Latest Blog Posts
Don’t Wait to Make Art
When I attend a concert, I expect to hear music. And when I attend a concert at an ACDA conference, I expect to hear excellent music. I did not expect Tim Lautzenheiser. I did not expect to be accosted with positivity. To be delighted to laughter and touched to tears. To be vehemently […]
ChoralTech: How Do You Get Your ChoralNet?
You may have noticed that ChoralBlog has been expanding recently– adding guest bloggers and trying to spread our scope to present as comprehensive a discussion of choral topics as possible. For many people, ChoralBlog is the most obvious (or even the only?) part of ChoralNet, but our increased focus on ChoralBlog shouldn’t distract from the […]
Composition Spotlight: The Music of Craig Minowa
COMPOSITION SPOTLIGHT ~ by Jack Senzig I have recently had some unusual experiences that I think other choral professionals could learn from. My choir and I had the opportunity to record with the rock band Cloud Cult on their just released album LOVE. I encourage my colleagues to read this article and push themselves […]
Rehearsing well III
This is the last (I think!) in the series–although as my choirs know, when I say, “one more time” . . . I’m rarely going to do that! Let me first give a link to a wonderful article: http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/how-many-hours-a-day-should-you-practice/ This deals with individual practice, but has much to do with choral rehearsal as […]
CJ Replay: Looking Back at a Look Ahead
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “Choral Music: Predictions Regarding the 1980s,” by Lynn Whitten) The student of today has posed many a problem for us, and the better educated, more liberated students of the 1980s will not pose fewer problems. The students must be listened to, but not capitulated to, if […]
CJ Replay: English Anthem
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “The English Anthem,” by Paul R. Otte) The term “anthem” is the modern form of the Old English word alltefn or antempne. This in turn, comes from the Greek word antiphonol which means a song which is sung “antiphonally,” that is, by two groups. One group […]
CJ Replay: Tactus
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “Tempo and Mensural Proportion in the Music of the Sixteenth Century,” by Stephen A Kingsbury) At the most fundamental level, issues of mensuration and mensural proportion stem from the concept of tactus. Also referred to by theorists of the day as measure, full stroke, mensura, compas, […]
CJ Replay: Career Crisis
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “The Mid-Career Desert: Becoming a Self-Nurturing Conductor,” by Harley Muilenburg and Corryn Crosby Muilenburg) The midcareer desert, if it occurs, is tremendously threatening because there are no pat answers for dealing with it. During this rite of passage, each person must take inventory and choose again […]
CJ Replay: Grading the Choral Ensemble
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “Grading the Choral Ensemble . . . No More Excuses!,” by Peggy Diane Dettwiler) Assessment of choral ensembles is often a challenging task for directors. Because much rehearsal time is spent with group activities that are difficult to measure objectively as individual contributions, many directors choose […]