Latest Blog Posts

Classrooms have become ground zero for the problem of political polarization. What is being taught, who is teaching it, how it’s being taught, how it is funded, etc. Are we teaching Critical Race Theory, or are we not? Should we be? These and many questions have become a toxic political football. The problem of this […]

I am taking a bit of a Choral Ethics break during the summer, and today we have a guest blogger.  I will be working on the fall’s Blogs during the summer, so if you have a Choral Ethics dilemma or query or comment, please email me: . Choral Ethics Guest Blogger: Issues for Our Time […]

Last month, I told you about my Solutionary Choral Curriculum. In summary, my middle school chorus focuses on a cause for the year. They not only have a fundraising concert at the end of the year to raise money for that cause, they also work on finding Solutions to help the cause throughout the year. […]

Midweek Meditation: Five Minutes to Focus by Steve Grives In this entry, I’ll take you through a guided meditation that I’ve developed for use with choral ensembles. While my meditation practice is a spiritual practice, one designed to cultivate both wisdom and compassion, the basic tenets of mindfulness meditation can be used to build life […]

The newest issue of Choral Journal is available online. Following is a list of the articles you will find in this issue. ACDA members can log in with their username and password to view and download the newest edition. You can also read our electronic version. If you are not already a member of ACDA, join today to start receiving […]

Here is a true story. This happened this past Friday night. We had another family over for dinner (non-musical family), and the wife says “My husband is Tone-deaf.”   Well, she was willing to BET me her husband was tone-deaf.   The BET was: If I can get her tone-deaf husband to sing decently, they […]

I am taking a bit of a Choral Ethics break during the summer, and this is the first of my Choral Ethics Blog repeats, taken from Choral Ethics blogs from 2018 through 2019. We will also have a guest blogger a time or two.  I will be working on the fall’s Blogs during the summer, […]

As discussed in last month’s ChoralEd post, there are two primary sections to any classroom management plan.  In part 1, we looked at preventative classroom management techniques, which addressed ways to minimize and prevent behavioral issues before they occur.  While it’s every teacher’s dream to prevent all behavioral problems before they occur, we must also […]

As Director of Music at a church, I often need to think about logistics during the service. Especially on Sundays with multiple choirs, I need to think about getting a choir to the correct place in the Chancel. If I need to switch to a different location in the Chancel, I often need to figure […]

  The June/July 2022 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “An Introduction to Jennifer Higdon’s Choral Works” by William Skoog. The 2023 National Conference will feature a premiere of the ACDA Brock Commission, composed by Jennifer Higdon. Read an introduction to the composer’s choral works in the current June/July issue acda.org/choraljournal. Following is […]