Latest Blog Posts

Sorry for the late posting! Crazy day/week!   My next recommendation is a book by Doug Lemov, who you may know from the book Teach Like a Champion or its follow-up, Teach Like a Champion Field Guide. Both are terrific, all about better ways to teach. I recommend them, too!   But today I'll look […]

(imslp.org) The choral ensemble is a poor vehicle for teaching individual vocal technique. With the limited time we have in front of our groups, and hopefully a large number of singers eager to rehearse, taking rehearsal time to work on individual singing technique beyond a basic level (breath, posture, free easy tone, etc) isn't realistic. […]

This article talks about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and their model of creating a sense of mission, vision, and purpose. It’s an interesting read. I’m not sure it totally translates to the rest of the world…I wonder whether the model is repeatable outside of the community that it comes from (though not to cast an dispersions on […]

CHORAL ETHICS (Part 5): “MAESTRA MANNERS” EXPLAINS ALL by Marie Grass Amenta   (This is the fifth and final installment of a five-part series on choral ethics, exploring what it means to be ethical in this often unethical business.)   “Fine manners are the mantle of fair minds.” Louisa May Alcott   Do you ever […]

CHORAL ETHICS (Part 4): REAPING WHAT WE SOW by Marie Grass Amenta   (This is the fourth installment of a five-part series on choral ethics, exploring what it means to be ethical in this often unethical business.)   “Always do right.  This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain   Almost fifteen […]

CHORAL ETHICS (Part 3): KINDNESS IS NOT FOR WIMPS by Marie Grass Amenta   (This is the third installment of a five-part series on choral ethics, exploring what it means to be ethical in this often unethical business.) “What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” Jean-Jacques Rousseau   It is easy to […]

CHORAL ETHICS (Part 2): AMATEUR VERSUS PROFESSIONAL by Marie Grass Amenta   (This is the second installment of a five-part series on choral ethics, exploring what it means to be ethical in this often unethical business.)   “Every artist was first an amateur.” Ralph Waldo Emerson   The word amateur is taken from Old French […]

CHORAL ETHICS (Part 1): SONGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME by Marie Grass Amenta   (This is the first installment of a five-part series on choral ethics, exploring what it means to be ethical in this often unethical business.)   Choral Ethics isn’t rocket science, complicated or anything we haven’t heard before, we just need to […]

COMPOSITION SPOTLIGHT ~ by Jack Senzig   (Each week we look at one or two of the best choral works posted in the Composition Showcase here on ChoralNet.  This is where we store a treasure trove of works that your choirs will love to sing and your audiences will love to hear.)   Seek a Place of Breathless Beauty  […]