Latest Blog Posts

There is a school that has been represented repeatedly on the ACDA conference stage by its woman’s choir.  The reason is simple: The institution made a conscious decision that the woman’s ensemble would be (to use the athletic term) the varsity team.  It’s an interesting thought, isn’t it?   Roberta Jackson explores the idea even […]

There are some days I wish I was an English teacher.  English faculty don’t need to invest time worrying about wardrobe issues, they don’t have to place their classroom product on display, and they don’t have to lift a finger to recruit member to their class.   Choral conductors on the other hand . . […]

Isn’t it wonderful when we can make a difference in the lives of those we work with in choirs?   Here’s what a choir member said about his experience singing in the ensemble:  “Since joining the choir, I’ve noticed more self-confidence around other people. At first I was scared, thinking I might not be good […]

Contrary to what one might think when leafing through the pages of the Choral Journal, there really are more than ten or twelve people who guest conduct choirs.  Stay in this profession long enough and you, too, will receive an invitation.  In Terry Barham’s article, “Working with Honor/Festival Choirs: One Conductor’s Perspective” (ChorTeach Volume 3, […]

Are you looking for a way to encourage members of the choir to take ownership of their sound while simultaneously reducing your chances of ending up in a rubber room?   Barbara Retzko can help.  In her article “Perhaps Wishing Will Make It So” (ChorTeach, Volume 4, Issue 2), Barb discusses how posting her “Wish […]

Over the next few weeks, many of us will feel it.   We’ll be sitting at the ACDA Conference listening to a brilliant performance that includes avant garde repertoire, and we’ll think to ourselves, “Wow, that piece is cool. Strange but cool.  Shoot . . . there is no way my choir could possibly sing […]

We designed ChoralNet Communities flexibly in order to permit ChoralNet users to create their own ways of communicating. The community Composers of Choral Music has been very active, perhaps because there isn’t any other established forum for such composers to get together.   Their latest project is a Composition Showcase. When you go into a […]

In her February 7 The New York Times article, "What Doctors Can Learn From Musicians", medical doctor Danielle Ofri offers the term "coach" for what I believe are the traits of a true mentor–one who gives "…unflinchingly honest criticism, laced with an unfailing optimism."   Dr. Offri writes, "In music, plateaus are flatly unaccepted. When […]

Liz Garnett tries it: The delay between sound and picture was less of an issue while they were singing (strangely) than when we were talking. This was one of the pleasant surprises. But it made me realise how closely I usually watch people’s eyes while I coach, to track how they’re responding to what I […]

A Toronto TV program (not embeddable) describes this as a “flash choir”, but it’s really just a casual singing group which meets weekly for fun.    Choir! Choir! Choir! is the name of the group, and they have the most interesting website design: it all scrolls horizontally rather than vertically.