Latest Blog Posts

LIFE-LONG SINGING: AN ACDA PRIORITY by Tim Sharp          Of the many areas of interest that overlap the attention of choral directors, lifelong singing opportunities is a topic that unites and captures all of us. Knowing that singing can be enjoyed at many levels, throughout all stages of life, motivates our profession, and keeps […]

(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, Between the Beats, by William Simon)         Almost anyone can beat time, but it is what a conductor does between the beats that indicates his ability to develop an interpretation. I like to call the period of time between one beat point and the        It is […]

(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, A Casual Look at Adjudication, by Willard Schmitt)   During his tenure at the University of Southern California, Ralph Rush was a mentor of many of the nation’s music educators. He has given us a cogent comment concerning  adjudication when in 1955 he pointed out:   1. Nothing […]

The August issue of the Choral Journal is now available at the ACDA website.  The issue includes such articles as:      “Missa Dei Filii ZWV20: An Introduction to the Late Masses of Zelenka (Corbin)    “In the Footsteps of Bach: An Interview with George Christoph Biller) (Rothlisberger)    "Love and Music Are the Last […]

The Choral Journal: An Index to Volumes 19-53 has been updated to include annotated and cross-referenced entries for the latest volume year (Vol. 53).  The current Index includes entries for 4,307 articles published in the Choral Journal from 1979 through the June/July issue of 2013.  It is available to anyone – ACDA member and non-member […]

When you gather a few friends in restaurant to celebrate a birthday, the server might take note of the celebration and arrange for the establishment to provide a small candle-lit dessert for the birthday-girl/boy.  It’s a thoughtful gesture.   The wait-staff might also serenade the party, standing beside your table screaming some raucous, utterly unintelligible […]

Sorry, I really AM done with the series, but couldn’t avoid posting this–credit to ToneDeafComics.com:  

Recently, passengers stranded on commercial airliners have spontaneously turned to the live performance of music as a way to both pass the time, and presumably lower their collective blood pressure.   When members of the Philadelphia Orchestra were trapped in an aircraft in Beijing, they performed an impromptu concert for their fellow aviation inmates.  On […]

(An excerpt from the New York Times article, “Why Music Makes Our Brain Sing,” by Robert J. Zatorre & Valorie N. Salimpoor)     MUSIC is not tangible. You can’t eat it, drink it or mate with it. It doesn’t protect against the rain, wind or cold. It doesn’t vanquish predators or mend broken bones. […]

(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “Alienation and Entertainment,” by Kirk Mechem)          “On Alienation of Audiences was the title of an article in the January issue of the Choral Journal, I read this excellent piece with great interest but I have to admit that at the end I was still not sure […]