Latest Blog Posts
CJ Replay: Hanging on to the Boys
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “An Interview with Six Successful Elementary School Choral Directors,” by Angela Broeker) We have found that boys become very enthusiastic when separated from the greater chorus and are permitted to perform as a small ensemble apart from the girls. There are many folk song octavos in which […]
CJ Replay: Government and the Arts
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “An Interview with Robert Shaw: Reflections at Eighty,” by Jeffrey Baxter) A citizenry concerned about its intellectual, artistic, cultural, and spiritual life will find ways to increase its support of that life. There’s no assurance that art and music will escape the bureaucratic problems that we experience […]
CJ Replay: The Challenge to Composers
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “An Interview with Rodion Shcherdrin,” by John Stuhr-Rommereim) STUHR-ROMMEREIM: What do you feel are the special challenges facing choral composers in the latter part of the twentieth century? SHCHEDRlN: I think we must return to natural means of expression. I am not a conservative, but I […]
Is It Really THEIR Voices? Teaching the Urban Youth Choir
(An excerpt from the interest session, "Is It Really THEIR Voices? Teaching the Urban Youth Choir," by Nicole Becker & Jeanne Goffi-Fynn. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.) A person's voice is their means of expression in their everyday lives. They have lived with their voices, they are comfortable with them, it […]
The Legacy of Lawson-Gould
(An excerpt from the interest session, “The Legacy of Lawson-Gould” by Alice Parker with Sally K. Albrecht and Michael Spresser. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.) Walter Gould and Robert Lawson Shaw established the Lawson-Gould choral catalog in 1953, first publishing the music of Alice Parker and Robert Shaw, consisting primarily of […]
Sweat, Tears, and Jazz Hands: The History of Show Choir from Vaudeville to Glee
(An excerpt from the interest session, “Sweat, Tears, and Jazz Hands: The History of Show Choir from Vaudeville to Glee,” by Mike Weaver. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.) As any American choral historian knows, Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians were doing show choir before show choir was cool. Long before television, […]
Paradigm Shift: The New Conductor/Composer Dynamic (Part 1)
(An excerpt from the panel session, “Paradigm Shift: The New Conductor/Composer Dynamic,” by Deborah Simpkin King. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.) PROJECT : ENCORE™ is an initiative formed for the purpose of promoting post-premiere performances of significant new choral music. It takes the form of a continually-expanding, robustly searchable database of premiered […]
Paradigm Shift: The New Conductor/Composer Dynamic (Part 2)
(An excerpt from the interest session, “Paradigm Shift: The New Conductor/Composer Dynamic,” by Reginald Unterseher. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.) My perspective on the evolving way that conductors find and purchase music is formed by my experience as a composer and as an R&S Chair. I am part of both the traditional […]
Conducting Women’s Choir: Strategies for Success
(An overview of the interest session, “Conducting Women’s Choir: Strategies for Success,” by Debra Spurgeon. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.) This session featured a panel of 12 conductors who had contributed chapters to the new book titled Conducting Women’s Choirs: Strategies for Success (GIA Publications). Each author spoke for about five […]
Composition Spotlight: You Having Walked This Earth
COMPOSITION SPOTLIGHT ~ by Jack Senzig (Each week we look at a piece of useful repertoire from the ChoralNet Community Composition Showcase. A variety of voicings and levels of difficulty will be presented. Enjoy!) You Having Walked This Earth https://choralnet.org/306016#youhavingwalked4557 by Joseph G. Stephens SATB some divisi and brief soprano solo a cappella (click for PDF and AUDIO) Level: High School or higher […]