Latest Blog Posts

_____________________________ Choral Journal’s ongoing column called Choral Conversations” features interviews with noted choral conductors and composers. The first interview in this series took place with Joan Catoni Conlon in the February 2016 issue. You can read it in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Click “Search Archives” and choose February 2016 from the dropdown menu._____________________________ What inspired […]

For more than a decade, my rehearsal approach for the month of January could be simply described as: NO CHORAL MUSIC! Let’s give them a Choral break! What should we do instead? I’m going to share my January approach, the approach I use every year with my high school choirs! Here is: My “NO CHORAL MUSIC in JANUARY” […]

Seven important concepts to master to keep your choir moving forward for an ENTIRE academic year. Sometimes we fall into ruts. Sometimes the singers do… Ultimately, both scenarios are bad and are OUR fault as the director. I have had wildly successful school years and seasons with churches and pro choir. And some that fell […]

“We cannot be kind to each other here for even an hour. We whisper, and hint, and chuckle and grin at our brother’s shame; however you take it we men are a little breed.” Alfred Lord Tennyson I’ve written many Choral Ethics blogs about kindness and there’s a very good reason why; we Choral Folk […]

The newest issue of Choral Journal is available online. Following is a list of the articles you will find in this issue. ACDA members can log in with their username and password to view and download the newest edition. You can also read our electronic version. Below is a preview of the articles you will find in this […]

The New Year allows both students and directors the opportunity for a fresh start. Is there anything you want to do differently? Do you want your rehearsal to be more effective? more focused? more engaging?  Now is a great time to make a few rehearsal tweaks! Here are: 8 Tips for Restarting Rehearsals after the […]

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’” Alfred Lord Tennyson Happy New Year from Choral Ethics! We hope you had a lovely, wonderful Holiday, no matter what you celebrate or didn’t celebrate. We also hope your concerts and services came off without a hitch. Perhaps it all […]

The March 2015 issue of Choral Journal features an article titled “Why Music Education Matters to Me” by Kelsey Wickerham. You can read it in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Click “Search Archives” and choose March 2015 from the dropdown menu._____________________________ A “3,” another “3,” and a “4.” It was in that succession that I read the scores […]

In this episode I asked the expert, Dr. Amanda Quist to chat with me about teaching the concept of vowels, resonance and intonation. Is it possible to measure a vowel scientifically? Or is the purity of a vowel subject to the opinion of the conductor? We discuss what I believe to be a new frontier […]

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” Leonard Bernstein Have you ever noticed the best holiday stories portray some sort of dream? From the ballet, “The Nutcracker” to all of the many incarnations of Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” someone is always sleeping and […]