals and abilities by training them in healthy, flexible […]

GRAMMY-award-winning conductor and professional listener Craig Hella Johnson joins me for an interview on presence, honesty, and realizing the music with your choir. This is an audio podcast. LISTEN HERE Biography Renowned as one of today’s most influential voices in choral conducting, Craig Hella Johnson brings unparalleled depth of knowledge, artistic sensitivity, and rich imagination to […]

“It is impossible, in our condition of Society, not to be sometimes a Snob.” William Makepeace Thackeray Recently, I’ve become aware I am being referred to as Highfalutin, an Elitist, and a Snob. All those things are, apparently, bad things. In my own work, I suppose I am a bit highfalutin with my repertoire choices. […]

Going Beyond Words w/ Stan Schmidt Show 2245 – Let The Men Sing This week on ACDA Radio we shift gears and join the men of song. Musical guests will be tenor Stefano Secco, The King’s Singers, Choir Leoni Men’s Choir from Canada, the Hilliard Ensemble, and the orchestra of voices from San Francisco, Chanticleer. For information about the […]

I was recently introduced to an article on the Michigan ACDA website (editor, Jed Scott). It was an interview with composer Andrea Ramsey about her recently commissioned work, “But a Flint Holds Fire.” The piece was composed for a Chorus America consortium project and is part of an effort to raise awareness and monetary support for the […]

Click to listen to podcast version:  7 Ways to Love Your Choir Be the leader they need You wouldn’t know this since I’m the guy who wrote “Your choir sucks because you suck”, but I’m a sappy, open, and vulnerable choir director. It doesn’t take much to get me all choked up in rehearsal when I’m […]

“There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.” Henri Matisse I am creative. Whether I am programming a concert or making a meal, I can’t help but be a bit […]

Going Beyond Words w/ Stan Schmidt Show 2244 – Mendelssohn and Brahms: A German Legacy Two of the greatest composers that make up the German choral legacy are Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms. Join host Stan Schmidt for Going Beyond Words as you hear the artistry of the Gächinger Kantorei, the Swedish Radio Choir, and the Atlanta Symphony Chorus […]

  The September 2016 issue of Choral Journal featured an article by Philip Silvey titled “Coordinating Vocal Colors in Women’s Choruses,” which is intended primarily for high school and collegiate women’s choruses and can also be applicable to adult women’s choruses. The author states the following in the introduction: “When singers in women’s choruses combine […]

“When I wished to sing of love, it turned to sorrow. And when I wished to sing of sorrow, it was transformed for me into love.” Franz Schubert  Shawna* emailed me about a week ago. She originally emailed me earlier this summer. We were “back and forthing” about a situation she found herself in and, […]