Latest Blog Posts
CJ Replay: Service of Lessons and Carols
One of the great traditions of the Christmas season is the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, sung by church choirs large and small” in every part of the English-speaking world. The model upon which this nativity event is based is the service which takes place annually on Christmas Eve at 3:00pm in the Chapel […]
CJ Replay: Singing at Christmas
People love to sing at Christmas. Not just choirs or madrigal ensembles, but all the people. Those same folks who can’t make it through Happy Birthday at a restaurant will stand in the snow to sing carols outside a shut-in’s door. With far less group singing during the other eleven months—do school children still sing […]
CJ Replay: The Alfred Burt Carols
Since the Alfred Burt Christmas Carols were first recorded and published in the 1950s, they have resounded through a score of countries in many languages. This music is one of the twentieth century's great contributions to the celebration of Christmas. Alfred Burt was the son of Emily May Bailey and the Reverend Bates Burt, an […]
Stick Time: Clever Concert Presentation II
Today, let’t look at a blending of performance practice and entertainment. Here, we see a choir that performs not only with fabulous musicality, but also presents the selection in a manner that is engaging on multiple levels. With so many performances taking place at this crazy-busy time of year, how could you add just a […]
A song about love
Love the variety of percussion instruments used here (what’s the difference between the red mushroom and the green one?) and the, um, subtle facial expressions. Any of you ever used a Christmas present as a percussion instrument? Link for the embedded-impaired: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ZwnmJgC-g
A virtual church choir
Taking the lead from Eric Whitacre’s virtual choir, a church choir from New Jersey is putting together their own technology-driven choral music this Christmas: Liquid Church of New Jersey is inviting people around the world to participate in the first virtual Christmas choir, utilizing webcams and YouTube. Singers from around the world will be united […]
Is .00029 cents really money?
There is an interesting rant here on giving music away for free. I’m not sure where it plays into our long-term brooding about music publishing and copyright, but it certainly relates to the discussion: For example, I am paid $0.00029 per stream of a song on Spotify, and even this amount depends on […]
Get rid of the conductor for real musical excellence
A Facebook friend pointed me to this article today: The Best Way to Improve an Orchestra: Get Rid of the Bloke with the Baton. An interesting proposition using a few orchestras as examples (or prototypes): Spira Mirabilis represent a transformative vision of what a symphony orchestra can be. They are a revelation, proof that […]
Prioritizing Goals for the American Choral Directors Association
2012 will be an exciting year of Goal Setting and Prioritizing for the American Choral Directors Association. Our Strategic Planning process hits the ground running in the new year as our National ACDA Board and Strategic Planning Committee ask all of our members to participate in ACDA’s first-ever membership survey. This Strategic Planning Survey […]