Latest Blog Posts

This month’s challenge to composers: make use of this technique in a choral composition:    

     “In the past few years, John Rutter’s choral music has become increasingly popular in church, community, and school organizations. Because of this popularity, it has become necessary not only to analyze the style of Rutter’s music, but also to grasp the philosophy of composition from which his style emanates. With these factors in mind, […]

Some of you might be interested in this – a "decommissioning liturgy" for a choir robe.   Samford University first purchased the robe in 1972.  I thought the right thing to do was to pay homage to the robe with a little ceremony.  Let me know what you think:     Decommissioning Liturgy for a […]

A former student from my days on the Ole Miss choral faculty, Greg Peebles, is the spokesman for Chanticleer in this message to ACDA:       Greg was a fantastic student at Ole Miss.  His passion for music and excellence, as well as his immense talent, paid off in his position with one of […]

Saturday.  Ahhhhh . . .  

What better way to understand the history of a work than from the person who composed it in the first place?  Here, Jester Hairston shares a bit about the development of his charming work, “Gossip, Gossip.”  (Excerpted from Volume 3 of the “ACDA on Location” series)  

Research offers industry-specific, regional, and demographic data on the 2.1 million artists [inclusive of musicians] working in the U.S.   There are 2.1 million artists in the United States workforce, and a large portion of them – designers – contribute to industries whose products Americans use every day, according to new research from the National Endowment for […]

Here is a two-minute excerpt from the interest session, “Male Choir Directors: Working with and Relating to Beginning Women’s Choruses,” presented by Ryan W. Holder at the 2009 ACDA National Conference. This session addresses the challenges faced by male choir directors when working with a women’s choir.  

     “There’s no denying: we’ve done it to ourselves. It’s time to admit our guilt and try to make restitution.  I refer to the inescapable conclusion that the quality of literature being purveyed by the music dealers and publishers of America is the direct result of the sloth of America’s choral directors.”      “I recently […]

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