Latest Blog Posts

(From the Choral Journal article, “A Choral Conductor’s Preparation for Choral/Orchestral Concerts,” by Kerry Barnett)          Orchestral scores can be confusing to choral conductors, many of whom are primarily used to looking at only choral parts, perhaps with some form of keyboard accompaniment. The process of becoming comfortable with the visual presentation of orchestral […]

(From the Choral Journal article, “The Need for a Choral Transfusion,” by Gary L. Anderson)   A continuing challenge facing nearly all choral directors is keeping an established choral program fresh, exciting, and appealing. Unfortunately, many directors are committed to thesame recruiting procedures, the same number and types of choirs, and the same rehearsal schedule […]

Listening to masterpieces of the standard choral repertoire is like visiting with a well-loved friend.  There is a sense of instant familiarity, comfort, and kinship.   It is, however, critically important to remember (or perhaps to realize for the first time) that while a work may be well known to many in a room full […]

Get your week off to a finger poppin’ start with this performance of the Darmom Meader chart “Stolen Moments” by the vocal jazz ensemble from American River College.  This recording, from the 2011 National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association, gives just a small sample of one of the many vocal forms on display […]

So, the school year is several weeks old.  How is your voice holding up?  Yes, YOUR voice. You spend hour after hour caring for the vocal well-being of those around you, but who is looking after your pipes?   The is the question at the heart of Mary Lynn Morrissey Doherty’s article, "You Might Not […]

The newest edition of the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing is now available.  Founded in 2003, this exclusively on-line publication is now the scientific journal of the American Choral Directors Association.        “We are delighted that IJRCS has become a part of ACDA’s publishing outreach,” said the Association’s Executive Director Tim Sharp. “Join […]

            Most of us think of the American Choral Directors Association primarily in terms of professional affiliation.  For a few people, though, ACDA is a family affair.             Take the family of Bill Grace; they represent three generations of ACDA members. Bill has been a member since ACDA’s earliest days in 1959, his daughters Gretchen […]

In case anyone hasn’t noticed from all of the posturing politicians endlessly bloviating in front of anything with a lens, it’s election time.  Yes, we’re going to determine which of a field of veracity-challenged, folliclly-blessed attorney’s we send to the beltway to pork-out on our money.   For many of us, though, the larger concern […]

On Monday in the "Stick Time" column we refered to the 70s jazz-fusion band "Weather Report." Here's a little taste for your Saturday (and if you recognize the chart as having been covered by The Manhattan Transfer, you win a cookie!).