Latest Blog Posts
ACDA to Publish International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (IJRCS)
The American Choral Directors Association is honored to announce it is now the publisher of the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (IJRCS), adding this distinguished research journal to its existing suite of choral publications. Adding IJRCS to ACDA’s supporting cast of online resources and research publications is a partial fulfillment of one of […]
Plus ça change…
In case anyone tells you that the exclusion of music from the list of “real” academic subjects is a new invention, here’s a quote from Roman philosopher Seneca: And what of those who are engaged in composing, hearing, and learning songs, while they twist the voice, whose best and simplest movement Nature designed to be […]
Freebie for a Thursday!
Attention Choral Friends! Oops! We printed too many! We are giving away the popular ACDA Southern 2012 High School Honors Choir and Collegiate Singers CD-DVD set, (a $40 value!) Check out the tracks and guest conductor here! Simply enter the code ACDASOUTHERN at checkout. Pay only $4 shipping. Email Alexis or call 419-602-4275 with […]
Stick Time: The Power of Our Art
A conducting colleague said to me once, “I never listen to choral music. That’s too much like work.” I certainly hope I never reach that point. Yes, our craft is indescribably demanding, and the day-to-day grind can be wearing and wearying (especially at this time of the season). Yes, we do need to cleanse […]
Seen on Twitter lately
I run a constant search for the word “choral” on twitter. Occasionally, I look to see what it brings up. Here are some of the latest: My choral teacher put my in between the two skinniest girls in school for this concert tonight soo basically I’m gonna look like a whale U of […]
Audience awareness
I mentioned in my last post that we as conductors face away from the audience, but I always feel like I’m aware of them anyway, even if I can’t see them. Somehow I sense whether they’re attentive, and how they’re responding to the music. Part of it is obviously that there’s more ambient noise (rustling, […]
Dress rehearsal
Just finished dress rehearsal with the orchestra last night for Haydn's Mass in Time of War (aside: first time I've ever had to tell a tympanist to play louder, but it is a prominent part). I always find dress rehearsal to be much more stressful than performances. That's the real deadline for knowing your […]
Creative Ventures into Music Publishing
I'm thrilled to see all of these new ventures into music publishing. Today I am featuring Kansas City Music Publishing. In case you are new to ChoralNet, we talk about music publishing often on this blog. Here are some of the articles from the past: Transforming Gutenberg Grounded Economics Publishers vs. Creators Future Models […]
What is the best way to leave the profession?
I’ve noted with respect the way LSU has said goodbye to longtime professor Ken Fulton as he retires this year. They’ve celebrated his tenure with ceremony and class. LSU also included him on the search committee to choose a new conductor. It doesn’t always go that way, does it? Sometimes there is no […]
How Do You Measure a Year in the Choral Life?
In the musical Rent, Seasons of Love asks “how do you measure a year in the life?” The clinical way of doing so sounds something like “Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes”, but the song rhetorically asks, how do you really measure a year in the life? Most of us are completing a […]

