Latest Blog Posts

Two months from right now, several thousand of us will be gathered in sunny Dallas, Texas for the 2013 ACDA National Conference.   One of the exciting things we will experience together will be the opportunity to hear new choral music, much of it composed especially for the occasion.  Among the new music always heard […]

(As a companion to yesterday’s “Stick Time: The Value of Folk Songs,” here is an excerpt from the Choral Journal article Copland and the Folk Song: Sources, Analysis, Choral Arrangements, by Mary A. Kennedy.)          During the winter of 1950, Aaron Copland took a break from his work on the Dickinson Songs to set […]

(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article Illegal Copying Means Less Music + Higher Prices [scroll to p.30])          Have you illegally photocopied music? Do you remember why you did it?        Was it that you couldn't get what you wanted in time? Or, was it that you just didn't want to spend the […]

Dvořák knew ithe importance of folk music.  So did Kodály. And Copland. And a whole bunch of other brilliant musical minds.  Who are we to argue?   Folk music is a rich and valuable resource that we sometimes overlook in our repertoire selection.  American folk melodies have a particular charm for us here in the […]

Bigger choirs!  Splashier wardrobe!  Clapping & stomping!  New music!  Louder everything!  Special effects!  Big, BIGGER, BIGGEST!   Sometimes our choral performances seem to be less a celebration of the art than the musical equivalent of screaming car advertisements on TV.  Big hair, big shoes, big sounds.  True, we are competing with the ear-splitting caucaphony churned […]

I’ve gotta say – this looks good:     Hat tip to Michael Parker and other friends from FaceBook

I know it’s not choral, but enjoy–Happy New Year to everyone on ChoralNet!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO1go37g2LE