Latest Blog Posts
Innovation Includes Having a Network
In my October 18 ChoralBlog "Innovation is 'In'", one of the points I stressed was *Innovators are connected–they know where to find and get help, and they flourish in cultures that encourage collaboration. In a recent Harvard Business Review "Management Tip of the Day", the editors do a little unpacking of the old adage, […]
Celebrating Creativity: Alec Baldwin and NPR
We celebrate creativity here and this Alec Baldwin anti-fundraising effort for NPR is quite funny. There is even a hint of choral music in the background, although it is probably a synthesizer. See what you think:
CJ Replay: Tomorrow’s Choral Conductor
“The most effective choral conductors are music educators in the broadest and best sense. They are constantly bringing people and music together in such a way that the members of the choral ensemble experience aesthetic ‘highs’ as well as an enjoyment from participation as group members, and that they learn more and more about music […]
CJ Replay: Training Young Singers
“To any music educator who is actively involved in the training of adolescent singers in today’s public schools, it becomes evident that there is a definite need for a renaissance in the musical training of boys between the ages of ten and fourteen. A real problem exists in recruiting, maintaining, and improving musically the […]
Stick Time: Destination
It's one of the major reasons we go to ACDA conferences: to hear astounding concerts. Here's a taste of one of those incredible choral moments from the 2011 ACDA National Conference. Note the stunned silence in the audience at the end.
Monday Motivation: You Just Never Know
“I didn’t know I could sing because I didn’t sing around anyone until junior high when this new choir teacher heard me in the hallway. My mother was a teacher and I was helping move books into classrooms. I was singing along when the choir teacher said I should join. I said no. I was […]
The Rise of Micro-Volunteerism
The muscle of ACDA comes from our volunteer membership. Our success as an association depends on the voluntary acts of our membership. I am certain the same is true for the choirs and organizations of most of our professional membership–we succeed in our choral mission and work, based upon the efforts of volunteers. However, […]
New Chen Yi Work to Premiere at Divisional Conferences
One of the features of the upcoming seven divisional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association will be the premiere of the latest work in the Raymond R. Brock Memorial Choral Composition Series. The work commissioned for the 2012 conferences is “Distance Can’t Keep Us Two Apart,” by Chen Yi. “When I received the invitation […]
Punished because of suspicion, not conviction
I work to avoid posts of a political nature on this blog. However, this bit of news played into an ongoing discussion regarding copyright that we have in this space: Top-ranking Obama administration officials, including the U.S. copyright czar, played an active role in secret negotiations between Hollywood, the recording industry and ISPs to disrupt […]
Stick Time: Conducting Study I
Welcome to Stick Time: Conducting Study. This is the first of what we hope will be a regular feature on ChoralBuzz highlighting outstanding conductors and the successful physical gestures they use. Today let’s learn by watching. We’re going to observe approximately one minute of a brilliant conductor in action, applying a positive analytical eye […]