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This article in the Sioux City Journal finds important distinctions between the TV show “Glee” and show choir.   The whole article is here – but here are the first five points:   1. Show choirs don’t get to learn new songs every week, just to express their feelings. They rehearse and rehearse and rehearse […]

I am fortunate to have Spring Break this week to consolidate my thoughts about Chicago ACDA before plunging into more teaching and performing.   The opportunity to share my thoughts here on the ChoralNet blog helps me find the will to think through what over 5000 experienced together.  Here is a list of the music […]

OK, so he wrote it in 1997.  It takes me more than a decade to find great things but this William Hawley piece is quite beautiful – I need to do more Hawley!   I spotted this on the UND Concert Choir blog – it is a great piece and deserves to be sung:   […]

Passionate Cecilia Bartoli took on a recording project that features some of the famous music of the castrati.  Her beautiful voice and powerful singing is wonderful to behold, especially Handel's Ombra Mai Fu.   The description of her DVD features some well chosen words: The ‘Sacrificium’ project tells the story of the castrati in all […]

This story reminded me of 1994, when an album called "Chant" took over the radio waves. That CD/album featured the monks of the Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos; this one features composer Allessandro Striggio and English group I Fagiolini: (Reuters) – A sumptuous first recording of a long-lost 450-year-old Italian Renaissance mass written […]

Frank Albinder, pictured here with Eric Whitacre, pointed me to this story about how music and singing is helping Rep. Gabielle Giffords recover from the gunshot: Since Giffords was transferred to TIRR Jan. 21, reports of her singing "Happy Birthday" for husband Mark Kelly and Don McLean's "American Pie" have signaled what some have called […]

On the morning after the conclusion of our 2011 National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association, I went to the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago to reflect, as well as decompress. The night before, I had completed the Conference by hearing Helmuth Rilling, the recently announced winner of the Herbert […]

Another great day to be in Chicago for ACDA 2011.   It is the end of a long day that included definite highlights:   University of St. Thomas and director Angela Broeker gave a refined and elegant concert today – their best work was on the Monteverdi Ecco and Le Pont Mirabeau by Lionel Daunais. […]

Brad Holmes and his Millikin University Choir did it again – another stunning performance involving incredible musicianship, humor, passion, creativity, and tonal variety.   This is what you hope to find at a national conference – a stellar choir performing at their very best.   They took the stage quickly and sang an energetic performance […]

It is exciting times for ACDA in Chicago as the conference begins this morning.   ChoralNet is here tweeting and blogging and planning and listening.  A few reminders for people who are attending the conference: We have Google Calendars for both Gold and Scarlet tracks. Many are tweeting!  #ACDA2011  Join the conversation! Tim Sharp’s blog about the […]