Latest Blog Posts
Learning from “The State of ACDA”
"He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient" (Constitution of the United States, Article II, Section 3). Today, Tim Sharp does the very same thing for ACDA in "The State of […]
ChoralNet Communities spawn a new choir
Marie Grass Amenta writes: One of my Communities, Friends of Joyful Noise, has some exciting news–at least, we think it’s exciting. I’d like to get it out to the ChoralNet mainstream. My hope would be, not only would the ChoralNet general population know about it–and it’s pretty darn cool, too–but again, those who do not […]
Choral Caffeine: High Quality is NOT a Fantasy
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . Except that it’s today. And it’s right here in the good ol’ U.S. o f A. Here, I’ll let Emily Ellsworth tell you in this excerpt from her article, “Where Imagination and Reality Meet.” “Imagine a school district where every elementary […]
CJ Replay: Composer & Conductor
“Composition has increased my ability to understand music in general. There is no pedagogical device quite so incisive as the primary creative process. When you learn how to make a fugue or a scherzo, you learn how a fugue or a scherzo should be performed. You begin to really understand the architecture of music and […]
A few words from the server room
A few weeks ago, we moved ChoralNet to a new server. While the web site and most of the services we provide moved over fine and are providing you with faster, smoother access to ChoralNet, mail has been a case of technical Whack-a-Mole…whenever we fixed one problem, another problem would pop up somewhere else. Now […]
The War on Pronouns, cont’d
(one in an occasional series highlighting ridiculous inclusive-language overkill, without regard for the scansion, meaning, or music.) This one doesn’t really involve pronouns, but it’s the same mindset of knee-jerk language correction. We’re doing a sappy turn-of-the-century piece by Charles Wood, a setting of part of Expectans Expectavi by Charles Hamilton Sorley: This sanctuary of my soul Unwitting I keep white and whole, Unlatched and […]
Stick Time: Faces Matter
Sometimes choral singers look, well, dour. I’m not talking about the serious face that accompanies the singing of some profound work. No, I’m referring to the pasty-faced, dead-eyed, I’d-rather-be-getting-a-tooth-drilled look that some singers have. Not so with today’s choir. Look at their sunny expressions and the sparkle in their eyes. That’s the joy of singing. […]
This is NOT Glee. It’s BETTER
With all respect for Richard Dreyfuss, have you ever wondered why no Hollywood filmmaker has yet focued on a REAL real high school choral environment? Well, now one has. Meet Vardy Hardy, the award-winning director who is producing a documentary about a high school choir. "Glee," this is not. The producers of this film […]
The State of ACDA
It is appropriate to take a moment to reflect on the state of our American Choral Directors Association as I begin my fourth year as ACDA’s third Executive Director. The following information goes so far beyond the definition of a "blog", all I can say is, pour yourself a cup of tea, coffee, or prepare […]
Monday Motivation: Courage
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” ~Vincent Van Gogh