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Summer Hilarity:

Diana Laufenberg teaches 11th-grade American History at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. In her recent TEDtalk, she discusses three surprising things she has learned about teaching — including a key insight about learning from mistakes. Much of her message heralds three points  that we embody in the practice of choral music: experiential learning empowering […]

http://youtu.be/9ETrr-XHBjE   Combined choirs of Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, West Point, and Coast Guard Academy. What happened to the Marines?

  This is part 2 of a six-part video series about choir miking, created by Audix Microphones. You can see the whole series here. I put in part 2 because part 1 is about "how to choose a microphone" and, coming from a microphone manufacturer, it might not be totally objective; but still might be […]

Lara Patriquin (daughter of Donald) sent me this video – it is a testament to the power of a choir to bring people together for a common purpose:    

Don’t we all LOVE to eat?  Oh, the myriad tastes, textures, sensations!  And, of course, most of us have those gastronomic guilty pleasures that we’re perhaps just a little too embarrassed to share.  But rather than gorging on cheeseburgers every night, the sensible person develops a dietary habit that achieves some sense of balance.   […]

As the summer strolls casually along, perhaps you have considered the value of placing singers into a mixed formation, as we discussed last week thanks to Danny Detrick ‘s article “Mix It Up – You Won’t Believe What Will Happen” (Texas Sings!, Vol. 24, No.2).   I can hear someone . . . “Whimper!  I […]

Why do I own bunch of Hawaiian prints?  Isn’t one loud, obnoxious frat-boy shirt enough?  Why do some ladies own dozens of pairs of shoes?  One or two orthopedic torture devices ought to do, right?  Why do others among us rearrange the furniture, re-do the landscaping, change hairstyles, upgrade their desktops?   Simple . . […]

An interesting article was forwarded my way by Joshua Bronfman that highlights the growing issue of adults touching children in an educational setting.   See what you think: Some Ottawa parents say a local school board's hands-off policy has gone too far after it forced a popular choir director to quit. Since September, Uwe Lieflander […]

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir takes over Williamsburg.   The singing starts at 3:20.  See if you can pick out the voice that doesn’t belong to the MTC at 7:17.   (Source:  Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun)