Latest Blog Posts
Saturday Respite: Vince Guaraldi Trio
If you’ve been anywhere near a mall over the past couple weeks, you have undoubtedly heard what is arguably Vince Guaraldi’s best-known recording. Believe it or not, he and his trio did play other things.
Tune in to ACDA Radio
Jump in your car. Turn on the radio. Tune to the local classical radio station (assuming you’re lucky enough to live in an area that has one). What do you suppose the odds are that they will be playing a choral work? If you answered “slim to none”, congratulations . . . you win […]
Stick Time: More Male Voices, Please
Your college choral director did it. You’ve done it. Yes, I’ve done it too. We’ve ALL complained in one form or another about the need for more male singers in our choral programs. The challenge is so daunting that in the spring of 2012, ACDA devoted both the April and May issues of the […]
CJ Replay: Our Huge Responsibility
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, World Music: A Breath of Inspiration, by Stephen Hatfield) Every choir, regardless of age, gender, size, or strength, is a sacred institution. Choral music is one of the hallmarks of a civilization. Some cultures have no dance and no pictorial arts, but singing seems to be universally […]
Choral Caffeine: Special Needs Singers
It’s reasonable to assume that every conductor working in an education institution has had a special needs student in their choral ensemble. Though perhaps initially intimidating, there is reason to suspect that we all found the experience to have been rewarding, on many levels. In her article, “Inclusion of Special Needs Students in Choirs” […]
CJ Replay: Madrigal Music Munching
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article In the Bleak Mid-Winter: A Candlelit Feast by Will Kesling) The food was then brought to the tables in numerous dishes by a procession of servitors, every dish containing enough for two people. The gentlemen placed the food in trenches – scooped-out half loaves of bread […]
CJ Replay: Whitacre
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article Textural Density in the Choral Music of Eric Whitacre by Andrew Larson) Whitacre’s choral works exhibit harmonic flamboyance, crushing dissonance, and striking harmonic relationships abound in his works. Part of his compositional genius lies, however, in the accessibility of his works to listener and singer. Despite […]
CJ Replay: Drama of Messiah
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article G.F. Handel’s Messiah: Drama Theologicus by Wayne Barrett) Oratorio is musical drama. Good oratorio contains the same elements that make for good drama without music: an engaging protagonist, tension and release, crisis and resolution, vicarious involvement of the audience, colorful figures, strong emotional reactions, etc. Good […]