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Jeffrey Tucker writes about the isolation of musicians, saying that church musicians live in their own little world and it’s hard for pastors or parishioners to communicate with them. He says that parisioners have a sense that they have no more business intervening in the world of music than they have in telling the plumber […]

Saturday morning? CARTOONS! For the next six minutes and sixteen seconds my only concern is do I want a chocolate doughnut or the powdered sugar one?

(From the multi-part Choral Journal article, “In Quest of Answers,” by Carole Glenn.)   In response to the questions, (a) Do you have any preferences in terms of blend? and (b) In terms of blend, how do you handle an outstanding solo singer in a choral situation  Howard Swan (California State University, Fullerton)  replied:   […]

(From the multi-part Choral Journal article, “In Quest of Answers,” by Carole Glenn.)   In response to the questions, (a) Do you have any preferences in terms of blend? and (b) In terms of blend, how do you handle an outstanding solo singer in a choral situation? Kenneth Jennings (St. Olaf College) replied:   (a) […]

(From the multi-part Choral Journal article, “In Quest of Answers,” by Carole Glenn.)   In response to the questions, (a) Do you have any preferences in terms of blend? and (b) In terms of blend, how do you handle an outstanding solo singer in a choral situation? Harold Decker (University of Illinois) replied:   (a) […]

(From the Choral Journal article, "Warm-up Exercises for the Conductor?" by S. Vernon Sanders."          "How does one learn to conduct? The current answer is 'By acquiring routine' – which means by being let loose, without technical knowledge, on works, orchestra, and audience, in order to acquire through 'experience', in the course of long […]

Here is a selection from the 2012 ACDA Southern Division Conference.  Listen today to the unification of vowels.  What decisions did our colleague make regarding the exact shape of the choir’s vowels?

We tend to look at the top people in any given profession and marvel at their skill while conveniently forgetting that they probably began learning their particular craft at a very young age.  The winning NASCAR driver messed up a lot of tires learning to parallel park. The astronaut was once a student pilot struggling […]

Here is a small taste of the performance of the Verdi Requiem from the 2012 ACDA Eastern Division Conference.  Amazing, isn’t it, what students are capable of doing?