Latest Blog Posts

(From the Choral Journal article, “The Choral Music of Antonín Dvořák: A Sesquincentennial Review,” by John Guthmiller)   Antonín Dvořák once described himself as a “simple Czech musician.”  This may seem an unduly humble self-characterization. However, Dvořák was in many ways quite simple. He was a man with an elemental faith and unpretentious habits, a […]

(From the Choral Journal article “A Prayer for Peace Now: Britten’s War Requiem Revisited, by Charles Matoni.  A performance of the War Requiem will be a special feature of the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)   The War Requiem is obviously [Britten’s ] profoundest work. It is the most dramatic and unnerving setting of the Requiem […]

NEWS FLASH:  There is a difference between boys and girls.   Despite the efforts of those who would seek to androgenize the species, no amount of PC babble is going to change certain things.  Face it: we boys can be a little squirrely (and some of us never quite outgrow that). Rather than try to […]

As school districts slash away at budgets like crazed pirate boarding parties, those in the arts are frequently left fighting for their professional survival in an acrid, toxic workplace.   Many who have successfully navigated these difficult waters have done so through creative inter-disciplinary efforts.  In her article, “New Bridges to Cross: Ideas to Stimulate […]

Palant, Jonathan.  Unifying a Nation: Male Singing Societies and Part Songs in Nineteenth-Century Germany.  Doctor of Musical Arts dissertation.  Michigan State Univversity, 2007.          The start of the nineteenth century marked the beginning of an emerging consciousness of German identity among certain speakers of the German language.  Culture and politics merged and began to […]

Depending on your field of endeavor, certain things are just accepted as fact based almost solely on anecdotal observation.  I suspect the general reaction by most of us in the choral profession to the publication of the study linking music to brain activity (now commonly called The Mozart Effect) was a resounding, “Well, Duh!”   […]

In the November issue of the Choral Journal (in your mailbox right now) ACDA’s Executive Director, Tim Sharp, says, “Choral composition is the oxygen, water, and nutrient of our life and work as a choral organism.”   It’s absolutely true.  We’re all on a continual quest – a hunt, really – for new music.  Our […]

One of the beauties of choral music is the incredible rhythmic flexibility allowed by the text in combination with the natural dexterity of the articulators.  But what makes the art so special is also the cause of more than a few problems. Put simply, we singers just don’t count all that well.    Thomas Wine […]

Collins, Drew S.  Poetic Structural Devices as a Consideration When Analyzing and Interpreting Choral Scores. Doctor of Musical Arts dissertation.  University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, 2011.        This study focuses on the connection between poetry, choral composition, and choral performance, specifically how an understanding of the constructive elements of poetry can influence the interpretation […]

Yung, Sea Hua.  A Conductor’s Guide to Representative Choral Music of Leopold Mozart (1719-87). Doctor of Musical Arts dissertation.  University of Cincinnnati College-Conservatory of Music, 2012          Leopold Mozart (1719-87) was a well-known musician to his contemporaries and his music was widely circulated. Although he is now primarily known as a violin instructor and […]