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Today we consider a little Vocal Jazz (and no, to answer the question I ask in today's Choral Caffeine, 'Jazz' is NOT a dirty word).  Listen to this recording and consider just a couple things. How carefully must the singers LISTEN to tune those challenging 7th, 9th and 11th chords?  How exactly must singers match […]

I’m going to say what is for many in the choral profession, a dirty word.  Brace yourselves.                      Jazz.   I guarantee that a lot of folks instantly clicked away.  If you are still here, then take just a few seconds to consider what James McCullough has to say in his article, "To Jazz […]

Today, let’s listen to articulation in this wonderful performance.  Note the ornamental slides . . . they are being made FROM the same pitch TO the same pitch and at the same rate.  Listen also to the balance in the phrase structure, particularly the performance of the crescendos and decrescendos.  

Dear American Choral Directors, I wanted to personally wish each of our Arts Action Fund members a Happy National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM). This coast-to-coast celebration of the arts is held every October and is coordinated by Americans for the Arts.  President Obama issued the following White House proclamation that recognizes the value of […]

“Choral music is valuable because it is an activity that is healthful, vital, and absorbing. It is valuable becauseit stimulates feelingful thought, because it reinforces our concepts of self, because it puts us in contact with the good, the deep, the shared experiences of the human soul. For these, and other reasons, choral  music continues […]

   “Stage fright is a negative experience afflicting anyone appearing before a live audience, whether he be a public speaker or performing artist. Musicians, for whom performing is essential, are particularly prone to stage fright, andyet it is a subject rarely broached in either the education of the musician or in the vast literature written […]

Ahhhh, Saturday!  Looking at this video, I’m not certain which I want more: to drive that car or conduct that choir.  

It’s amazing what a slight change of formation can do to for a performance.  A choir need not leap about to provide a little visual interest.  Here, such a change provides a fresh moment to this concert from the 2011 ACDA National Conference.  Of course, a “flash mob formation” (my term) does provide some challenges. […]

Unison singing is like wearing spandex.  Anything that isn’t great is awful; there’s nothing in between.  The first minute of this selection has the men and then the women singing unison passages.  Note how they work to match vowels carefully and strive to assre that articulations within this rhythmically-charged melody line are exactly together.  

Liz Garnett has a great article on lessons we can learn from Steve Jobs.  Here is a part of it: Fourth, as Weber points out in the study that still acts as the starting-point for all sociological studies of charisma, the charismatic leader has to continue to demonstrate their powers. Because their authority is founded on a quasi-magical […]