Latest Blog Posts
Featured Community: Joyful Noise
Specialized kinds of choirs have specialized kinds of needs, and Communities are a great way for conductors of those groups to connect with others in the same field. Friends of Joyful Noise is a community dedicated to choirs with therapeutic purposes or whose singers have disabilities. The group Joyful Noise (pictured below) performed at ACDA […]
BBC Magazine – a great resource
Do you know about BBC’s “Music?” I have a choir member who brings me the magazine every month and I always find each issue informative and creative. The September 2011 issue features some topics of real interest to choral conductors: 1. An interview with Einojuhani Rautavaara: Hilary Finch travels to Finland to […]
Choir Camp – not just for band
I’m doing something different this year before school starts – choir camp. That’s right, I’m taking a cue from the university marching band and bringing my kids early to campus. It isn’t costing my budget anything – the school is letting them move in early at no cost. I’m feeding the students with donated […]
21 Things That Will Become Obsolete in Education by 2020
The following list prompts thought-provoking reflection on future educational methods from the viewpoint of current facilities, hardware, and methods. These are not my prophecies, but rather, those of Shelly Blake-Plock in her blog, TeachPaperless. The list made me think, so I am passing it along in the event that it lets you do the same: […]
Featured Community: composers
This is the first in a series of blog posts highlighting various ChoralNet Communities. Communities are a tool for subcultures of the choral world to get together and address their own particular areas of interest. The first Community to really take off on ChoralNet was Composers of Choral Music. All the discussions of rehearsal […]
Why is it always the music teacher?
I was dismayed, once again, to find that the wierdo in the news story was a musician: SPRING HILL, Tenn. – Police in Spring Hill arrested a local music teacher Thursday morning after he was caught engaging in a sex act with a doll outside a local elementary school. Officers were called to Allendale Elementary […]
Don’t ever fire an Alabama musician
I’m not sure how I missed this story but I found out about it at lunch today: A minister of music at a church in the St. Elmo community Tased the pastor who had just fired him Sunday, touching off a fight and various knife slashings, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The mayhem erupted when […]
Choral Caffeine: Start the Year Right & Sleep Well
Forgive me for being Captain Obvious, but it’s true: first impressions count. Whether it’s dressing for the job interview, meeting the future in-laws, or the first hit in a football game, the initial moments of any new experience create a long-lasting ripple effect (perhaps far longer than we want it to). For the […]
Peak your Vision
School is starting? Time to plan your next retreat! ACDA has got something new for directors of youth and children's choirs – they are calling it “Peak Your Vision,” and it will take place January 14 & 15, 2012 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown. “We are eager to welcome conductors and teachers from throughout North […]