Latest Blog Posts
Tips for Teaching Vocal Percussion
The June/July 2024 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “Tips for Teaching Vocal Percussion” by Rob Dietz. Following is a portion from the article. _________________ Whenever I talk to directors who are interested in starting a contemporary a cappella group, there is almost always one concern that jumps out above all others: How […]
Expanding the Boundaries of Choral Music with Katerina Gimon
Standard music notation that is now used ubiquitously around the world does some things really well. But it also has limitation. Katerina Gimon is a composer who is actively working to dream up new ways to use notation to communicate sound ideas to musicians that expand our written music vocabulary. Katerina first exploded onto the […]
Choral Ethics: Cicadas, Brahms and the Approah of Summer
Dad, Peter Genaro and me at a dance workshop in the 1970s “The truth is, I’ve been lucky. But just like the waltz, life has its own rhythm of rise and fall.” Len Goodman Here in Chicago, the cicadas are out in force. In my area, I awaken to hear a low hum in the […]
Singing Alone, “The Boogey Man in the Closet”
Standard #1 from NAfME is the best one I think. “Singing alone AND in small groups a varied repertoire of music.” It is of course, crucial in vocal and general music. But it’s value is also present in instrumental focused courses as well. Here’s the thing. It is our job, as music educators to teach individuals. “Ensemble […]
From Censorship to Celebration: Rediscovering Lūcija Garūta’s “God, Thy Earth is Aflame!”
The May 2024 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “From Censorship to Celebration: Rediscovering Lūcija Garūta’s ‘God, Thy Earth is Aflame!’”. Following is a portion from the article. _________________ In the spring of 1944 in Riga, Latvia, Nazi Germany’s four-year occupation of the country was ending. Latvia’s national nightmare, however, was far from […]
Choral Ethics: Regrets
“Lost time is never found again.” Benjamin Franklin As the school year and concert season winds down, do you have regrets? Was your concert repertoire everything you hoped it would be? Did your students make progress singing in a new foreign language or was it a bit beyond them this year? Was the new approach […]
Lift Every Voice: Impacting the Communities We Serve
Lift Every Voice is a column in Choral Journal concerning issues of access, diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and restorative practice (ADEIBR) in choral music. We hope this column can provide a space to incubate ideas about inclusive practices and provide mentorship for choral practitioners. The column has a quarterly review cycle. Submit by February 1, […]
Choral Ethics: Being True To Yourself
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” William Shakespeare A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about the scandal (no need to repeat it again) at the New York Philharmonic. I asked for comments and opinions. No […]
The Conductor as Yogi: What Have We Learned
“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.” Phil Collins There is a pause, if we choose to take it, after a concert season, academic year, major project, or significant life experience. Like savasana at the end of a yoga practice, we take the opportunity to assimilate, to feel the effects of […]
Women Conductors of College Men’s Choirs – Redefining the “Brotherhood”
The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (IJRCS) is ACDA’s scholarly publication that welcomes studies that apply rigorous, systematically-grounded methodologies, either quantitative or qualitative, to investigate phenomena of potential interest to all who sing in, work with, or are otherwise interested in choral ensembles. Below is the abstract from this article written by Marci L. […]