Latest Blog Posts

Image via As we approach the rush that signals the start of a new school year, it is important to think about how to maintain the ability to enjoy successes and triumphs in the classroom and be a positive influence in the lives of our singers. In a ChorTeach article from Fall 2015, Timothy Glasscock […]

During summer, I like to reflect on the previous school year with my middle school chorus and plan for the next one.  I reflect on what worked and what I’d like to do better.  I think about why I do things the way I do them, and how I can tweak and improve my work […]

“America’s future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live.” Jane Addams Are you happy with your reputation? Is this something you planned to “be” or is this something that just happened? Is your particular […]

This week on ACDA Radio, host Stan Schmidt invites you to join him for Going Beyond Words. We’ll spend our time together listening to love songs by Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser, Kurt Weill, Robert Schumann, Michael McGlynn, Rodgers and Hammerstein and even on of Nat King Cole’s great hits sung in Swedish.

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, […]

It’s the final day of preparations before the children arrive! It sort of reminds me of Christmas Eve. It’s all finished. On the first day, I want my middle school singers to know that I will wrap the arms of structure around them immediately, and that we are going to have fun too!   They […]

    “No legacy is so rich as honesty.” William Shakespeare As we begin a new choir year, I thought it might be useful to blog about reputation. So during the month of August, my blog will be a Choral Ethics series devoted to that subject. Our reputation begins almost from the moment we step […]

This week on Going Beyond Words, host Stan Schmidt introduces you to another of his special broadcasts called Choral Concert Live. On this presentation you will hear two choirs who performed at the NCACDA convention in Sioux Falls, SD in February 2016. Featured will be the Chamber Choir from The University of South Dakota guided by Dr. David Holdhusen and the Concert Choir from North Dakota State University with Dr. Jo Ann Miller on the podium.

One of the great myths in the history of music is the story of bluesman Robert Johnson and his encounter with the Devil. According to the Faustian myth, Johnson traded his soul to the Devil at a Mississippi crossroads in exchange for exceptional musical abilities, allowing Johnson to achieve success. This story was comically portrayed […]

In June 2006, the Choral Journal published a special focus issue on Mozart’s 250th anniversary, guest edited by Lawrence Schenbeck. As Schenbeck states in his editor’s column, “What surprised me in surveying recent research on [Mozart’s] choral music is how much we still have to discover. The four articles have one common, central theme: each […]