Latest Blog Posts

FIVE FROM THE FOLDER: LATIN AMERICAN FOR MIXED VOICES by Cristian Grases 1. “El Santigüao.” Federico Ruiz. Published in the book “Makumbebe” by Carus CA.230200 Prelude and Fugue on a Venezuelan theme. Powerfully written and rhythmically intricate 2. “Jubiaba.” by Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca. Earthsongs S-149 A magical recreation of a candomble ceremony that shifts […]

In a recent column, we highlighted a survey that sought to better understand current trends regarding how students with divergent needs are being included in a music education environment.   Another researcher is seeking information on this important educational topic.  This brief survey will glean information on educators’ training, perception, involvement, and needs relative to […]

FIVE FROM THE FOLDER: WOMEN’S VOICES by Lisa Fredenburgh   1. "Be like the Bird." Abbie Betinis.  Any voicing. Self-published A round that is beautiful and somewhat challenging.  Surprising lines and textures and a hopeful text.   2. "Bring me Little Water Silvie." Huddie Ledbetter arr. Moira Smiley. SSAA. Self-published American tune with body percussion.  Flexible style […]

  I should have mentioned that I blogged earlier (on my personal blog) about auditioning. You can find the links here: First post Second post Third post Fourth post   I'll do some repetition, of course, but this series will be organized differently. We'll start with figuring out as much as possible about the vocal […]

FIVE FROM THE FOLDER: VOCAL JAZZ by James McCullough   1. “For Once in My Life.” arr. Kirk Marcy. SMP08-017 Up tempo samba with solo vocal feature. Solo is an interpretation of the melody. I give it a grade 4 out of 6. Fair amount of repetition in voicings and rhythmic figures to make it […]

THE “STP” TREATMENT by Thomas R. Vozzella        Ever wonder why church choirs seem non-committal? Is it that they “are” non-committal, or we, as conductors, have forgotten the “STP” treatment – Share the Plan, as I like to call it.        Think back to our college days when we received a syllabus from the professor […]

The journal Nature published this interesting study that calls into question how our visual perceptions might unintentionally influence auditions: The participants were presented with recordings of the three finalists in each of ten prestigious international competitions, and were asked to guess the winner. With just sound, or sound and video, novices and experts both guessed right […]

VOCAL ADVANTAGE: BREATH (part 1), by Dina Else   Welcome back!  As your semester has started hopefully you have managed to convince your students that optimal body alignment is a huge key to their success as singers.  Now on to the topic of breath!   Historically breath has been a hotly contested subject with drastically […]