Latest Blog Posts

It’s Saturday. Breathe, relax if you can.  Here’s an autumn thunderstorm for you.  

“Consider every imaginable outcome in a tour.  Have a plan for risk management – one that if tested in a court of law will prove you upright, fair, and in keeping with the highest order of excellence. While each state and institution has different expectations, what follows are a few important things to keep in […]

A couple years ago, the tour program I was conducting included the William Dawson classic, “Ezekiel Saw De Wheel.”  After one evening’s performance, a choral friend remarked, “I’ve been trying to do so much new music, I’d forgotten how powerful that simple piece is!”  “Ezekiel” was in her choir members’ folders the next semester.   […]

In his Choral Journal article, “Performing Choral/Orchestral Works with the High School Choir,” Paul Cappers discusses the valuse of such a performance:    “Performing a great work well with orchestra is an indescribable “high” for young musicians. Students feel a unique sense of accomplishment, and such a performance can bolster community support for the music […]

Michael McGlynn shared this on Facebook and I think it is outstanding: </div> <div> </div> About BIG VOICE: a musical feature documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Varda Hardy. This uplifting documentary explores the lives of the top-singing students of the Santa Monica High School Choir, and its visionary choir director. At a time when drastic […]

We all know that middle school is a challenging time for most young people.  The physical, mental, and emotional challenges of that stage of life form a veritable witch’s brew (who among us doesn’t have a horror story from adolescence?).  But the next time someone makes a disparaging remark about middle school choral singers, I […]

"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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

“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 […]