Latest Blog Posts
CJ Replay: Working Together for the Good of Singing
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “Working Relationships of the Choral Director and the Singing Teacher,” by Robert E. Bowles) Singers, whether as soloists or as choristers, are forever engaged in communicating text, often of profound import, which has been enhanced by and further revealed through its musical setting. The soloist becomes […]
Monday Motivation: Balance Your Life, Too
For the first “Monday Motivation” of the new choral season, it seems appropriate for us all to be reminded of the incredible value of BALANCE amid the swirling maelstrom that will greet us each day in the coming ten months. And for those who refuse to believe that it is the little things that are […]
Intonation XIII – Answering questions from comments
As I bring this (long!) series to an end, I'll attempt to answer questions or highlight comments made by others to this series–a huge thanks to those who took the time to comment, correct, or add to what I've said. I will likely say a few things more on Saturday before signing off for the […]
The Power of Singing
During the crush of the academic year we are pulled in more directions than is perhaps healthy. Too many things compete for our limited attention, time, and resources. Some are necessary. Some are worthwhile. While others are neither. As choral conductors and lovers of the choral art, we should turn aside from the noise […]
ACDA Again Dodges Damage
May 31, 2013, 10:00 p.m. CDT. For the second week in a row, devastating weather has pummeled Oklahoma City, home of the National Office of the American Choral Directors Association. At this time, the ACDA staff are all well and the facility is undamaged. We appreciate the many texts, e-mails, and calls received from our […]
Intonation XII – What to do when the choir goes flat?
I had no idea this topic was going to go on this long! Comments from all of you talented people keep new posts and ideas coming. As I said in my initial post, intonation is a complicated subject. If you haven't looked at the comments, please do so! This community has many sharp (I […]
ChoralTech: Storing (and Moving) Big Audio/Video Files
E-mail is a great tool for sending text and documents to each other, but before too long, you’ll run up against one of its limitations: you can’t send big files with it. For most users, that’s not a huge issue, but when we want to send large bits of audio or video to our musicians, […]
Intonation XI – Tonal Memory–A Two-Edged Sword
John Goldsmith's two guest posts (here and here) demonstrate a wonderful way to train your choirs to remember and audiate patterns, shifts of tonality, accurate half and whole steps, scales, etc. He creates ways to train the tonal memory in a positive way, which will help your choir in reading as well as to sing […]
Dynamic Score Study
(An excerpt from the interest session, “Dynamic Score Study: A Model for Teaching and Learning from the Art Museum,” by Andrew Crow. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.) One of the barriers we face in carving out time for score study is the silent and perhaps even tedious nature of the task. […]
ACDA Staff and Facility Safe
(Monday, May 20, 2013, 4:00 p.m. CDT) Despite massive devastation in various areas of the Oklahoma City metro area over the past 24 hours from a series of tornadoes, the American Choral Directors Association reports that the members of the staff and their families are safe. The ACDA national office in downtown Oklahoma City did […]